Arthur Miller

Acknowledged as a leading figure in postwar American theater, playwright Arthur Miller had long been acclaimed as a writer who mixed naturalistic drama with timeless moral and political issues, with much of his work centered on the ethical responsibility of the individual in conflict with his community. His landmark play, "Death of a Salesman" (1949), won both a Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize, while building a reputation as one of the greatest plays written in the 20th century. Four years later, he wrote "The Crucible" (1953), a thinly-guised examination of McCarthyism and the Red Scare that was a worthy addition to his already impressive canon, which included the working-class triumph of "A View from the Bridge" (1955). After himself enduring public suspicion for ties to Communism, which led to a conviction - and later appeal - for contempt of Congress, he made further headlines for his high-profile, but stormy marriage to sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, which ended right after the completion of "The Misfits" (1961), a film written by Miller for Monroe which ultimately proved to be her last. Miller went on to find success on television and in film with his Emmy-winning "Playing for Time" (CBS, 1980) and the critically acclaimed adaptation of his own work, "The Crucible" (1996), all the while enjoying his reputation as one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century.