Requiescat in Pace

You’ll read analyses of Arthur Miller’s career from many more knowledge than I. But, for someone who went to college in the ‘50s, Miller, along with Wilder and Williams, was clearly a very important playwright. I was fortunate in that most seasons at the Charles Playhouse in Boston included a Miller play. There were four that stood out in my mind and, more importantly, my soul: Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, All My Sons and View from the Bridge.

“Death of a Salesman” took on somewhat of a mystic cast when I started my own company and was out there on a wing and a prayer trying to make the sale. And, of course, the New York production (and perhaps the movie) featured Lee J. Cobb, the consummate actor for a Miller production. I never saw the Dustin Hoffman version but have the feeling that he could not have been better than Cobb.

“The Crucible” was the play for those who were opposed to the McCarthy era in America. The tribulations of John Proctor resonated with many who never had to face the difficulties of many intellectuals, including Miller, in 1950s America.

“All My Sons” and the “View from the Bridge” were lesser plays, but the View spoke to many who, as we aged in a new country, tried to recapture something they never had.

Will we remember Miller’s other plays? I think not.

Would Miller have become as famous had he not married Marilyn? Some would say no, but Miller was as much a star in his field as DiMaggio was in his. And, in the world of the playwright in the third quarter of the 20^th century Miller was as much a star as Joe DiMaggio in the world of baseball.