McNally, Terrence (1939– )

US dramatist, considered one of the leading playwrights of the 1990s. He began writing plays in the 1960s, but his first major commercial success was in 1987 with Frankie and Johnny at the Clair de Lune (he also wrote the film adaptation, released in 1991). He went on to write Love! Valour! Compassion! (1994), Master Class (1995), the controversial Corpus Christi (1997), a modern retelling of the birth of Jesus, and Dead Man Walking (2000). He has received four Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for his work.

His other plays include Next (1969), The Ritz (1975), and Lips Together, Teeth Apart (1991). He also wrote books for the musicals Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992), Ragtime (1997), and The Full Monty (2002).