R.I.P. ARTHUR MILLER: DEATH OF A GREAT AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT

Whether he was the “greatest,” most “influential” or most “iconic” playwright in the history of America theater, Arthur Miller (who passed away last night at the age of 89) was a towering presence who won’t be soon forgotten. He wrote what many consider the greatest American play in history — Death of a Salesman — when he was just 33. That’s how old I am now, and I can’t even conceive being able to create such a magnificent work, one that even more than half-a-century after its debut in a country far different than the US of 1949 still resonates so deeply. Oh yeah, and he reportedly wrote it in just six weeks.

In many ways, Miller and his work foresaw modern American society as it was developing. Where community and family were once the focus of every day life, he detailed the growing disconnect of belonging as generations started moving further from their homes in order to find their own American dreams, while at the same time mourning the futility of those who try as they might, could never find their desired successes. Often, their greatest achievements might have existed in the families they created … and ignored.

Miller never even stopped writing. His most recent play — “Finishing the Picture” — premiered at the Goodman Theater in Chicago last year that got some mixed reviews. The play was about a period in his rocky marriage to Marilyn Monroe. (Believe it or not, Miller wasn’t even Monroe’s last living husband. Apparently, her first, James Dougherty, is still kicking.)

Miller’s death is a tremendous loss for the American theater. How would theater have been different had it not been for Miller’s influence and treatment of the American family as its own character rather than simply a grouping of other personalities. Would we have had Edward Albee? Or Sam Shepard? Maybe so. Would their plays have been the same? Maybe not. But even people not addicted to theater are aware of Miller and his work. Everyone, at some point during high school most likely, has read Salesman or The Crucible, maybe even All My Sons or A View From the Bridge as well/. Other than Shakespeare, there’s probably not another playwright in history so recognizable.

2005 is only 42 days old, and already we have lost some of the all-time great contributors to the arts and entertainment world — Johnny Carson, Phillip Johnson, Ossie Davis, now Arthur Miller — people who literally changed some of the most basic elements of their chosen professions, making them better and influencing generations to follow.

The world of theater was made better thanks to the work of Arthur Miller, and it is worse-off for his loss. Thankfully, his plays will remain with us always, in one form or another, and future generations of playwrights (and filmmakers) can continue to be influenced by this master’s work.

P.S.: The cinetrix rightly makes special note of Miller’s contribution to the American cinema as well. And his daughter, Rebecca Miller‘s latest film The Ballad of Jack and Rose just premiered at the most recent Sundance Film Festival, starring her husband.