(born 1915) A leading American playwright since the success of All My Sons (1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949), the latter earning him a Pulitzer Prize. His dramas are often familial in setting, but engage with political concerns. The early plays dealt with issues arising out of the postwar prosperity, suggesting that this often brought with it unacceptable moral compromises, the 1947 play describing a man who had profited at the expense of the lives of American soldiers, Death focusing on the emotionally sterile life of a salesman in New York City (Miller’s birthplace). In The Crucible (1953) Miller wrote about the Salem witch-trials, implying a parallel with the intolerance of the ongoing McCarthy trials, while A View from the Bridge (1955) questioned US immigration laws.

Remembered also for a short-lived marriage to Marilyn Monroe, Miller has continued to be a prolific writer and outspoken political and cultural critic.