James Prideaux (August 29, 1927 – November 18, 2015) was an American playwright, known for The Last of Mrs. Lincoln. Prideaux was born in 1927 as James Priddy in South Bend, Indiana, the son of Lloyd Priddy, a professional photographer, and Beulah Shirey. Wanting to become an actor, he adopted a new name and relocated to Chicago and then New York, but found his metier as a writer. He wrote for magazines such as Playboy and the Ladies Home Journal and joined the Barr-Wilder-Albee Playwrights Unit, a theater workshop. He died of a stroke in West Hills, Los Angeles on November 18, 2015.