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William Missouri Downs was an American playwright, director, author, and professor of playwriting and screenwriting. He was born on July 12, 1955 and grew up in Bay City, Michigan. He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.F.A. in acting from the University of Illinois, and another M.F.A. in screenwriting from U.C.L.A. Downs started as a script secretary on NBC’s “Moonlighting” then moved up to a staff writer on “My Two Dads,” “Amen,” and “Fresh Prince Of Bel Air.” He has written and published several plays including “Women Playing Hamlet,” “The Exit Interview,” “Mad Gravity,” and “How To Steal A Picasso.” He wrote and published books about playwriting, screenwriting, and the theatre, they include: “Naked Playwriting: The Art, The Craft, and the Life Laid Bare,” “Playwriting: From Formula to Form,” and “The Art Of Theatre: Then and Now”. Downs has also taught playwriting and screenwriting as a professor at the University of Wyoming, Department of Theater and Dance.