Born in Independence, Kansas, on 3 May 1913, William Motter Inge was the fifth and youngest child of Maude Sarah Gibson Inge and Luther Clayton Inge. Luther Inge was a traveling salesman who was often absent, and young William was raised in a mother-dominated home that significantly influenced his personality and his art. The young Inge was a "momma's boy" who displayed an early flair for recitation and performance, much like Sonny Flood in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs. Also like Sonny, Inge was teased by other boys as a sissy, but his neurasthenic mother sheltered and encouraged him. During Inge's high-school years, his performing talents expanded to acting and cheerleading, and though he was popular, he seldom dated. These formative experiences contributed to the homosexuality Inge never publicly admitted but hinted at in some of his later writing.
After his high-school graduation in 1930 Inge enrolled in the University of Kansas, where he studied drama and continued acting.
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