In 2005, when Miller died, Daniel was not mentioned in most of Miller’s obituaries. Few of Millers' close friends and family even knew Daniel existed. He decided not only to leave Daniel as a ward of the state - he also decided to paint his son out of his life completely. In the 1960s, many doctors still recommended that children like Daniel be institutionalized. When doctors revealed that Daniel had Down syndrome, America’s great moralist was faced with a profound moral dilemma. In 1966, his third wife, Inge Morath, delivered his fourth child, a boy named Daniel. After refusing to name names before the House Committee on un-American Activities, Miller was a leading opponent of the Vietnam War. He fashioned himself a stand-up guy - and many Americans loved him for it.īut as enterprising journalists discovered soon after Miller died in 2005, the famous playwright harbored a terrible secret. "The Crucible" was a parable about the scourge of McCarthyism. In "Death of a Salesman," with its iconic portrayal of Willy Loman, he showed the downside of the American Dream. Miller was arguably the most influential American playwright of the 20th century. But "Fall," a new play I co-produced with Todd Black, challenges audiences to ask whether Miller lived up to the moral character he celebrated in his own literature. After winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1949, Arthur Miller was more than just a playwright - he became “a voice of conscience” for our nation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |