William Missouri Downs is an American comedy writer, playwright, screenwriter, stage director, and author

Life & Writing

William Missouri Downs started as an actor earning an MFA in acting from the University of Illinois, but a bout with viral encephalitis left him with a slight stammer and ended his acting career. So he gave up acting, moved to New York and lived in a transient hotel on the corner of 77th and Broadway. There he studied playwriting at the Circle Rep Theatre under

Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed."Margalit Fox, Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Wi ...

and

Milan Stitt Milan Stitt (February 9, 1941 – March 12, 2009

. Early in his career, he became a writer because he wasn't good at anything else. He was fired by the big band singer Peggy Lee (“Is that all there is”) for being a rotten spotlight runner and fired from the Carlyle Hotel in New York for being a bad waiter. He then moved to Los Angeles and lived at 10733 Ohio in a bungalow once owned by the writer

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was one of America's most prolific writers of short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'Hara: Stories, Charles McGrath, ed., The L ...

while he earned an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA. While a student at

UCLA film school The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

, he won numerous screenwriting awards, including the Jack Nicholson prize. In Hollywood, he started as a script secretary on NBC's

Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...

(Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd). He studied sitcom writing at the Warner Brothers Sitcom Writing Workshop. He was a staff writer on NBC's '', My Two Dads'' (Paul Reiser). He also wrote episodes for the NBC shows ''Amen'' (Sherman Hemsley) (He wrote the 100th episode of this show that starred Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and ''Fresh Prince Of Bel Air'' (Will Smith). In addition, he sold a movie to Ron Howard's Imagine Films and optioned another to

Filmways Filmways, Inc. (also known as Filmways Pictures and Filmways Television) was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff and Edwin Kasper in 1952. It is probably best remembered as the production c ...

. Recently he worked with Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) developing a TV pilot that was optioned by Hollywood producer

Meryl Poster Meryl Poster is the president and founder of Superb Entertainment. Until October 2014, she was president of television at The Weinstein Company. Poster was previously the co-president of production for Miramax Films, where she executive produced the ...

. His plays includ
''The Exit Interview''
(Premiere at the Orlando Shakespeare) winner of a rolling premiere from NNPN (

National New Play Network The National New Play Network (NNPN) is the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 stat ...

), published by

Samuel French Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays. Biography French founde ...

''.''
Women Playing Hamlet
' (Premiere Unicorn Theatre, MO), winner of a rolling premiere from NNPN, published by Playscripts. ''Mad Gravity'', a finalist at the Eugene O'Neill, winner of the Reva Shiner Comedy Award (Premiere Bloomington Playwrights Project), published by Playscripts. ''Cockeyed'' winner of The Greenhouse Festival Of New Plays, published by Samuel French. ''Seagulls In A Cherry Tree'', winner of the Larry Corse Prize For Playwriting, published by Heuer Publishing. ''Mr. Perfect'' published by Playscripts. ''Headset, A view from the light booth'' published by Heuer Publishing, ''Kosher Lutherans'' published by Samuel French, ''Dead White Males'' published by Playscripts. ''How To Steal A Picasso'' a finalist at the Eugene O'Neill. His other plays include Innocent Thoughts published by Next Stage Press, ''A Doll House'' (adaptation) published by Next Stage Press.
Kabuki Medea
', winner of the Bay Area Critics Award for Best Production in San Francisco

''Forgiving John Lennon and Fascism The Musical.'' He has had over 250 productions of his plays. Including productions at The Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, The InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia, The San Diego Rep, The Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Salt Lake City Acting Company, the Actors Theatre of Charlotte, the Jewish Theatre of Toronto, The Bloomington Playwright's Project, the Detroit Rep and the New York City Fringe Festival. His plays have been produced in Spain (''Fuera de órbita)'', Canada, South Africa (Durban Performing Arts Center), Russia (Хороший парень
The Serov Theatre Drama After Chekhov
Serov), Singapore (The Hexis Theatre), Switzerland (Franklin University, Lugano,), Austria (stadt Theater walfischgasse, Vienna), Israel (The International Theatre Festival), India (Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, Bangalore), and South Korea (피카소를 훔치는 법 & 실제 게임 at Theatre in Daehangno & Daehakro Theatre, Seoul). Bill has an extensive publication record including articles, plays, an
books
He has co-authored four books, including Naked Playwritin''g'' (Silman/James), Playwriting: From Formula To Form (Harcourt Brace), Screenplay: Writing The Picture (Silman/James), and The Art of Theatre (Wadsworth/Cenage). The Art of Theatre is now in its 4th edition and has been used by tens of thousands of college student in the US
Screenplay: Writing the Picture
(Silman/James), is in its 3rd edition and was published in Warsaw, Poland, Jak Napisac Scenariusz Filmowy . He lives in a log cabin near the

Shambhala In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala ( sa, शम्भल ',''Śambhala'', also ''Sambhala'', is the name of a town between the Rathaprā and Ganges rivers, identified by some with Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. In the Puranas, it is named as t ...

2350 meters up in the Rockies of Colorado.

Awards

Downs has won two rolling premieres from the National New Play Network

. and twice been a finalist at the Eugene O'Neill. He also won the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Julie Harris Award

Plays

*Kosher Lutherans published by

samuel french Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays. Biography French founde ...

*Women Playing Hamlet published by playscripts *Mr. Perfect published by playscripts *Mad Gravity published by playscripts *Cockeyed - published by

* Forgiving John Lennon * Dead White Males - published by playscripts * The Exit Interview - published by

*
Headsets - a View from the Light Booth
' - published by Heuer Publishing *
Seagulls in a Cherry Tree
' - published by Heuer Publishing * Innocent Thoughts - published by next stage press
Fascism the Musical
* Life on my Knees * How to Steal a Picasso * Angry Psycho Princesses (the musical) *You Can't Say That! *How To Survive Your Family At Christmas

Books

* *NAKED PLAYWRITING *SCREENPLAY: Writing the Picture *Jak napisać scenariusz filmowy* *PLAYWRITING: From Formula to Form

Monologues and Short Plays

*Contemporary Monologues For Twentysomethings, Applause Books, (2018) *Contemporary Scenes For Twentysomethings, Applause Books, (2017) *222 Comedy Monologues, published by Playscripts Inc., (2016) *The Best Women's Stage Monologues of 2016, Published by Smith And Kraus, 2011 *Exceptional Monologues, Published by Samuel French, New York, (2009) *Books On Tape, Published by North West Theatre Review, Oregon State University, (2008) *Actor's Choice Monologue, Published by Playscripts, New York

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downs, William Missouri Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male dramatists and playwrights American male non-fiction writers American television writers Screenwriters from Michigan American information and reference writers American instructional writers American theatre directors American male television writers Screenwriting instructors UCLA Film School alumni Writers of books about writing fiction 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers American male screenwriters People from Bay City, Michigan