Alexandra Neil

Alexandra Neil (born April 7, 1955, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American actress working across stage, film, and television, as well as a playwright, director, acting teacher, and activist. Early in her career she performed under the name Dianne Thompson-Neil. She attended University-Liggett School in Grosse Pointe, Michigan for middle and high school, then graduated cum laude from Williams College in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Theatre. She also studied at the National Theatre Institute in 1975. Neil is based in New York City.

Neil made her Broadway debut in Match, written by Stephen Belber and directed by Nicholas Martin, in which she understudied and played the role of Lisa opposite Frank Langella. Her second Broadway credit was Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll, directed by Trevor Nunn, where she played Candida and also understudied the roles of Eleanor and Esme. Both productions fall within her verified Broadway activity spanning 2004 to 2007.

Her Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway work spans four decades. Early stage appearances include Four Little Girls at SoHo Rep and The Ride Across Lake Constance at Theatre at St. Clements, both in 1978, followed by roles at LaMama ETC, the Jewish Repertory Theatre, the WPA Theatre, and the Ensemble Studio Theatre Marathon through the 1980s. More recent Off-Broadway credits include An Oak Tree at Barrow Street Theatre in 2007, Mystery of Love and Sex at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center in 2015, and Reparations at the Billie Holiday Theatre in 2019. Regional credits include productions at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Syracuse Stage, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Huntington Theatre Company, and the Martha's Vineyard Playhouse, among others. She appeared in the world premieres of Susan Miller's 20th Century Blues at CATF in 2018 and Bess Wohl's In at Pioneer Theatre in 2011, as well as the U.S. premiere of Christopher Shinn's Now or Later at the Huntington Theatre Company in 2012.

Neil has accumulated extensive television credits, with particular depth in daytime drama. She portrayed Ruby Wright on Texas from 1980 to 1982 across 187 episodes, Poppy Lincoln and Teresa Donahue on Ryan's Hope across 71 episodes from 1978 to 1979, Dr. Emily Benson on Another World across 78 episodes from 1984 to 1985, Rose McLaren Shayne on Guiding Light across 94 episodes from 1987 to 1989, Dawn Wheeler on As the World Turns across 47 episodes from 1992 to 1994, Casey Wexler on All My Children across 16 episodes from 2002 to 2003, and Paige Miller on One Life to Live across 71 episodes from 2004 to 2007, having also appeared on that series in 1985 as Jeannie Johnson. Additional television appearances include The Sopranos, Madigan Men, Ed, Blue Bloods, Forever, The Blacklist, Madoff, Prodigal Son, and multiple Law and Order series.

Her film work includes Something's Gotta Give (2003), Afterschool (2008), Twelve (2010), The Longest Week (2014), Listen Up Philip (2014), and earlier appearances in Manhunter (1986), Wall Street (1987), and Longtime Companion (1989), among others.

As a playwright, Neil wrote Strange Fits, which received a reading at the Atlantic Theater in 2009 and a workshop production at New York Stage and Film in 2010. Her play Moucheron was read in the Miranda Theatre Company's Liz Smith Reading Series at the Cherry Lane in March 2019. She has directed her original work at venues including the Williams College Summer Theater Lab, Williams College Theater, the Friday Series at Michael Howard Studios, and the NY Poetry Project. Neil has taught acting at institutions including NYU Tisch, the National Theater Institute, the MFA Acting Program at Brooklyn College, Michael Howard Studios, the Freeman Studio, Connecticut College, and Marymount College. She is a member of the Actors Center Workshop Company in New York City and is included in the 2012 book Now You Tell Me! — 12 Actors Give the Best Advice They Never Got, by Sheridan Scott and Chris Willman.

In 2016, Neil co-founded Downtown Women for Change in New York City alongside writer and chef Eugenia Bone. The grassroots organization is committed to preserving and advancing women's rights, mentoring women pursuing careers in public policy, and working to elect pro-choice Democratic women and allies to city, state, and national office.