Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as an answer to the abusive politics of McCarthyism (during the Cold War in the United States) and refers to the writing of the play as "an act of desperation". Miller was very unsettled about the feelings of oppression settling over the country at the time.
His plays were frequently controversial because of their portrayal of issues at the time, such as the connection between the frenzy of the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings.
Born in 1915, in Harlem, New York, Arthur Miller attended the University of Michigan before moving back east to produce plays for the stage. Miller's first critical and popular achievement was Death of a Salesman, which opened on Broadway in 1949.
His very colorful public life was painted in part by his unsteady marriage to Marilyn Monroe, and his unwavering refusal to conjoin with the House of Un-American Activities Committee. Miller was married 3 times and died in 2005, at the age of 89.
Dying eight times a week as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman on Broadway took its toll on Philip Seymour Hoffman, according to Rolling Stone. Learn more at Broadway.com.