The Wall Street Crash of 1929

Arthur was born in Harlem, New York in 1915.He went to school at the University of Michigan before moving back east to produce plays for the stage. His first popular success was Death of a Salesman, which opened on Broadway in 1949. He was also married to Marilyn Monroe which was a rocky and colorful part to his social life. He was married three times and died in 2005, at the age of 89. Born on October 17, 1915, Arthur Miller was raised in a moderately well household until his family lost almost everything in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. They fired the chauffeur and moved from the Upper East Side in Manhattan to Gravesend, Brooklyn. After graduating high school Miller worked a few odd jobs to save enough money to attend the University of Michigan. While he was in college he wrote for the student paper and completed his first play which was called No Villain. He also took courses with the playwright professor Kenneth Rowe a. He was a man who taught his students how to construct a play in order to achieve an intended effect. Inspired by Rowe, Miller moved back east to begin his career. Things started out a bit bad for his career his 1940 play, The Man Who Had All the Luck, closed after just four performances and a stack of bad reviews.

Six years later, All My Sons achieved success on Broadway, and earned him his first Tony Award (best author). Working in the small studio that he built in Roxbury, Connecticut, Miller wrote the first act of Death of Salesman in less than a day. It opened on February 10, 1949 at the Morosco Theatre and was loved by nearly everyone. Salesman won him the triple crown of theatrical artistry: the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and a Tony. In his final years, Miller’s work continued to be loved and adored by fans. His last play of note was The Price (1968), a piece about family dynamics. In 2002, Miller’s third wife, Inges, died. The famed playwright took a fourth wife, 34-year-old minimalist painter Agnes Barley. The two planned to marry, but on February 10, 2005, Arthur Miller, surrounded by Barley, family and friends, died of heart failure. He was 89 years old.