William F. Brown

William Ferdinand Brown (April 16, 1928 – June 23, 2019) was an American playwright best known for writing the book of the musical, The Wiz (1974), an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, for which he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. His other works include The Girl in the Freudian Slip (1967) based on his 1959 novel, which played on Broadway for three days in May after a tour; How to Steal an Election (1968), A Single Thing in Common (1978), and A Broadway Musical with Lee Adams and Charles Strouse, which had only one non-preview performance on December 21, 1978. Other plays include Damon's Song, Twist, The Nutley Papers, and numerous revues. His work for television includes episodes of That Was The Week That Was, Love American Style, As the World Turns, and Jackie Gleason's American Scene Magazine. He was also a cartoonist who wrote and drew the syndicated comic strip Boomer.Although The Wiz and A Broadway Musical are written for black casts using black street slang, Brown himself was white. He was married to writer Tina Tippit and had two children.