William F. Brown

William F. Brown

Book, The Wiz

Other works: Broadway: The Girl in the Freudian Slip (1967), based on his 1959 novel; How to Steal an Election (1968); A Single Thing in Common (1978) and A Broadway Musical, with Lee Adams and Charles Strouse (1978). He wrote the book for the Off-Broadway musical How to Steal an Election, which starred Clifton Davis. Other plays include Damon's Song, Twist, The Nutley Papers. Although The Wiz and A Broadway Musical are written for black casts, Brown himself is white. 

Other credits: Wrote material for more than 100 television shows, including That Was the Week that Was, Love American Style, As the World Turns and The Jackie Gleason Show. Brown’s sketches appeared in several Julius Monk nightclub revues and he also worked on nightclub material for Joan Rivers, Georgie Kaye, David Frost and others. Brown has written several books of humor and frequently contributes articles to magazines. A cartoonist, he wrote and drew the syndicated comic strips, Boomer and Mixed Singles

Awards: nomination for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (The Wiz).