Leah Maree Purcell AM (born 14 August 1970) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's Somewhere in the Darkness, which led to roles in films, such as Lantana (2001), Somersault (2004), The Proposition (2005) and Jindabyne (2006).

In 2014, Purcell wrote and starred in the play, The Drover's Wife, based on the original story by Henry Lawson. In 2019, she went on to write the bestselling novel, The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson, which was adapted for the screen when Purcell made her directorial debut in the acclaimed film of the same name in 2022, for which she had also written, produced and starred as the titular character. For her work, she has won several awards, including a Helpmann Award, two AACTA Awards, and Asia Pacific Screen Awards Jury Grand Prize.

Purcell is notable for her roles in several television drama series, including Police Rescue (1996), Fallen Angels (1997), Redfern Now (2012–2013), which earned her an AACTA Award, Janet King (2016), and perhaps her most recognisable television role being that of her AACTA and Logie Award-nominated performance as Rita Connors in the Foxtel prison drama series, Wentworth (2018–2021), the Amazon miniseries The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (2023), and currently the Binge series, High Country (2024).

Leah Purcell was born on 14 August 1970^[1][2] in Murgon, Queensland, and she was the youngest of seven children of Aboriginal (Goa–Gunggari–Wakka Wakka Murri^[3]) and white Australian descent.^[2][4] Her father was a butcher and a boxing trainer.^[5]

After a difficult adolescence looking after her sick mother, Florence, who died while Leah was in her late teens, as well as problems with alcohol and teenage motherhood, Leah left Murgon and moved to Brisbane and became involved with community theatre.^[2]

In 1996 she moved to Sydney to become presenter on a music video cable television station, RED Music Channel.^[6] This was followed by acting roles in ABC Television series Police Rescue and Fallen Angels.^[7][8]

Together with Scott Rankin she co-wrote and acted in a play called Box the Pony, which played at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre, the Sydney Opera House, the 1999 Edinburgh Festival and in 2000 at the Barbican Theatre in London.^[9] She then wrote and directed the documentary film Black Chicks Talking, which won a 2002 Inside Film award.^[10] She appeared as Claudia in the Australian film Lantana for which role she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by Sydney-based Film Critics Circle of Australia; she lost to Daniela Farinacci. She appeared on stage in The Vagina Monologues.^[11] She went on to appear in three 2004 films, Somersault, The Proposition and Jindabyne, as well as playing the role of Condoleezza Rice in David Hare's play, Stuff Happens in Sydney and Melbourne.^[12]

Purcell was recipient of the Balnaves Fellowship in 2014,^[29] which allowed her to develop her play, The Drover's Wife, to be performed at the Belvoir in 2016.^[3]

In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, Purcell was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for "significant service to the performing arts, to First Nations youth and culture, and to women".^[30][17]

At the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards held in November 2021, she was awarded the Jury Grand Prize for her film The Drover's Wife,^[31] "not just for her singular vision in writing, directing, producing and starring in the film but for the journey to bring this remarkable story, viewed through the lens of a First Nations woman to the screen in its entirety".^[32]

Purcell has appeared twice on ABC Television's Australian Story, once in 2002^[5] and once in June 2022.^[17][33]

In June 2022, Purcell was honoured with a star on Winton's Walk of Fame, which was unveiled during The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival.^[34]

Purcell's partner is Bain Stewart, who is also her business partner in Oombarra Productions. She has a daughter and two grandchildren.^[35] She believes that Stewart has been "a gift from the ancestors", as he has been such an important support to her through difficult times.^[17]