Arthur Miller
A playwright who held a mirror to the American soul, exposing the cracks in the dream of prosperity and the perils of public hysteria.
1915–2005 (age 90)·American playwright and essayist·Birthday: October 17·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Arthur Miller emerged from the Brooklyn streets and the shadow of the Great Depression to become the moral conscience of the American stage. His work, forged in a post-war world of booming industry and creeping anxiety, dissected the fragile promises of the American system. 'Death of a Salesman' wasn't just a tragedy about a failing man; it was a seismic indictment of a culture that valued personality over substance and discarded the used-up. When Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusade swept the nation, Miller responded not with a pamphlet but with 'The Crucible,' using the Salem witch trials as a blistering allegory for the era's fear and betrayal. His life was as dramatic as his plays, marked by a marriage to Marilyn Monroe that fused intellectual and pop culture, and a steadfast refusal to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Miller's plays remain essential because they ask the hardest questions about integrity, responsibility, and the cost of forgetting history.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Arthur was born in 1915, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Arthur Was Born
The biggest hits of 1915
#1 Movie
The Birth of a Nation
Arthur's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1915Born
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1920Started school
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1928Became a teenager
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin; Mickey Mouse debuts
President: Calvin Coolidge"Ol' Man River" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: Wings
1931Could drive
The Empire State Building opens as the world's tallest
Gas: $0.17/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Minnie the Moocher" — Cab CallowayBest Picture: Cimarron
1933Could vote
FDR's New Deal launches; Prohibition ends
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stormy Weather" — Ethel WatersBest Picture: Cavalcade
1936Turned 21
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
1945Turned 30
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
1955Turned 40
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1965Turned 50
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1975Turned 60
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1985Turned 70
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1995Turned 80
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
2005Died at 90
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans; YouTube launches
Gas: $2.30/galHome: $167,500Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"We Belong Together" — Mariah CareyBest Picture: Crash
Key Achievements
- Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for 'Death of a Salesman' in 1949.
- Wrote 'The Crucible,' which has become a timeless allegory for political persecution and is one of the most frequently staged American plays.
- Refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 and was convicted of contempt of Congress (later overturned).
- Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.
- Served as the president of PEN International from 1965 to 1969, advocating for writers' freedoms worldwide.
Did You Know?
He built a small wooden writing studio in Roxbury, Connecticut, where he wrote standing up at a desk made from a door.
He was Marilyn Monroe's third husband; they were married from 1956 to 1961.
His play 'A View from the Bridge' was initially a one-act verse drama.
He was the father-in-law of actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who was married to his daughter Rebecca.
“A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.”
