Mark Medoff (March 18, 1940 – April 23, 2019) was an American playwright, screenwriter, film and theatre director, actor, and professor. His play Children of a Lesser God received both the Tony Award and the Olivier Award. He was nominated for an Academy Award and a Writers Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay Award for the film script of Children of a Lesser God and for a Cable ACE Award for his HBO Premiere movie, Apology. He also received an Obie Award for his play When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? Medoff's feature film Refuge was released in 2010. When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? was adapted into a film with a screenplay by Medoff in 1979.