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These years were about Miller's early life that involved where he went to school and some information on his first interests.
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Arthur Asher Miller is born in Harlem, New York City, to Jewish immigrants Isidore and Augusta Miller. His father is a successful coat manufacturer, and his mother is an educator and a reader who instills in him a love for literature. -
By 1928, the family had moved to Brooklyn, after their garment manufacturing business began to fail. Witnessing the societal decay of the Depression and his father’s desperation due to business failures had an enormous effect on Miller.
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/arthur-miller-none-without-sin/56/ -
The Great Depression devastates his family’s business, forcing them to move from an daily Manhattan lifestyle to a small house in Brooklyn. This economic hardship deeply influences Miller’s later works, particularly Death of a Salesman. -
Graduates from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn. He is not an exceptional student but excels in sports, particularly football. -
Works odd jobs, including as a truck driver and a farmhand, to save money for college after being initially rejected from the University of Michigan due to low grades. -
Enrolls at the University of Michigan, majoring in journalism before switching to English. He becomes involved in playwriting and theater. -
Writes No Villain, his first play, which wins the Avery Hopwood Award for Drama. The play explores themes of economic struggle and personal integrity—topics he revisits in later works. -
Miller was shaped by the Great Depression, which brought financial ruin onto his father, a small manufacturer, and demonstrated to the young Miller the insecurity of modern existence. After graduation from high school he worked in a warehouse. With the money he earned he attended the University of Michigan (B.A., 1938),
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Miller-American-playwright -
Marries Mary Slattery, a fellow University of Michigan student. They later have two children, Robert and Jane. -
Works as a shipfitter at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II while continuing to write. The war’s impact on American industry and families influences his play All My Sons. -
Miller has been married three times: to Mary Grace Slattery in 1940, Marilyn Monroe in 1956, and photographer Inge Morath in 1962, with whom he lives in Connecticut. He and Inge have a daughter, Rebecca.
https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/arthur-miller-biography -
Publishes his first novel, Focus, a critique of American antisemitism. The book gains attention for its social commentary. -
His first Broadway play, The Man Who Had All the Luck, debuts but closes after only four performances due to poor reception. He considers quitting playwriting but continues working on new projects. -
Miller's career got off to a rocky start. His 1944 Broadway debut, The Man Who Had All the Luck, garnered a fate that was the antithesis of its title, closing after just four performances with a stack of woeful reviews.
https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/arthur-miller -
All My Sons premieres on Broadway and becomes a major success. The play, about a businessman who knowingly sells defective airplane parts during WWII, wins the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and a Tony Award. It solidifies Miller’s reputation as a playwright. -
Begins writing Death of a Salesman in a small studio he built on his property in Roxbury, Connecticut. -
Death of a Salesman premieres on Broadway and becomes a cultural landmark. The play critiques the American Dream through Willy Loman, a struggling salesman. It wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. -
The Cold War intensifies, and Senator Joseph McCarthy begins his anti-Communist hearings. Miller, a known supporter of leftist causes, becomes concerned about government overreach. -
The Crucible opens on Broadway. The play uses the Salem witch trials as an allegory for McCarthyism, highlighting mass hysteria and false accusations. Initially receiving mixed reviews, it later becomes one of Miller’s most celebrated works. -
A View from the Bridge debuts in a one-act version, focusing on themes of immigration, loyalty, and justice. The play is later revised and expanded into a full-length production. -
Divorces Mary Slattery. -
Marries actress Marilyn Monroe in a highly publicized wedding. Many see the marriage as an unlikely pairing—Miller, the intellectual playwright, and Monroe, the Hollywood superstar. -
Is subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and refuses to name suspected communists. He is found guilty of contempt of Congress, though the conviction is overturned in 1958. -
Writes The Misfits, a film starring Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, and Montgomery Clift. The film underperforms at the box office, and Miller and Monroe’s marriage falls apart. They divorce later that year. -
Marries Austrian photographer Inge Morath. The couple has two children, including Rebecca Miller, who later becomes a writer and filmmaker. -
After the Fall premieres, a semi-autobiographical play about a writer reflecting on his failed marriage, widely believed to be about Monroe. The play’s personal nature sparks controversy. -
Incident at Vichy opens, dealing with themes of the Holocaust and moral responsibility. -
The Price premiered in 1968. It accompanied a change in Miller's writing. As always, he continues to write about the struggle of the common man, but the themes were deeper and more connected with a sense of personal guilt.
https://www.writerstheatre.org/arthur-miller-biography -
The Vietnam War and civil rights movement shape Miller’s political views, and he becomes an advocate for free speech and artistic expression. -
Arthur Miller dies at age 89 in Roxbury, Connecticut, from heart failure. His death marks the end of an era in American theater, but his works continue to be widely performed and studied.
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Receives the Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement in the arts. -
The Ride Down Mt. Morgan opens, examining themes of love, betrayal, and identity. -
The Crucible is adapted into a major film starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder, renewing interest in the play. -
His wife, Inge Morath, dies of cancer. -
Arthur Miller dies at age 89 in Roxbury, Connecticut, from heart failure. His death marks the end of an era in American theater, but his works continue to be widely performed and studied.