Inge, William

William Motter Inge (1913-1973) was born in Independence, Kansas. He studied speech and drama at the University of Kansas and graduated in 1935. He received his Master's degree from George Peabody College at Nashville, Tennessee in 1938. He worked as a teacher, laborer, and theater critic. He is best-known as a playwright and novelist. In his lifetime he earned both a Pulitzer Prize for Picnic and an Academy Award for the screenplay to the motion picture Splendor in the Grass. His later works did not achieve this same acclaim and this lack of notice is believed to have played a factor in his suicide in 1973 at the age of 60.

From the guide to the Peter Stansky's William Inge Collection, 1968-1972, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)

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