James Thomas McNeil (23 January 1935 – 16 May 1982) was an Australian award-winning playwright. While serving a 17-year sentence in Parramatta Correctional Centre for armed robbery and shooting a police officer, McNeil began writing plays. Within a few years he was being hailed as one of Australia's three most significant playwrights of the 20th century.[1] He was released on parole 10 years early, won an Australian Writers' Guild Award and married actress and director Robyn Nevin, from whom he later separated. At the time of his release, McNeil's plays were being produced simultaneously in every state and territory in Australia.[2]