Tag Archives: Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman (1951)

If you’ve read Arthur Miller’s Timebends then you know he was not happy with the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, with most of the original Broadway cast (Mildred Dunnock, Kevin McCarthy, Cameron Mitchell), and Fredric March in … Continue reading

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The Books: “Timebends: A Life” (Arthur Miller)

Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Timebends: A Life, by Arthur Miller This is truly bizarre. Today happens to be Arthur Miller’s birthday. His is the next book on the shelf. So happy birthday, Arthur Miller. When Timebends came out, in … Continue reading

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The Books: “Death Of a Salesman” (Arthur Miller)

Next in my Daily Book Excerpt: Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays) by Arthur Miller. This play needs no introduction. Although I will link to this a post where I excerpt Miller’s autobiography about the life-changing opening of the first … Continue reading

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Harold Bloom on Death of a Salesman

Harold Bloom had this to say about “Death of a Salesman: I myself resist the drama each time I reread it, because it seems that its language does not hold me, and then I see it played onstage . . … Continue reading

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Billy Crystal Remembers

Billy Crystal remembering Mr. Miller:: When I auditioned unsuccessfully, for “Death of a Salesman” with Dustin Hoffman, I met Arthur Miller and got him to autograph a copy of the play for me. He told me that he was fascinated … Continue reading

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“Attention must be paid.”

From “Death of a Salesman”, by Arthur Miller: Don’t say he’s a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a … Continue reading

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R.I.P. Arthur Miller

A long obituary in The New York Times – it looks back over Miller’s extraordinary career. His later plays are, indeed, didactic (he always had a bit of the autodidact about him) – and the plays at the end of … Continue reading

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Lee J. Cobb: “Like a giant moving the Rocky Mountains into position…”

I read Arthur Miller’s autobiography Timebends: A Life voraciously during my thesis acting project in graduate school. My project was a couple of different scenes from Miller’s play about his marriage to Marilyn Monroe: After the Fall. His passages about … Continue reading

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Kazan On Scripts

Excerpt from Elia Kazan: A Life: One must do one’s best and at a certain point say, ‘I’ve done all I can. I’m not going to make this better.’ I’ve noticed that the best pieces of writing for the theatre … Continue reading

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Lee J. Cobb: “Like a giant moving the Rocky Mountains into position…”

Occasionally, if I need inspiration, if I need help sticking with my dreams, my plans … I take out Arthur Miller’s autobiography: Timebends. I read it voraciously during my thesis acting project in graduate school – My project was a … Continue reading

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