Douglas Turner Ward (May 5, 1930 – February 20, 2021) was an American playwright, actor, director, and theatrical producer.

[2] As an actor, Turner made one of his first performances in The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill in 1956, at the Circle in the Square Theatre.

[2] Three years later, he made his Broadway debut in a small role in A Raisin in the Sun, alongside Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil.

Happy Ending/Day of Absence, a program of two one-act plays, premiered at the St. Mark's Playhouse in Manhattan on November 15, 1965.

[2] That same year, Ward authored an opinion piece in The New York Times titled "American Theater: For Whites Only?

It notably produced The River Niger (1972), which won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1974 and was adapted as a film of the same name two years later.

He viewed the series, which focused on the Haitian Revolution, as his magnum opus and intended to have it staged by NEC alumni.