for just one published version of his play. "Well, someone's got to make it," he replied. His plays remained popular in England, even though he long ago became unfashionable in America. He put it down to the commercial inde- pendence of nonprofit theaters in England like the National and bitterly regretted that there's no real equivalent system here. "But who gives a goddamn about fashion?" he protested when I men- tioned the subject. "The only test of a play does not belong to fashion. The only test should be, 'Do I listen to this playwright or not? Does his play move me?'" But he did give a goddamn, of course. In the punishing world of theater, great dramatists often have a cluster of early, successful work that isn't equaled in later years. Yet Miller never stopped writing. Theater was his public forum. Until the end, until well into his 80s, he still had things to say and would not be silenced. Laurence Olivier had a lot to thank him for. It was Miller who led the unlikely way to Olivier, the greatest clas- sical actor of the 20th century, playing his most memorable modern stage role, the seedy, failed comedian Archie Rice in John Osborne's The Entertainer. In July 1957, Miller accompanied his wife Marilyn Monroe to London, where she was filming the period comedy about a breathy innocent abroad, The Prince and the Showgirl directed by her co-star, Olivier. Welcoming Miller — nicknamed "Mr. Monroe" and "Marilyn's Boy" by the British press — Olivier asked which plays he was inter- ested in seeing. Miller named Osborne's Look Back in Anger, which had just opened at the Royal Court, because the title intrigued him. To his surprise, however, Olivier advised him to pick something else — dismissing the breakthrough social drama he'd already seen with, "It's just a travesty on England." It made Miller even keener to see it. Tickets were quickly arranged for the following night, and Olivier turned up unexpectedly to see the play a second time with Miller. Olivier was stunned when Miller found Look Back in Anger a revelation — the first modern English play of the period, he said subsequently, to speak to him. Anxious to grasp its significance, Olivier asked him twice — during the intermission and again at the end — why he thought the play was so wonder- ful. Then they went backstage to meet the snarling 25-year-old Osborne. "Do you suppose you could write something for me?" a smiling Olivier asked him cravenly. According to Miller, Olivier was laying on the charm so much he could have convinced anyone to buy a car without wheels from him for $20,000. Osborne's next play was The Entertainer, and the rest, thanks to Arthur Miller's role as the go-between, really is history. Ten years ago, he was back at the Royal Court to see a new play with a friend of his, the London producer Robert Fox. (It's best, I guess, if we don't name the writer of the play.) Within a few minutes, however, Fox could hear Miller groaning to himself and shifting restlessly in his seat. 'Are you all right, Arthur?" he asked him as they were both taking a leak dur- ing intermission. "No, I'm not," Miller replied feistily. "This is crap! Let's go." Aware that members of the audience had recognized him, Fox suggested that perhaps he ought to stay for the second act "It's crap and we're going!" Miller insisted, heading for the exit. "If we're not enjoying ourselves, why stay? Life's too short. I'm 79!" For the disappointed theatergoer, life is always too short. Lastly, this story Miller told me when I first met him that summer day in Connecticut all those years ago. There was a lake on his property, and as he took a gentle swim in it, he mentioned a TV soap opera that his sister, the actress Joan Copeland, had once starred in. Therein lies a tale and a Miller moral. The character his sister played was killed of Miller told me that his sister played the role of Ethel, who unexpect- edly starts to die from an incurable dis- ease. But when it dawned on the viewers what was happening, the TV station received thousands of letters in protest. Ethel must stay! But the die was cast, and they killed off Ethel just the same. Then they thought up a bright idea. After a decent pause, Miller's sister returned to the soap opera as Ethel's long-lost twin from South Africa. But whereas Ethel had been a lovable charac- ter, her twin sister wasn't. So the protest letters poured in again. Ethel would never have a twin sister like this! The twin must go! So they killed her off "I hope this teaches us all a lesson," said Arthur Miller. "Never mess around with a good thing." Then he swam off in the lake, at a determined, even pace. ❑ Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Featurewell. corn. All rights reserved. VISIT OUR CONVENIENT LOCATIONS Birmingham Genoa Twp. 154 S. 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