Writing

William Inge

Born May 13, 1913 · Independence, Kansas, USA

Died June 10, 1973 · aged 60

William Motter Inge (May 3, 1913 – June 10, 1973) was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, including Picnic, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize. With his portraits of small-town life and settings rooted in the American heartland, Inge b…

Known For

Bus Stop

Bus Stop · 1956

MovieComedyDrama

Cowboys Beauregard Decker and Virgil Blessing attend a rodeo in Phoenix, where Decker falls in love with beautiful cafe singer Cherie. He wants to take Cherie back to his native Montana and marry her, but she dreams of traveling to Hollywood and becoming famous. When she resists his advances, Decker forces Cherie onto the bus back to Montana with him, but, when the bus makes an unscheduled stop due to bad weather, the tables are turned.

Come Back, Little Sheba

Come Back, Little Sheba · 1953

Come Back, Little Sheba

A mismatched couple's marital problems come to the surface when the husband develops an interest in their pretty boarder.

Picnic

MovieDramaRomance

Labor Day in a small Kansas farm town. Hal, a burly and resolute drifter, jumps off a dusty freight train car with the purpose of visiting Alan, a former college classmate and son of the richest man in town.

Splendor in the Grass

Splendor in the Grass · 1961

Splendor in the Grass

MovieDramaRomance

A fragile Kansas girl's unrequited and forbidden love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness.

All Fall Down

All Fall Down · 1962

Ralph and Annabell Willart are a feuding couple who are constantly bickering over their worthless, good-for-nothing son Berry-Berry. When Berry-Berry begins yet another meaningless love affair, this time with an older woman named Echo O’Brien, he really gets his parents at each others’ throats.

Come Back, Little Sheba

Come Back, Little Sheba · 1977

Come Back, Little Sheba

MovieDramaTV Movie

An emotionally remote recovering alcoholic and his dowdy, unambitious wife face a personal crisis when they take in an attractive lodger.

Bus Stop

Bus Stop · 1982

MovieComedyDrama

The story is set in a diner in rural Kansas, about 25 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri during a snowstorm from which bus passengers must take shelter.

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff · 1979

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff

An abusive sexual relationship between a white spinster schoolteacher and a young black janitor in 1956 Kansas complicates her struggle to come to grips with her sexuality and emotions.

Filmography

Sort

Bus Stop

Bus Stop · 1956

MovieComedyDrama

Cowboys Beauregard Decker and Virgil Blessing attend a rodeo in Phoenix, where Decker falls in love with beautiful cafe singer Cherie. He wants to take Cherie back to his native Montana and marry her, but she dreams of traveling to Hollywood and becoming famous. When she resists his advances, Decker forces Cherie onto the bus back to Montana with him, but, when the bus makes an unscheduled stop due to bad weather, the tables are turned.

Theatre Play

Come Back, Little Sheba

Come Back, Little Sheba · 1953

Come Back, Little Sheba

A mismatched couple's marital problems come to the surface when the husband develops an interest in their pretty boarder.

Theatre Play

Picnic

MovieDramaRomance

Labor Day in a small Kansas farm town. Hal, a burly and resolute drifter, jumps off a dusty freight train car with the purpose of visiting Alan, a former college classmate and son of the richest man in town.

Theatre Play

Splendor in the Grass

Splendor in the Grass · 1961

Splendor in the Grass

MovieDramaRomance

A fragile Kansas girl's unrequited and forbidden love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness.

Writer

All Fall Down

All Fall Down · 1962

Ralph and Annabell Willart are a feuding couple who are constantly bickering over their worthless, good-for-nothing son Berry-Berry. When Berry-Berry begins yet another meaningless love affair, this time with an older woman named Echo O’Brien, he really gets his parents at each others’ throats.

Screenplay

Come Back, Little Sheba

Come Back, Little Sheba · 1977

Come Back, Little Sheba

MovieDramaTV Movie

An emotionally remote recovering alcoholic and his dowdy, unambitious wife face a personal crisis when they take in an attractive lodger.

Screenplay

Bus Stop

Bus Stop · 1982

MovieComedyDrama

The story is set in a diner in rural Kansas, about 25 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri during a snowstorm from which bus passengers must take shelter.

Theatre Play

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff · 1979

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff

An abusive sexual relationship between a white spinster schoolteacher and a young black janitor in 1956 Kansas complicates her struggle to come to grips with her sexuality and emotions.

Novel

Bus Riley's Back in Town

Bus Riley's Back in Town · 1965

Bus Riley's Back in Town

Bus Riley returns to his small town after time in the army. On his return, his ex-girlfriend wants to resume their relationship. The only problem is she has married in the mean time. Searching for fulfilment in his life, Bus decides to get a job with his gay friend who is a mortician. When the mortician makes a pass at him, Bus quickly gets out.

Theatre Play

Picnic

MovieDramaRomance

The son of the richest man in town wants to marry the town's beauty queen, but she meets a more interesting stranger who just got off the train.

Theatre Play

Splendor in the Grass

Splendor in the Grass · 1981

Splendor in the Grass

MovieDramaTV Movie

Two teenagers, in love in pre-Depression Kansas, cope with parental pressure and the strict sexual mores of the day.

Original Film Writer

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs · 1960

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

In Oklahoma in the 1920s, Rubin Flood loses his job as a traveling salesman when the company goes bankrupt. This adds to his worries at home. His wife Cora is frigid because of trying to make ends meet. His teenage daughter Reenie is afraid of going out on dates, but eventually makes friends with a troubled Jewish boy Sammy Golden, and his son is a mama's boy. He finally storms out of the house when Cora falsely accuses him of having an affair with Mavis Pruitt.

Theatre Play

The Stripper

The Stripper · 1963

MovieRomanceDrama

An aging former movie starlet whose Hollywood career went nowhere, now reduced to dancing with a third-rate touring show, finds herself stranded in a small town where she's courted by an infatuated and naive local teenager.

Theatre Play

Picnic

MovieTV MovieDrama

A southern bell falls for a handsome drifter with no prospects, going against her parents' wishes to marry a rich businessman.

Theatre Play