Jim McNeil
Encyclopedia
James Thomas "Jim" McNeil ( 23 January 1935 - 16 May 1982) was an Australia
n criminal
and an award-winning playwright. While serving a 17 year sentence in Parramatta Correctional Centre
for armed robbery and shooting a police officer, McNeill began writing plays. Within a few years he was being hailed as one of Australia's three most significant playwrights of the 20th century. He was released on parole
10 years early, won an Australian Writers' Guild Award
and married actress and director Robyn Nevin
. At the time of his release, McNeil's plays were being produced simultaneously in every state and territory in Australia.
, Victoria
. As a teenager, he worked on the waterfront and became associated with the infamous Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union
. In 1957, aged 22, he married his pregnant girlfriend Valerie and they went on to have six children.
McNeil became a criminal, specialising in armed robberies. He was dubbed by the media as "The Laughing Bandit" because of his amusement at how easy it was to take money from people at gunpoint. In 1967, after failing to appear in court in Victoria, McNeil robbed a hotel at Wentworth Falls
, west of Sydney
. He forced the hotel manager at gunpoint to empty the safe and in the ensuing escape, shot and wounded a police officer.
McNeill was arrested, tried, and convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison. In Parramatta Correctional Centre, he joined "The Resurgents Debating Society", a small group of prisoners who would meet in the prison chapel to debate prison visitors, write and paint. In 1970, McNeil wrote his first play, The Chocolate Frog. It was performed by prisoners for Saturday morning visitors and was reviewed by theatre critic Katharine Brisbane
.
While imprisoned at Parramatta and later, the Bathurst Correctional Complex
, McNeil also wrote The Old Familiar Juice, How Does Your Garden Grow and Jack, his last play.
Australian arts identities agitated for McNeil's early release and on Monday 14 October 1974 he was released on parole
10 years early. Within months of his release from prison, he married Australian actress and director Robyn Nevin
. They separated less than two years later with Nevin taking out an apprehended violence order to prevent McNeil coming near her.
McNeil was awarded a A$7,000 literary grant by the Australian Council for the Arts. In 1975 he won the Australian Writers' Guild award for the most outstanding script in any category for his play How Does Your Garden Grow.
Suffering from alcohol-related issues, McNeill returned to St Kilda in 1981, living at Ozanam House, a crisis accommodation facility for homeless men. McNeil died of alcohol related illnesses on 16 May 1982.
The story of McNeil's life has been told in a new biography WASTED by Ross Honeywill
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n criminal
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
and an award-winning playwright. While serving a 17 year sentence in Parramatta Correctional Centre
Parramatta Correctional Centre
Parramatta Correctional Centre is a medium security short term Remand Centre, Transient Centre and Metropolitan Periodic Detention Centre. It houses unsentenced and sentenced B and C classification male inmates, including Drug Court Sanctions and male periodic detainees...
for armed robbery and shooting a police officer, McNeill began writing plays. Within a few years he was being hailed as one of Australia's three most significant playwrights of the 20th century. He was released on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
10 years early, won an Australian Writers' Guild Award
AWGIE Awards
The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967....
and married actress and director Robyn Nevin
Robyn Nevin
Robyn Anne Nevin AM , is an Australian stage and screen actress, and is considered by some as a doyenne of Australian theatre.- Early life :...
. At the time of his release, McNeil's plays were being produced simultaneously in every state and territory in Australia.
Biography
Jamie McNeil was born on 23 January 1935 and raised in St KildaSt Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. As a teenager, he worked on the waterfront and became associated with the infamous Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union
Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union
The Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union was an Australian trade union that covered "mostly work associated with chipping, painting, scrubbing, cleaning, working in every size of tanks, cleaning boilers, docking and undocking vessels, and rigging work"...
. In 1957, aged 22, he married his pregnant girlfriend Valerie and they went on to have six children.
McNeil became a criminal, specialising in armed robberies. He was dubbed by the media as "The Laughing Bandit" because of his amusement at how easy it was to take money from people at gunpoint. In 1967, after failing to appear in court in Victoria, McNeil robbed a hotel at Wentworth Falls
Wentworth Falls, New South Wales
Wentworth Falls is a town in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales located 100 kilometres west of Sydney, and about 8 kilometres east of Katoomba, Australia on the Great Western Highway, with a Wentworth Falls railway station on the Main Western line. The town is situated at an elevation of...
, west of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. He forced the hotel manager at gunpoint to empty the safe and in the ensuing escape, shot and wounded a police officer.
McNeill was arrested, tried, and convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison. In Parramatta Correctional Centre, he joined "The Resurgents Debating Society", a small group of prisoners who would meet in the prison chapel to debate prison visitors, write and paint. In 1970, McNeil wrote his first play, The Chocolate Frog. It was performed by prisoners for Saturday morning visitors and was reviewed by theatre critic Katharine Brisbane
Katharine Brisbane
Katharine Brisbane was born on 7 January 1932 in Singapore. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia, where she was active in student theatre...
.
While imprisoned at Parramatta and later, the Bathurst Correctional Complex
Bathurst Correctional Complex
Bathurst Correctional Complex is an Australian prison located 3 kilometres west of Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. The current structure incorporates buildings constructed in 1888. The Complex serves as a reception prison for western NSW...
, McNeil also wrote The Old Familiar Juice, How Does Your Garden Grow and Jack, his last play.
Australian arts identities agitated for McNeil's early release and on Monday 14 October 1974 he was released on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
10 years early. Within months of his release from prison, he married Australian actress and director Robyn Nevin
Robyn Nevin
Robyn Anne Nevin AM , is an Australian stage and screen actress, and is considered by some as a doyenne of Australian theatre.- Early life :...
. They separated less than two years later with Nevin taking out an apprehended violence order to prevent McNeil coming near her.
McNeil was awarded a A$7,000 literary grant by the Australian Council for the Arts. In 1975 he won the Australian Writers' Guild award for the most outstanding script in any category for his play How Does Your Garden Grow.
Suffering from alcohol-related issues, McNeill returned to St Kilda in 1981, living at Ozanam House, a crisis accommodation facility for homeless men. McNeil died of alcohol related illnesses on 16 May 1982.
The story of McNeil's life has been told in a new biography WASTED by Ross Honeywill
Ross Honeywill
Ross Honeywill is a social scientist and internationally published author.Honeywill specializes in social research and the understanding and application of social theory...