Arthur Asher Miller was born in Harlem, the second of three children of Augusta (Barnett) and Isidore Miller. His sister was actress Joan Copeland. His family was wealthy before losing their money in the crash of 1929.
Miller’s writing career spanned over seven decades, and at the time of his death, he was considered one of the 20th century’s greatest dramatists. Among his plays were All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955).
Miller’s play, The Crucible, about a witch hunt as an allegory for McCarthyism, brought him to the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee. He was called to testify and was charged with Contempt of Congress for refusing to name names. He was a Eugene McCarthy delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Miller had a five-year marriage to Marilyn Monroe. His son-in-law, married to a daughter from his next marriage, is Daniel Day-Lewis. He has a minor planet, 3769 Arthurmiller, named after him.
Miller died in 2005, on the 56th anniversary of the Broadway debut of Death of a Salesman, of bladder cancer and heart failure.
His first census was the 1920 Manhattan census.
Click on the census for a larger view.
Sources
- Wikipedia.org
- Ancestry.com
- Onthisday.com
- Picryl.com
- Youtube.com
Famous People and Their First Census 