He expressed in a letter to his sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous, "If "Sheba" makes it in Hartford I guess it will go on to Broadway and if it doesn't I suppose I'll be back in St. Louis. If it does make it to Broadway, I don't know when I'll be back." Inge never had to return to St. Louis. In 1953, Inge received a Pulitzer Prize for "Picnic", a play based on women he had known as a small child:  "Picnic" had a successful Broadway run from February 19, 1953, to April 10, 1954. A film adaptation made in 1955 was directed by Joshua Logan and won two Academy Awards. In 1953, Inge's short play "Glory in the Flower" was telecast on "Omnibus" with a cast of Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, and James Dean. In 1955 his play "Bus Stop" premiered. Inge's inspiration of boy-pursuing-girl came from a similar situation he'd seen on a bus trip to Kansas City. Nominated for four Tony Awards including Best Play, it was made into a 1956 film starring Marilyn Monroe. A major regional revival of "Bus Stop" was held at the Huntington Theatre in Boston in September and October 2010. In 1957 he wrote "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs", an expansion of his earlier one-act "Farther Off from Heaven". The play was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Play, and was adapted as a film in 1960. His 1959 play "A Loss of Roses", with Carol Haney, Warren Beatty, and Betty Field, was filmed as "The Stripper" (1963), with Joanne Woodward, Richard Beymer, and Claire Trevor, and a popular Jerry Goldsmith score. "Natural Affection" had the misfortune to open on Broadway during the 1962 New York City newspaper strike, which lasted from December 8, 1962, until April 1, 1963. Thus, few were aware of the play, and fewer bought tickets. It lasted only 36 performances, from January 31, 1963, to March 2, 1963. What theatergoers missed was a drama exploring themes of fragmented families and random violence. As with Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood", the inspiration for "Natural Affection" came from a newspaper account of a seemingly meaningless and unmotivated murder. The play centers on a single mother, Chicago department store buyer Sue Barker (Kim Stanley). While troubled teen Donnie (Gregory Rozakis), Sue's illegitimate son, has been away at reform school, she has entered into a relationship with Cadillac salesman Bernie Slovenk (Harry Guardino).