William Inge (1913–1973)
Author of Picnic
About the Author
Inge was born in Independence, Kansas, attended the University of Kansas and Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee, and studied theater with Maude Adams at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. He taught drama for some years and then served as drama critic for the St. Louis Star Times before show more becoming a playwright. Come Back, Little Sheba (1950), his first success on Broadway, is about an aging couple, the wife clinging to the past, the husband an alcoholic. His next play was Picnic (1953, later revised as Summer Brave), about a virile young drifter and his effect on women in a small town. Bus Stop (1955) involves stranded people---each reveals his or her loneliness, and in the end an aspiring singer accepts the attention of a naive but rough cowboy. The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1958) portrays a frustrated family in which a stranger's suicide inspires a new understanding between the mother and father and more confidence on the part of the son and daughter. Inge was immensely popular in the 1950s. In most of his plays, the characters live a humdrum existence, usually in the Kansas-Oklahoma region of 50 years ago. Behind the naturalistic dialogue is an inner softness, and the main figures are prone to confession. His works have been called "psycho-dramas involving the solution of personal and social problems by introspection and togetherness" (Eric Mottram). Inge won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Picnic. The later part of Inge's career as a dramatist was not successful. He took his own life in 1973. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Not to be confused with William Ralph Inge, English author (1860-1954).
Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Works by William Inge
Four Plays: Come Back Little Sheba; Picnic; Bus Stop; The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (Black Cat Book) (1958) 233 copies
Summer brave, and eleven short plays 6 copies
To Bobolink, For Her Spirit 2 copies
Christian Mysticism 1 copy
The Tiny Closet 1 copy
The Rainy Afternoon 1 copy
The Mall 1 copy
The Call 1 copy
Come Back, Little Sheba [playbill] — Playwright — 1 copy
People in the Wind 1 copy
A Social Event 1 copy
Memory of Summer 1 copy
Bus Riley's Back in Town 1 copy
The Strains of Triumph 1 copy
Associated Works
50 Best Plays of the American Theatre, Volume 4 — Contributor — 4 copies
Teatro Norteamericano contemporaneo — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Inge, William Motter
- Birthdate
- 1913-05-03
- Date of death
- 1973-06-10
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Independence, Kansas, USA
- Place of death
- Hollywood Hills, California, USA
- Cause of death
- suicide
- Places of residence
- Columbus, Kansas, USA
Columbia, Missouri, USA - Education
- University of Kansas (B.A., Speech & Drama)
- Occupations
- teacher
playwright
novelist
screenwriter - Disambiguation notice
- Not to be confused with William Ralph Inge, English author (1860-1954).
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Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 45
- Also by
- 16
- Members
- 1,149
- Popularity
- #22,349
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 15
- ISBNs
- 51
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 3
I didn't like the rodeo scenes at all, which did not look at all pleasant for the animals concerned, and I thought the hero (Don Murray) was not just naive and ignorant, but unpleasantly arrogant too; I thought the ending forced and unlikely, despite being rather predictable.
But it made a good light evening's viewing. The rating U is misleading as it's really not suitable for children.
Longer review here: https://suesdvdreviews.blogspot.com/2024/02/bus-stop-marilyn-monroe.html… (more)