Leah purcell biography

Indigenous Australian actress, film director and writerNot to be confused with Lee Purcell.

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 *ular character.

For her work, she has won several awards, including a Helpmann Award, two AACTA Awards, and Asia Pacific Screen Awards Jury G