Editing Arthur Miller (section)

== Career ==

=== 1940–1949: Early career ===
In 1940, Miller married Mary Grace Slattery.<ref name="Observer_obit">{{cite news|first=Michael |last=Ratcliffe |title=Obituary: Arthur Miller |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/feb/12/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries |location=[[London]] |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=February 11, 2005 |access-date=July 23, 2012 |archive-date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723171424/http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/feb/12/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries |url-status=live |page=25  }}</ref> The couple had two children, Jane (born September 7, 1944) and Robert (May 31, 1947 – March 6, 2022).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fried |first1=Billy |title=Remembering Bob Miller |url=https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/opinion-remembering-bob-miller/ |website=Laguna Beach Independent |date=April 9, 2022 |publisher=Firebrand Media |access-date=August 13, 2022}}</ref> Miller was exempted from military service during World War II because of a high school [[American football|football]] injury to his left kneecap.<ref name="Times_obit" /> In 1944 Miller's first play was produced: ''[[The Man Who Had All the Luck]]'' won the Theatre Guild's National Award.<ref>Royal National Theater: Platform Papers, 7. Arthur Miller (Battley Brothers Printers, 1995).</ref> The play closed after four performances with disastrous reviews.<ref name="shenton">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/shenton/2008/03/the-man-who-has-all-the-luck/#more|title=The man who HAS all the luck...|last=Shenton|first=Mark|date=March 14, 2008|work=[[The Stage]]|publisher=The Stage Newspaper Limited|access-date=May 6, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090519194515/http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/shenton/2008/03/the-man-who-has-all-the-luck/| archive-date= May 19, 2009| url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1947, Miller's play ''[[All My Sons]]'', the writing of which had commenced in 1941, was a success on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] (earning him his first [[Tony Award]], [[Tony Award for Best Author|for Best Author]]) and his reputation as a playwright was established.<ref>{{Cite book|year=2005|title=Arthur Miller: A Critical Study|last=Bigsby |first=C. W. E.|author-link=Christopher Bigsby|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-60553-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/arthurmillercrit0000bigs/page/301 301]|url=https://archive.org/details/arthurmillercrit0000bigs|url-access=registration}}</ref> Years later, in a 1994 interview with [[Ron Rifkin]], Miller said that most contemporary critics regarded ''All My Sons'' as "a very depressing play in a time of great optimism" and that positive reviews from [[Brooks Atkinson]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' had saved it from failure.<ref>Rifkin, Ron, [http://bombsite.com/issues/49/articles/1821 "Arthur Miller"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526130323/http://bombsite.com/issues/49/articles/1821 |date=May 26, 2012 }}. ''[[BOMB Magazine]]''. Fall 1994. Retrieved on July 18, 2012.</ref>

In 1948, Miller built a small studio in [[Roxbury, Connecticut]]. There, in less than a day, he wrote Act I of ''[[Death of a Salesman]]''. Within six weeks, he completed the rest of the play,<ref name="chronology" /> one of the classics of world theater.<ref name="Times_obit" /><ref name="BBC-Obit">{{cite news
 |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/233032.stm
 |title= Obituary: Arthur Miller
 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=February 11, 2005
|access-date=September 21, 2010
}}</ref> ''Death of a Salesman'' premiered on Broadway on February 10, 1949, at the [[Morosco Theatre]], directed by [[Elia Kazan]], and starring [[Lee J. Cobb]] as [[Willy Loman]], [[Mildred Dunnock]] as Linda, [[Arthur Kennedy]] as Biff, and [[Cameron Mitchell (actor)|Cameron Mitchell]] as Happy. The play was commercially successful and critically acclaimed, winning a [[Tony Award for Best Author]], the [[New York Drama Critics' Circle|New York Drama Circle Critics' Award]], and the [[1949 Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer Prize]] for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards. The play was performed 742 times.<ref name="Times_obit" />

In 1949, Miller exchanged letters with [[Eugene O'Neill]] regarding Miller's production of ''All My Sons''. O'Neill had sent Miller a congratulatory telegram; in response, he wrote a letter that consisted of a few paragraphs detailing his gratitude for the telegram, apologizing for not responding earlier, and inviting Eugene to the opening of ''Death of a Salesman''. O'Neill replied, accepting the apology, but declining the invitation, explaining that his [[Parkinson's disease]] made it difficult to travel. He ended the letter with an invitation to [[Boston]], a trip that never occurred.<ref>Dan Isaac, "Founding Father: O'Neill's Correspondence with Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams", ''The Eugene O'Neill Review'', Vol. 17, No. 1/2 (Spring/Fall 1993), pp. 124–133</ref>

=== 1950–1963: Critical years and HUAC controversy ===
In 1952, [[Elia Kazan]] appeared before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC). Kazan named eight members of the [[Group Theatre (New York City)|Group Theatre]], including [[Clifford Odets]], [[Paula Strasberg]], [[Lillian Hellman]], [[J. Edward Bromberg]], and [[John Garfield]],<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/kazan/
|title=Postage Paid: In defense of Elia Kazan
|publisher=moderntimes.com
|access-date=February 25, 2009
|last=Mills
|first=Michael}}</ref> who in recent years had been fellow members of the [[Communist Party USA|Communist Party]].<ref name="AmMasters">{{cite web
|publisher=[[PBS]]
|title=American Masters: Elia Kazan
|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/kazan_e.html
|access-date=September 22, 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060923064612/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/kazan_e.html| archive-date= September 23, 2006| url-status=live|date=September 3, 2003
}}</ref> Miller and Kazan were close friends throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, but after Kazan's testimony to the HUAC, the pair's friendship ended.<ref name="AmMasters" /> After speaking with Kazan about his testimony, Miller traveled to [[Salem, Massachusetts]], to research the [[Salem witch trials|witch trials of 1692]].<ref name="Observer_obit" /> He and Kazan did not speak to each other for the next ten years. Kazan later defended his own actions through his film ''[[On the Waterfront]]'', in which a dockworker heroically testifies against a corrupt union boss.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/on_the_waterfront.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/on_the_waterfront.pdf |archive-date=September 9, 2022 |url-status=live|title=On The Waterfront|last=Sklar|first=Robert|website=Library of Congress|access-date=December 27, 2018}}</ref> Miller would retaliate against Kazan's work by writing ''[[A View from the Bridge]]'', a play where a longshoreman outs his co-workers motivated only by jealousy and greed. He sent a copy of the initial script to Kazan and when the director asked in jest to direct the movie, Miller replied "I only sent you the script to let you know what I think of [[stool-pigeons]]."<ref>{{cite web |date=April 2, 2021 |title=The Untold Story of On the Waterfront – As Time Goes By |url=https://sites.psu.edu/astimegoesby/2021/04/02/the-untold-story-of-on-the-waterfront/ |access-date=September 3, 2024 |publisher=CampusPress}}</ref>

In ''[[The Crucible]]'', which was first performed at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway on January 22, 1953, Miller likened the situation with the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] to [[Salem witch trials|the witch hunt in Salem in 1692]].<ref>For a frequently cited study of Miller's use of the Salem witchcraft episode, see Robert A. Martin, "Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Background and Sources", reprinted in James J. Martine, ed. (1979) ''Critical Essays on Arthur Miller'', G. K. Hall, {{ISBN|0816182582}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html|title=Are you now, or were you ever?|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910085108/http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html|archive-date=September 10, 2006|url-status=live|access-date=September 25, 2006}}</ref><ref name=Cakirtas /> Though widely considered only somewhat successful at the time of its release, ''The Crucible'' is Miller's most frequently produced work throughout the world.<ref name="Observer_obit" /> It was adapted into [[The Crucible (opera)|an opera]] by [[Robert Ward (composer)|Robert Ward]] in 1961. Earlier in 1955, a [[One-act play|one-act version]] of Miller's [[Verse drama and dramatic verse|verse drama]], titled ''[[A View from the Bridge]]'', opened on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in a joint bill with one of Miller's lesser-known plays, ''[[A Memory of Two Mondays]]''. The following year, Miller revised ''A View from the Bridge'' as a two-act [[prose]] drama, which [[Peter Brook]] directed in London.<ref>Miller, Arthur (1988) Introduction to ''Plays: One'', London: Methuen, p. 51, {{ISBN|0413175502}}.</ref> A French-Italian co-production ''[[A View from the Bridge (film)|Vu du pont]]'', based on the play, was released in 1962.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pecorari|first1=Mario|last2=Poppi|first2=Roberto|date=2007|title=Dizionario del cinema italiano. I film|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Gremese Editore|isbn=978-8884405036}}</ref>

[[File:Chairman Dies of House Committee investigating Un-American activities.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|While newsmen take notes, Chairman [[Martin Dies Jr.|Dies]] of House Un-American Activities Committee reads and proofs his letter replying to Pres. Roosevelt's attack on the committee, October 26, 1938]]

The HUAC took an interest in Miller himself not long after ''The Crucible'' opened, engineering the US State Department's denying him a passport to attend the play's London opening in 1954.<ref name="chronology" /> When Miller applied in 1956 for a routine renewal of his [[United States passport|passport]], the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] used this opportunity to [[subpoena]] him to appear before the committee. Before appearing, Miller asked the committee not to ask him to name names, to which the chairman, [[Francis E. Walter]] (D-PA) agreed.<ref name="BBCOnThisDay">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/7/newsid_2946000/2946420.stm|title=BBC On This Day|date=August 7, 1958|access-date=October 14, 2006|publisher=BBC}}</ref> When Miller attended the hearing, to which Monroe accompanied him, risking her own career,<ref name="Observer_obit" /> he gave the committee a detailed account of his political activities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://partners.nytimes.com/books/00/11/12/specials/miller-front.html|title=Arthur Miller Admits Helping Communist-Front Groups in '40's|last=Drury|first=Allen|date=June 22, 1956|website=The New York Times|access-date=June 7, 2016}}</ref> Reneging on the chairman's promise, the committee demanded the names of friends and colleagues who had participated in similar activities.<ref name="BBCOnThisDay"/> Miller refused to comply, saying "I could not use the name of another person and bring trouble on him."<ref name="BBCOnThisDay" /> As a result, a judge found Miller guilty of [[contempt of Congress]] in May 1957. Miller was sentenced to a fine and a prison sentence, [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted from Hollywood]], and disallowed a US passport.<ref name="UMICH_Early">{{cite web
|publisher=University of Michigan
|title=Arthur Miller Files
|url=http://www.umich.edu/~amfiles/biography/earlycareer.html
|access-date=April 2, 2016}}</ref> In August 1958, his conviction was overturned by the court of appeals, which ruled that Miller had been misled by the chairman of the HUAC.<ref name="BBCOnThisDay" />

Miller's experience with the HUAC affected him throughout his life. In the late 1970s, he joined other celebrities (including [[William Styron]] and [[Mike Nichols]]) who were brought together by the journalist Joan Barthel. Barthel's coverage of the highly publicized [[Catherine Roraback#Peter Reilly murder case|Barbara Gibbons murder case]] helped raise bail for Gibbons' son Peter Reilly, who had been convicted of his mother's murder based on what many felt was a coerced confession and little other evidence.<ref>Barthel, Joan:''A Death in Canaan''.  New York:  E.P. Dutton. 1976</ref> Barthel documented the case in her book ''A Death in Canaan'', which was made as a [[A Death in Canaan|television film of the same name]] and broadcast in 1978.<ref>''[[A Death in Canaan]]'' |url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077412/</ref> ''[[City Confidential]]'', an [[A&E Network]] series, produced an episode about the murder, postulating that part of the reason Miller took such an active interest (including supporting Reilly's defense and using his own celebrity to bring attention to Reilly's plight) was because he had felt similarly persecuted in his run-ins with the HUAC. He sympathized with Reilly, whom he firmly believed to be innocent and to have been railroaded by the [[Connecticut State Police]] and the Attorney General who had initially prosecuted the case.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url          = http://shop.aetv.com/detail.php?p=67193&v=aetv_subject_crime-and-investigation&SESSID=4d7f3bfc7189d91dc454e5a01a574224
 |archive-url  = https://archive.today/20130116104827/http://shop.aetv.com/detail.php?p=67193&v=aetv_subject_crime-and-investigation&SESSID=4d7f3bfc7189d91dc454e5a01a574224
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-date = January 16, 2013
|title        = A Son's Confession DVD, Shows The First 48, A&E Shop
 |publisher    = shop.aetv.com
 |access-date  = January 11, 2009
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite news
|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E1DF1031F930A3575AC0A9629C8B63
|title=Records on Exonerated Man Are Kept Off Limits to Press
|work=The New York Times
|access-date=January 11, 2009
|last=Stowe
|first=Stacey
|date=September 3, 2004}}</ref>

Miller began work on writing the screenplay for ''[[The Misfits (1961 film)|The Misfits]]'' in 1960, directed by [[John Huston]] and starring Monroe. It was during the filming that Miller's and Monroe's relationship hit difficulties, and he later said that the filming was one of the lowest points in his life.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Celizic |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Celizic |title=New footage of Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable revealed |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/new-footage-marilyn-monroe-clark-gable-revealed-wbna24927803 |date=June 2, 2008 |access-date=April 22, 2018 |work=[[Today (U.S. TV program)|Today]]}}</ref> Monroe was taking drugs to help her sleep and other drugs to help her wake up, arriving on the set late, and having trouble remembering her lines. Huston was unaware that Miller and Monroe were having problems in their private life. He recalled later, "I was impertinent enough to say to Arthur that to allow her to take drugs of any kind was criminal and utterly irresponsible. Shortly after that I realized that she wouldn't listen to Arthur at all; he had no say over her actions."<ref>Grobel, Lawrence. ''The Hustons'', Charles Scribner's Sons, New York (1989) p. 489</ref>

Shortly before the film's premiere in 1961, Miller and Monroe divorced after five years of marriage.<ref name="chronology"/> Nineteen months later, on August 5, 1962, Monroe died of a likely drug overdose.<ref>{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Marilyn Monroe is found dead|date=November 24, 2009|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marilyn-monroe-is-found-dead|access-date=September 2, 2020|website=History}}</ref> Huston, who had also directed her in her first major role in ''[[The Asphalt Jungle]]'' in 1950, and who had seen her rise to stardom, put the blame for her death on her doctors as opposed to the stresses of being a star: "The girl was an addict of [[Hypnotic|sleeping pills]] and she was made so by the God-damn doctors. It had nothing to do with the Hollywood set-up."<ref>Badman, Keith. ''The Final Years of Marilyn Monroe: The Shocking True Story'', Aurum Press (2010) ebook, {{ISBN|9781781310519}}</ref>

=== 1964–2004: Later career ===
In 1964, ''[[After the Fall (play)|After the Fall]]'' was produced, and is said to be a deeply personal view of Miller's experiences during his marriage to Monroe. It reunited Miller with his former friend Kazan; they collaborated on the script and direction. It opened on January 23, 1964, at the [[ANTA Theatre]] in [[Washington Square Park]] amid a flurry of publicity and outrage at putting a Monroe-like character, Maggie, on stage.<ref name="Observer_obit" /> Robert Brustein, in a review in the ''[[The New Republic|New Republic]]'', called ''After the Fall'' "a three and one half hour breach of taste, a confessional autobiography of embarrassing explicitness ... There is a misogynistic strain in the play which the author does not seem to recognize. ... He has created a shameless piece of tabloid gossip, an act of exhibitionism which makes us all voyeurs ... a wretched piece of dramatic writing."<ref>{{cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Stephen |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/258bqlwx.asp |title=The Moral of Arthur Miller |work=[[The Weekly Standard]] |date=February 28, 2005 |access-date=October 30, 2013 |archive-date=January 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107153947/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/258bqlwx.asp |url-status=dead}}</ref> That year, Miller produced ''[[Incident at Vichy]]''. In 1965, he was elected the first American president of [[PEN International]], a position which he held for four years.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Arthur |last=Miller |title=A Visit With Castro |date=December 24, 2003 |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/visit-castro/ |magazine=[[The Nation]] |access-date=August 1, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820192342/http://www.thenation.com/article/visit-castro/
|archive-date=August 20, 2015}}</ref> A year later, he organized the 1966 PEN congress in New York City. He also wrote the penetrating family drama ''[[The Price (play)|The Price]]'', produced in 1968.<ref name="Observer_obit" /> It was his most successful play since ''Death of a Salesman''.<ref name="UMICH_60s70s80s">{{cite web |publisher=University of Michigan
|title=Arthur Miller Files 60s70s80s |url=http://www.umich.edu/~amfiles/biography/607080.html |access-date=October 14, 2006}}</ref>

In 1968, Miller attended the [[1968 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]] as a delegate for [[Eugene McCarthy]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kurlansky, Mark|url=https://archive.org/details/1968yearthatrock0000kurl_o9x1|title=1968: The Year that Rocked the World|page=[https://archive.org/details/1968yearthatrock0000kurl_o9x1/page/272/mode/1up 272]|year=2004|publisher=Ballantine|isbn=0-345-45581-9|edition=1st|location=New York|oclc=53929433|url-access=registration}}</ref> In 1969, Miller's works were banned in the [[Soviet Union]] after he campaigned for the freedom of [[Soviet dissidents|dissident writers]].<ref name="chronology" /> Throughout the 1970s, he spent much of his time experimenting with the theatre, producing one-act plays such as ''Fame'' and ''The Reason Why'', and traveling with his wife, producing ''In the Country'' and ''Chinese Encounters'' with her. Both his 1972 comedy ''[[The Creation of the World and Other Business]]'' and its musical adaptation, ''[[Up from Paradise]]'', were critical and commercial failures.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/12/specials/miller-genesis.html |title=Arthur Miller Returns to Genesis for First Musical |work=The New York Times |author=Mel Gussow |date=April 17, 1974 |access-date=January 11, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Rich |first=Frank |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/26/theater/stage-miller-s-up-from-paradise.html |title=Stage: Miller's Up from Paradise |work=The New York Times |page=C22 |date=October 26, 1983 |access-date=January 11, 2009}}</ref>

Miller was an unusually articulate commentator on his own work. In 1978, he published a collection of his ''Theater Essays'', edited by Robert A. Martin and with a foreword by Miller. Highlights of the collection included Miller's introduction to his ''Collected Plays'', his reflections on the theory of tragedy, comments on the McCarthy Era, and pieces arguing for a publicly supported theater. Reviewing this collection in the ''Chicago Tribune,'' [[Studs Terkel]] remarked, "In reading [the ''Theater Essays'']&nbsp;... you are exhilaratingly aware of a social critic, as well as a playwright, who knows what he's talking about."<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Martin |editor-first=Robert A. |title=The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller |year=1978 |publisher=Viking |isbn=0670698016}}</ref>

[[File:Arthur Miller (1986, PEN Congress) (cropped).tif|thumb|left|upright|Miller at the 1986 [[PEN International|PEN]] Congress]]
In 1983, Miller traveled to China to produce and direct ''Death of a Salesman'' at the People's Art Theatre in [[Beijing]]. It was a success in China<ref name="UMICH_60s70s80s" /> and in 1984, ''Salesman in Beijing'', a book about Miller's experiences in Beijing, was published. Around the same time, ''Death of a Salesman'' was adapted into [[Death of a Salesman (1985 film)|a television film]] starring [[Dustin Hoffman]] as Willy Loman. The film was broadcast on CBS, and garnered an audience viewership of 25 million.<ref name="chronology" /><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Wilmeth |editor-first1=Don B. |editor-last2=Bigsby |editor-first2=Christopher |title=The Cambridge History of American Theatre Volume III: Post-World War II to the 1990s |year=2006 |page=296 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-67985-5}}</ref> In late 1987, Miller's autobiographical work, ''Timebends'', was published. Before it was published, it was well known that Miller would not talk about Monroe in interviews; however, in the book, he wrote extensively in detail about his experiences with Monroe.<ref name="Observer_obit" />

During the early 1990s, Miller wrote three new plays: ''[[The Ride Down Mt. Morgan]]'' (1991), ''[[The Last Yankee]]'' (1992), and ''[[Broken Glass (play)|Broken Glass]]'' (1994). In 1996, [[The Crucible (1996 film)|a film adaptation]] of ''The Crucible'' starring [[Daniel Day-Lewis]], [[Paul Scofield]], [[Bruce Davison]] and [[Winona Ryder]] was released. Miller spent much of 1996 working on the screenplay.<ref name="chronology" />

''[[Mr. Peters' Connections]]'' was staged [[Off-Broadway]] in 1998, and ''Death of a Salesman'' was revived on Broadway in 1999 to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The 1999 revival ran for 274 performances at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, starring [[Brian Dennehy]] as Willy Loman. Once again, it was a large critical success, winning a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.<ref>{{cite news
|title='Death of a Salesman' Takes Four Tony Awards |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-07-mn-45037-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 7, 1999 |access-date=January 8, 2023 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

In 1993, Miller received the [[National Medal of Arts]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html#93 |title=1993 Lifetime Honors |publisher=National Medal of Arts |access-date=December 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721054307/http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html |archive-date=July 21, 2011}}</ref> He was honored with the [[PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award]] for a Master American Dramatist in 1998. In 2001, the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] selected him for the [[Jefferson Lecture]], the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the [[humanities]].<ref name="jefflect">{{cite web |url=https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/arthur-miller-biography |title=Arthur Miller |publisher=National Endowment for the Humanities |access-date=January 22, 2009}}</ref> His lecture, "On Politics and the Art of Acting",<ref>{{cite speech |last=Miller |first=Arthur |url=http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/miller/lecture.html |title=On Politics and the Art of Acting |publisher=National Endowment for the Humanities |date=March 26, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010717020140/http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/miller/lecture.html |archive-date=July 17, 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref> analyzed political events (including the [[2000 United States presidential election|U.S. presidential election of 2000]])
in terms of the "arts of performance". It drew attacks from some conservatives<ref>{{cite news |last=Craig |first=Bruce |title=Arthur Miller's Jefferson Lecture Stirs Controversy |url=http://www.oah.org/pubs/nl/2001may/ncc.html |date=May 2001 |work=OAH Newsletter |publisher=[[Organization of American Historians]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011222143737/http://www.oah.org/pubs/nl/2001may/ncc.html |archive-date=December 22, 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref> such as [[Jay Nordlinger]], who called it "a disgrace";<ref>{{cite news |last=Nordlinger |first=Jay |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/impromptus/impromptus042202.asp |title=Back to Plessy, Easter with Fidel, Miller's new tale |work=[[National Review]] |date=April 22, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020520083718/https://www.nationalreview.com/impromptus/impromptus042202.asp |archive-date=May 20, 2002 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[George Will]], who argued that Miller was not a legitimate "scholar".<ref>{{cite web |last=Will |first=George |author-link=George Will |url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will041001.asp |title=Enduring Arthur Miller: Oh, the Humanities! |publisher=[[Jewish World Review]] |date=April 10, 2001}}</ref>

In October 1999, Miller received [[The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize]], given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life".<ref>{{cite news |last=McGrath |first=Sean |url=https://playbill.com/article/arthur-miller-to-receive-1999-dorothy-and-lillian-gish-prize-com-83204 |title=Arthur Miller to Receive 1999 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize |work=Playbill |date=July 20, 1999 |access-date=January 18, 2023}}</ref> Additionally in 1999, [[San Jose State University]] honored Miller with the [[John Steinbeck Award|John Steinbeck "In the Souls of the People" Award]], which is given to those who capture "Steinbeck's empathy, commitment to democratic values, and belief in the dignity of people who by circumstance are pushed to the fringes."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arthur Miller |url=https://www.steinbeckaward.com/awardees/arthur-miller |access-date=October 29, 2024 |website=The John Steinbeck Award |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2001, he received the [[National Book Foundation]]'s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.<ref>{{cite speech |last=Miller |first=Arthur |url=http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_amiller.html |title=Acceptance Speech by Arthur Miller, Winner of the 2001 Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award |year=2001 |publisher=National Book Foundation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030126001503/http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_amiller.html |archive-date=January 26, 2003 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On May 1, 2002, he received Spain's [[Principe de Asturias Prize for Literature]] as "the undisputed master of modern drama". Later that year, Ingeborg Morath died of [[lymphatic cancer]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Wrigg |first=William |work=The New York Times Magazine |title=On Inge Morath's death |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/magazine/l-inge-morath-754897.html |access-date=January 21, 2007 |date=January 12, 2003}}</ref> at the age of 78. The following year, Miller won the [[Jerusalem Prize]].<ref name="chronology" />

In December 2004, 89-year-old Miller announced that he had been in love with 34-year-old [[Minimalism|minimalist painter]] Agnes Barley and had been living with her at his Connecticut farm since 2002, and that they intended to marry.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1478782/At-89-Arthur-Miller-grows-old-romantically.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1478782/At-89-Arthur-Miller-grows-old-romantically.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | title=At 89, Arthur Miller grows old romantically | newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | date=December 11, 2004 | access-date=September 3, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 
Miller's final play, ''[[Finishing the Picture]]'', opened at the [[Goodman Theatre]], Chicago, in the fall of 2004, with one character said to be based on Barley.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-10-20-miller_x.htm | title=Arthur Miller creates a new work | location=Chicago | newspaper=[[USA Today]] | date=October 10, 2004 | access-date=September 23, 2014 | quote=And in the play's sweetest moments, he's found a new romance – Kitty's tenderhearted secretary, played by Fisher, a union perhaps mirroring Miller's reported new relationship with Agnes Barley, a 34-year-old artist.}}</ref> It was reportedly based on his experience during the filming of ''The Misfits'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/19/magazine/19MILL.html | title=Goodbye (Again), Norma Jean | last=Solomon | first=Deborah | work=The New York Times| date=September 19, 2004 | access-date=September 3, 2014}}</ref> though Miller insisted the play was a work of fiction with independent characters that were no more than composite shadows of history.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/02/12/arthur-miller-11/ | title=Arthur Miller (1915–2005) – The Shadow Of Marilyn Monroe. Decades later, a man still haunted | last=Jones | first=Chris | newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] | date=February 12, 2005 | access-date=September 3, 2014}}</ref>