Editing Arthur Miller (section)

=== 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>