Playwright Arthur Miller dies

Playwright Arthur Miller looks on as his wife actress Marilyn Monroe (R) signs an autograph for a fan in New York in May 21, 1958

Miller's personal life, including a stormy marriage to Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe, often captivated America. His left-wing views had brought a face-to-face clash with the US Congress during the 1950s crackdown on communist sympathisers.

The playwright died of congenital heart failure Thursday night at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut.

Death of a Salesman, a tragedy whose central character, failed businessman Willy Loman, became an archetype for shattered dreams, is considered a 20th-century classic. The play won him a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award at age 33.

His other major works included All My Sons, A View from the Bridge, and The Crucible.

Fellow playwright and friend Harold Pinter told the BBC that Miller's plays "are among the finest works that have been produced in the 20th century." Author Salman Rushdie, president of international writers association PEN, said in a statement: "He made plays with the grandeur and power of high tragedy, revealing what he called...the dream rising out of reality."

Broadway lights went dark at 8 pm on Friday as a tribute to the playwright.

Miller emerged out of the 1930s Depression to write social dramas with the power of Greek tragedy. His private life was equally dramatic, notably his doomed marriage to Marilyn Monroe.

He wrote his first produced screenplay, The Misfits, for Monroe based on a short story he wrote before their 1956 marriage. The 1961 film was the last ever made by either Monroe or co-star Clark Gable, who died from a heart attack soon after.

Miller's most recent work Finishing the Picture was produced in Chicago last year and drew on his experience with Monroe on the set of The Misfits.