Death of a Salesman (1966 U.S. film) work, while a young Gene Wilder presents a comic but sensitive performance as Bernard. In general, critics spoke well of the Xerox-sponsored CBS adaptation The day after it aired Jack Gould praised it in "The New York Times" with a column that began "An evening of exalted theater came to television last night in a revelation of Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' that will stand as the supreme understanding of the tragedy of Willy Loman." Joan Crosby of "The Pittsburgh Press" praised all members of the Loman family for their performances and described the performance as "An evening of
Death of a Salesman because “One thing about the play that is very Chinese is the way Willy tries to make his sons successful." The Chinese father always wants his sons to be ‘dragons.’ The original Broadway production was produced by Kermit Bloomgarden and Walter Fried. The play opened at the Morosco Theatre on February 10, 1949, closing on November 18, 1950, after 742 performances. The play starred Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman, Mildred Dunnock as Linda, Arthur Kennedy as Biff, Howard Smith as Charley and Cameron Mitchell as Happy. Albert Dekker and Gene Lockhart later played Willy Loman during the original Broadway