Lyle Kessler is an American playwright, screenwriter and actor, best known internationally for his play, Orphans (Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre). He wrote and directed his first one act play, The Viewing, which he subsequently directed (Lucille Lortel Theatre). Kessler was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Playwriting Grant for his play, The Watering Place, his first full length work premiering on Broadway (Music Box Theatre); and the New York State Council on the Arts Playwriting Award for his play Burning Bright.

Other plays include his first full length work, The Watering Place, premiering on Broadway (Music Box Theatre); The Great Divide (Lillian Theatre); Collision (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater); Robbers (American Place Theatre); Possession (Ensemble Studio); and Unlisted (Tiffany Theatre). 

Kessler's play, Orphans, has been made into a film of the same name. Other screenplays include The Saint of Fort Washington, for which he was executive producer; Gladiator; and Touched, in which he also acted.