Death of a Salesman

Death of A Salesman

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Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play by American playwright Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller was an United States playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in Theater in the United States and film for almost 100 years, writing a wide variety of dramas, including celebrated Play such as The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, All My Sons, and Death of a Salesman, which are studied and performed w...
and is a classic of American theater. The play ran for 742 performances, directed by Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan, September 7 1909 – September 28 2003, was an United States award-winning film director and Theatre direction, film producer and theatrical producer, screenwriter, novelist and co-founder of the influential Actors Studio in New York in 1947....
with Lee J. Cobb

Lee J. Cobb

Lee J. Cobb was an United States actor....
starring in the leading role.

Death of a Salesman made both Arthur Miller and the character Willy Loman household names. The play raises a counterexample to Aristotle

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greeks philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, Poetics , theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology....
's characterization of tragedy

Tragedy

Tragedy is a form of The arts based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific Poetic tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western culture....
as the downfall of a great man: though Loman certainly has Hamartia
Hamartia

Hamartia is a term developed by Aristotle in his work Poetics . The term can simply be seen as a character?s flaw or error. The word hamartia is rooted in the notion of missing the mark and covers a broad spectrum that includes accident and mistake, as well as wrongdoing, error, or sin.....
, a tragic flaw or error, his downfall is that of an ordinary man (a "low man").

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Encyclopedia

Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play by American playwright Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller

Elia Kazan

Lee J. Cobb

Aristotle

Tragedy

Sophocles

Sophocles was the second of the three classical Greece tragedy whose work has survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus and earlier than those of Euripides....
' Oedipus in Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King is an Classical Athens tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 B.C.E. It was the second of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone ....
, Loman's flaw comes down to a lack of self-knowledge; unlike Oedipus, Loman's downfall threatens not the city but only a single, bourgeois household. In this sense, Miller's play represents a democratization of the ancient form of tragedy; interestingly, the play's protagonist is himself obsessed with the question of greatness, and his downfall arises directly from his misperception of himself as someone capable of greatness.

Characters

Death of a Salesman is without a doubt a comedy of situation. The typical battle is the question: Tragedy or Simply Tragic? Because it's characters are unwilling to make any changes whatsoever, it is comic. The characters are as follows: Willy Loman: A middle-aged salesman who is no longer able to earn a living. He receives only a small commission as he ages, and he slowly loses his mind and attempts to kill himself by inhaling gas from the water heater or from crashing his car. He is obsessed with the post war interpretation of the American Dream. Linda Loman: Willy's wife, aids in shielding Willy from reality. Also tries to rationalize many of Willy's actions, including his attempted suicide. Biff Loman: The older son of Willy and Linda, he is the all-star athlete of the family. After discovering his father had an affair, he abandoned all of his dreams and set out to make his own way. Harold 'Happy' Loman: The younger son of Willy and Linda, epitomizes all of Willy's negative points, such as Willy's blind following of the American dream, as discussed above. Happy is generally supportive of his father, and shows concern for him. Ben Loman: Willy's wealthy and recently deceased older brother who only appears during his time shifts. Willy looks up to him- and his successful tapping of Diamonds from Africa. He is the subject of many of Willy's hallucinations and later convinces Willy to commit suicide.

Minor characters

Howard Wagner: Willy's boss. Inherited company from father; fires Willy shortly before the end of the play.
Charley: Willy's neighbor and brother in law. Sympathetic to Willy's plight, his job offer to Willy was rejected mainly out of hubris.
Bernard: Charley's son. Is the antithesis of Biff, mostly due to the parenting of his father.
Stanley: A waiter. Refuses Willy's money and lends a hand to help Willy return home after his sons leave him.
Miss Forsythe: A woman that Biff and Happy meet in the restaurant where Stanley works. Most likely a prostitute; she draws Biff and Happy away from the dinner they planned with their father.
Letta: A woman that Biff and Happy meet, friend of Miss Forsythe.
The Woman: Willy's mistress, referred to by Willy as 'Miss Francis'. Sight of her with Willy forever scars Biff.
Bill Oliver: A previous boss of Biff's. Failure to recognize Biff fifteen years on causes revelation that most of Biff's life has been a lie.
Jenny: Charley's secretary.
Dave Singleman: A very old but successful salesman. His death at 84, and subsequent funeral, drew a far-reaching crowd that inspired Willy to try for the same.
Birnbaum: High school teacher of Biff's. Flunked Biff in math, which led to Biff's discovery of Willy's affair.

Plot summary

One night, Willy Loman, a beaten-down traveling salesman based in New York City

New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, returns home from a long business trip. His patient and loving wife, Linda, is surprised to see him but greets him warmly. From their ensuing conversation, it is revealed that Willy's early homecoming is due to his growing senility. Linda dotes on him and tells him to come to bed. Willy agrees but eventually remains in the kitchen, reminiscing, aloud to himself, about better times. His two sons, Biff and Happy, eventually awaken to Willy's loud mutterings but they remain in their beds to share a conversation. Biff, who had been working on a farm in Texas

Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, talks to Happy about working outside, and how this house brings back bad memories, and boxes him in. Willy goes outside and flashes back to Biff's childhood: Biff is the star quarterback of his high school football team. His father continuously dotes on Biff, while ignoring Happy. When Biff confesses to "borrowing" a football from his school's locker room, Willy simply writes off his behavior as initiative. Biff's classmate and neighbor, Bernard, arrives to help Biff study for math, but Willy and his sons ignore him and carry on playing football. Later on in the flashback, Willy goes inside, where Linda talks to him about their budget. Willy is reminded of a flirtatious encounter he had with The Woman, during which he gave her some silk stockings, originally meant for his wife. When he returns from the flashback, he sees Linda mending some stockings and snatches them away in guilt. Later, he and Charley engage in a card game (casino

Casino

A casino is, in the modern sense of the word, a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and other tourist attractions....
), during which Willy is reminded of his brother Ben. Ben begins a dialogue with him, and Willy contemplates why he can't become successful. Throughout the play, Willy has these imaginary conversations with Ben, during most of which he asks Ben how he made his millions. Ben had tried to go to Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
to find their father but ended up in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
. In Africa, he "stumbled" upon the diamond business

Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is the Allotropes of carbon where the carbon atoms are arranged in an isometric-hexoctahedral crystal lattice. After graphite, diamond is the second most stable form of carbon....
and became wealthy by the time Willy was old enough to care about his own career. Willy feels that he can also become successful by luck alone. However, it is made apparent that Ben never spent much time with the rest of the Lomans and gave only rudimentary descriptions of how he gained his wealth. For instance, whenever Willy asks Ben (in his flashbacks) how he made his millions, Ben only answers "When I walked into the jungle, I was 17. When I walked out, I was 21, and by God I was rich." In addition, Willy worked for a man who only had to wake up in the morning, put his slippers on, and make phone calls, and had made millions of dollars. Willy assumes that one does not need to work hard or develop skill and experience, but that all that one needs is a "smile and a shoeshine" to be successful. In a sense, Willy's dream is the American Dream of material success. Willy has no interest in spiritual values or altruism.

As a salesman, Willy has been reduced to working for commission alone, has to travel long distances, and even has to borrow money from Charley to make ends meet. In order to escape from his own failure, he pressures his sons to make something of themselves, then is crushed when they don't live up to his expectations. The family discovers he's tried to kill himself when Linda finds a tube and "a new little nipple" on the heater, at which point Linda mentions he's deliberately crashed the car on several occasions. Biff has just returned from Texas after several years, during which he never contacted his family, and he is therefore not entirely welcome. In an effort to please their father, Biff and Happy plan to start a sporting goods business in Florida

Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
and put on exhibitions for publicity. Willy is excited by this plan, though it is ludicrous, and the boys plan to ask Bill Oliver, Biff's past employer, for startup money. Willy asks his current employer for a job in New York, so he doesn't have to travel so much. His employer instead fires him. Willy is outraged, and goes on a rant about the immorality of it, to which his employer responds "I have to see some people, can you hurry this up?" Willy walks out, and goes to where Charley works. There, he runs into Bernard, who mentions that, during Biff's last year in high school, Biff went to Boston

Boston, Massachusetts

Boston is the State capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region, and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England." Boston city proper had a 2007 est...
to visit Willy, but after he returned, had lost all interest in school, thereby failing math. Willy denies anything happened in Boston. Charley mentions that Bernard is going to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court

Supreme court

A supreme court, also called a court of last resort or high court, is in some jurisdictions the highest court within that jurisdiction's court system, whose rulings are not subject to further review by another court....
, which astounds Willy. Charley offers Willy a job when he finds out that Willy has been fired, but Willy is too proud to accept.

Later, at a restaurant, Biff tells Happy about his encounter with Bill Oliver; he never got a chance to speak with Oliver, as he didn't even remember who Biff was. Infuriated, Biff stole Oliver's fountain pen and fled, at which point he realized his life was a lie and he was only a shipping clerk to Oliver. When Willy arrives, Biff tries to tell Willy the truth, but Willy so desperately wants good news that he forces Biff to lie. When Biff resists, Willy starts to pace, demanding to know why Biff didn't pass math. Biff takes pity on Willy, and lies that his encounter with Oliver went well, which allows Willy to continue denying reality. Willy has another flashback, during which he relives the night Biff found him in Boston; Biff walked in on Willy and The Woman, where Willy desperately tried to cover up his affair, but Biff saw through his lies and fled back to New York. Willy then wakes up in the bathroom, where he had somehow dozed off, and goes back home, where he begins planting seeds outside and talking to Ben. When Biff returns, he admits that he hadn't called because he had been in jail for a long time, and confronts Willy by showing him the tube with which Willy had attempted suicide. In a heated debate between Willy, Linda, Biff, and Happy, Biff pleads with Willy to be free of his judgment, to "take this phony dream and burn it." Biff, Linda and Happy then go to bed. Willy then follows the voice of Ben, calling him to his car, and Willy drives off with the intent of killing himself in order to give Biff the settlement from his life insurance. As a failed salesman, Willy is worth more dead than alive.

The Requiem

Requiem

The Requiem or Requiem Mass , also known formally in Latin as the Missa pro defunctis or Missa defunctorum , is a liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, Anglo-Catholic Anglicans, and certain Lutheran Church Churches in the United States....
is a funeral scene, with Happy, Biff, Linda, Charley and Bernard standing over Willy's grave. At that point, Biff has learned to accept himself for what he is, Happy still wants to carry on Willy's dream of success in the city, and Linda ends the play with a monologue alone. In this monologue, she explains that she can't cry, and that she had made the last payment on the house, ending with the words "We're free... We're free..."

Style

The play is mostly told from Willy's point of view, and it shows previous parts of Willy's life in his time shifts, sometimes during a present day scene. It does this by having a scene begin in the present time and adding characters onto the stage that only Willy can see and hear, representing characters and conversations from other times and places. One example of this is during a conversation between Willy and his neighbor Charley. During the conversation, Willy's brother Ben comes on stage and begins talking to Willy while Charley speaks to Willy. When Willy begins talking to his brother, the other characters do not understand who he is talking to and some of them even begin to suspect that he has "lost it". However, at times it breaks away from Willy's point of view and focuses on the other characters, Linda, Biff and Happy. During these parts of the play, the time and place stay constant without any abrupt flashbacks as usually happens while the play takes Willy's point of view. Willy dies self deceived.

The play's structure resembles a stream of consciousness account: Willy drifts between his living room, downstage, to the apron and flashbacks of an idyllic past, and also to fantasized

Fantasy (psychology)

A fantasy is a situation imagination by an individual or group, which does not correspond with reality but expresses certain desires or aims of its creator....
conversations with Ben. The use of these different "states" allows Miller to contrast Willy's dreams and the reality of his life in extraordinary detail; and also allows him to contrast the characters themselves, showing them in both sympathetic and villain

Villain

A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a history narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters....
ous lights, gradually unfolding the story, and refusing to allow the audience a permanent judgment about anyone. When we are in the present the characters abide by the rules of the set, entering only through the stage door to the left; however, when we visit Willy's "past" these rules are removed, with characters openly moving through walls. Whereas the term "flashback" as a form of cinematography for these scenes is often heard, Miller himself rather speaks of "mobile concurrences". In fact, flashbacks would show an objective image of the past. Miller's mobile concurrences, however, rather show highly subjective memories. Furthermore, as Willy's mental state deteriorates, the boundaries between past and present are destroyed, and the two start to exist in parallel.

Productions

The original production won the Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live United States theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City....
for: Best Play; Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Arthur Kennedy

Arthur Kennedy (actor)

John Arthur Kennedy was an United States actor.Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Kennedy graduated from Worcester Academy and Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, where an award is presented every year to a deserving actor in his honor....
); Best Scenic Design (Jo Mielziner

Jo Mielziner

Jo Mielziner was an United States theatrical scenic design, costume design, and lighting design designer born in Paris, France. He was considered one of the most influential theatre designers of the 20th century, designing the scenery and often the lighting for over 200 productions, many of which became American classics....
); Producer (Dramatic); Author (Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller

Elia Kazan

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is an United States award regarded as the highest national honor in newspaper journalism, literary achievements and musical composition....
for Drama. Jayne Mansfield

Jayne Mansfield

Jayne Mansfield was an United States actor working both on Broadway theatre and in Hollywood. One of the leading blonde sex symbols of the 1950s, Mansfield, like Marilyn Monroe, was a Playboy Playmate, and appeared in the magazine several more times over the years....
, a Hollywood actress once compared, in some ways, to Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model, and a sex symbol.After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946....
, performed in a production of the play in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population in the United States.The city, with a population of over 1.3 million, is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex which contains 6.1 million people, and is the fourth-largest United States metropolitan area...
in October, 1953. Her performance in the play attracted Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production company and distribution company, located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California....
to hire her for the studio's film productions.

The play has been revived on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
three times since:

June 26, 1975 at the Circle in the Square Theatre
Circle in the Square Theatre

The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre theatre in midtown Manhattan.The original Circle in the Square was founded by Jose Quintero and was located at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village....
, running for 71 performances. George C. Scott
George C. Scott

George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, film director, and Film producer. He was best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of General George S....
was Willy.
March 29, 1984 at the Broadhurst Theatre
Broadhurst Theatre

The Broadhurst Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre theatre located at 235 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.It was designed by architect Herbert J....
, running for 97 performances. Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Lee Hoffman is a two-time Academy Award-, six-time Golden Globe-, three-time BAFTA- and Emmy Award-winning United States actor....
played Willy. In a return engagement, this production re-opened on September 14, 1984 and ran for 88 performances. The production won the Tony Award for Best Reproduction.
February 10, 1999 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Eugene O'Neill Theatre

The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 230 West 49th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J....
, running for 274 performances, with Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy

Brian Mannion Dennehy is an American actor of film Theatre and television....
as Willy. The production won the Tony Award
Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live United States theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City....
for: Best Revival of a Play; Best Actor in Play; Best Featured Actress in a Play (Elizabeth Franz
Elizabeth Franz

Elizabeth Franz is an United States actress of Broadway theatre and television.Franz was born Betty Jean Frankovich in Akron, Ohio to a factory worker father....
); Best Direction of a Play (Robert Falls
Robert Falls

Robert Falls is an American theater director and the current Artistic Director of Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois....
). This production was filmed.

Adaptations

In 1951, it was adapted by Stanley Roberts into a film which was directed by László Benedek

László Benedek

L?szl? Benedek was a Hungary-born film director....
who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director

Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture

This page lists the winners of and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Since its inception in 1943, it has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization comprised of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based outside North America....
. The film was nominated for Academy Awards

Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
for Best Actor in a Leading Role

Academy Award for Best Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry....
(Fredric March), Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry....
(Kevin McCarthy), Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry....
(Mildred Dunnock), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

Academy Award for Best Cinematography

The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture....
and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture

Academy Award for Original Music Score

The Academy Award for Original Music Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of Film score written specifically for the film by the submitting composer....
.

1961: En Handelsresandes död starring Kolbjörn Knudsen - directed by Hans Abramson (in Swedish
Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic languages language, spoken by around 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the ?land islands....
)
1968: Der Tod eines Handlungsreisenden starring Heinz Rühmann
Heinz Rühmann

Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" R?hmann was a popular Germany film actor....
and directed by Gerhard Klingenberg

Television

1966: starring Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb

Lee J. Cobb was an United States actor....
, Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder is an American Emmy Award-winning and twice Academy Award-nominated theatre and film actor, film director, screenwriter, and author....
, Mildred Dunnock
Mildred Dunnock

Mildred Dunnock was an Academy Award-nominated United States theater, film and television actor....
, James Farentino
James Farentino

James Farentino is an United States actor. He has appeared in almost one-hundred roles, among them in The Final Countdown , Jesus of Nazareth , and Dynasty ....
, Karen Steele
Karen Steele

Karen Steele was an United States actor and model with over 60 roles in film and television to her credit.Her most famous roles include starring as Virginia in Marty, as Mrs Lane in Ride Lonesome and as Eve McHuron in Star Trek: The Original Series, Mudd's Women....
and George Segal
George Segal

George Segal, Jr. is an American film and stage actor....
. It was directed by Alex Segal
Alex Segal

Alex Segal was an Emmy Award winning United States television director, television producer and film director.He directed mostly on television making over 25 productions between his debut as a director on Starring Boris Karloff in 1949 and his death....
.
1985: starring Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Lee Hoffman is a two-time Academy Award-, six-time Golden Globe-, three-time BAFTA- and Emmy Award-winning United States actor....
, Kate Reid
Kate Reid

Daphne Kate Reid, Order of Canada was a Canada stage, film and television actress....
, John Malkovich
John Malkovich

'John Gavin Malkovich' is an Emmy Award-winning, two-time Academy Award-nominated United States actor, film producer and film director. Over the last 25 years, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures, including Dangerous Liaisons, In the Line of Fire, Con Air, The Man in the Iron Mask , Rounders , Changelin...
, Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang (actor)

Stephen Lang is an United States film actor who started in theatre on Broadway theatre. He is currently co-artistic director of the famed Actor's Studio at its headquarters in New York City....
and Charles Durning
Charles Durning

Charles Durning is an Academy Award- and Emmy Award-nominated United States actor of stage and screen....
. It was directed by Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff

Volker Schl?ndorff is a Berlin-based Germany filmmaker.He won an Academy Awards as well as the Palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival for The Tin Drum , the film version of the novel by Nobel Prize in Literature-winning author G?nter Grass....
.
1996: starring Warren Mitchell
Warren Mitchell

Warren Mitchell is an England actor....
, Rosemary Harris
Rosemary Harris

Rosemary Ann Harris is an England Tony Award-winning and Academy Awards-nominated actor and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame....
, Iain Glen
Iain Glen

Iain Glen is a Scotland film and theatre actor.Glen was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He trained at RADA where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal....
and Owen Teale
Owen Teale

Owen Teale is a Wales actor.Trained at the Guildford School of Acting, Teale made his television debut in The Mimosa Boys in 1984. He later appeared in Knights of God , Great Expectations , Waterfront Beat and Boon before being cast as Will Scarlett in the 1991 TV movie Robin Hood ....
. It was directed by David Thacker
David Thacker

David Thacker is an English award-winning theatre director.ReferencesExternal links...
.
2000: starring Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy

Brian Mannion Dennehy is an American actor of film Theatre and television....
, Elizabeth Franz
Elizabeth Franz

Elizabeth Franz is an United States actress of Broadway theatre and television.Franz was born Betty Jean Frankovich in Akron, Ohio to a factory worker father....
, Ron Eldard
Ron Eldard

Ronald Jason Eldard is an United States film, television and stage actor known for his understated character roles on both the screen and the stage....
, Ted Koch, Howard Witt
Howard Witt

'Howard Witt' is an American character actor and Chicago native who began his acting career in the Goodman Theatre.He has appeared as a guest star in many television series including Kojak, The Bob Newhart Show, Rhoda, The Rockford Files, Eight Is Enough, WKRP in Cincinnati, Alice , Archie Bunker's Place , Hi...
and Richard Thompson. It was directed by Kirk Browning
Kirk Browning

Kirk Browning was an Primetime Emmy Award-winning United States television director and Television producer who had hundreds of productions to his credit, including 185 broadcasts of Live from Lincoln Center....
.

Awards and nominations

Awards

1949 New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play
1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1949 Tony Award for Best Play
1984 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival
1984 Tony Award for Best Reproduction
1999 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
1999 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Play

External links

by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates is an United States author. Raised in rural, working-class New York, Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published over fifty novels, as well as many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction....

Death of a Salesman

Characters

Plot summary

Style

Productions

Adaptations

Awards and nominations

Further reading

External links