Inge, William (Motter) (1913–1973)

US playwright. He was a film, music, and drama critic in St Louis, Missouri 1943–46, taught intermittently, and moved to New York City where he became a screenwriter, television playwright, and Broadway dramatist. He is best known for his plays Come Back, Little Sheba 1950, Picnic 1953, Bus Stop 1955, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs 1957. Ill and plagued by alcoholism, he committed suicide.

Born in Independence, Kansas, he studied at the University of Kansas (BA 1935) and the George Peabody College for Teachers (MA 1938). He worked as an actor before teaching at high school level 1937–38 and college level 1938–46.