William Inge

William Inge was born in Independence, Kansas, and from an early age was interested in theatre. He majored in drama at the University of Kansas but went on to gain an MA at the George Peabody Teachers College and taught for some years. In 1943, he became the drama critic of the St. Louis Star Times, a position he held for three years. His first successful play to be produced, Come Back Little Sheba (1950), dealt with a near tragic crisis in the lives of an alcoholic struggling to regain some dignity and his wife Lola, played by Shirley Booth. His next play, Picnic (1953), won the Pulitzer Prize and concerns the effect of a virile vagabond upon a group of women in a small Kansas town.

It was followed by Bus Stop, Inge’s most cheerful work, which was later made into a hugely successful film starring Marilyn Monroe. The Dark at The Top Of The Stairs (1957) is a somber picture from Inge’s knowledge of small town life of a family haunted by prejudice, regrets and unfocused fears and profits. In 1961, he wrote the film script for Splendor in the Grass, and his later works include A Loss of Roses(1960); Natural Affection (1963) and Where’s Daddy (1966).