Douglas Watt (critic) and Tennessee Williams. During his career at the Daily News, he was able to attend the 1949 debut of "Death of a Salesman" starring Lee J. Cobb in the title role of Willy Loman, as well as the 50th-anniversary production of the play with Brian Dennehy in the lead. One of the founders of the Drama Desk Awards, Watt served on the nominating committee for both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Awards. Watt died at age 95 on September 29, 2009, in Southampton, New York because of pneumonia. At the time of his death, he resided in
Death of a Salesman (1951 film) no involvement with or control over the movie. Benedek also stressed the dreary, middle class setting of the film, using small rooms and gray shots. Though the film won over many film critics and received nominations for many awards, it was a box office failure. The subject matter, the failure of the American dream, did not appeal to many of the era's moviegoers. Miller himself denounced the adaptation of his play, claiming the actors all sounded like "Willy Loman with a diploma, fat with their success". He also claimed that, though he wrote the play cinematically, Benedek managed to "chop