David Mamet

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David Mamet bigraphy, stories - American author, playwright, screenwriter, and film director

David Mamet : biography

30 November 1947 –

David Alan Mamet ( born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and film director.

As a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). As a screenwriter, he received Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997). Mamet’s books include: The Old Religion (1997), a novel about the lynching of Leo Frank; Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (2004), a Torah commentary with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner; The Wicked Son (2006), a study of Jewish self-hatred and antisemitism; Bambi vs. Godzilla, a commentary on the movie business; and The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture (2011), a commentary on cultural and political issues.

Mamet’s feature films, which he both wrote and directed, include Redbelt (2008), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), House of Games (1987) (which won Best Film and Best Screenplay awards at the 1987 Venice Film Festival and "Film of the Year" for the 1989 London Critics Circle Film Awards), Spartan (2004), Heist (2001), State and Main (2000) (Winner of a Best Acting – Ensemble award from the National Board of Review), The Winslow Boy (1999), Oleanna (1994), Homicide (1991) (nominated for the Palme d’Or at 1991 Cannes Film Festival and won a "Screenwriter of the Year" award for Mamet from the London Critics Circle Film Awards and Best Cinematography for Roger Deakins from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards), Things Change (1988) (which won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at 1988 Venice Film Festival for Don Ameche and Joe Mantegna), and most recently the 2013 HBO film Phil Spector, starring Al Pacino as Spector with Helen Mirren and Jeffrey Tambor.

Mamet has also written the screenplays for such films as The Verdict (1982), directed by Sidney Lumet, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), directed by Bob Rafelson, The Untouchables (1987) directed by Brian De Palma, Hoffa (1992), Ronin (1998), Wag The Dog (1997), The Edge (1997), and Hannibal (2001).

Mamet was also the creator, executive producer, and frequent writer for the TV show, The Unit.

Works

Mamet is credited as writer of these works except where noted.

Year Plays Films Books
1970
  • Lakeboat
1972
  • The Duck Variations
  • Lone Canoe
1974
  • Sexual Perversity in Chicago
  • Squirrels
1975
  • American Buffalo
1976
  • Reunion
  • The Water Engine
1977
  • A Life in the Theatre
1978
  • The Revenge of the Space Pandas, or Binky Rudich and the Two-Speed Clock
  • Mr. Happiness
1979
  • The Woods
  • The Blue Hour
1980
  • Lakeboat (revision)
1981
  • The Postman Always Rings Twice
1982
  • Edmond
  • The Verdict
1983
  • The Frog Prince
  • Glengarry Glen Ross
1985
  • The Shawl
  • Goldberg Street: Short Plays and Monologues
1986
  • The Poet & The Rent
  • About Last Night…
1987
  • House of Games (director)
  • The Untouchables
  • Black Widow (actor only)
  • Writing in Restaurants
1988
  • Speed-the-Plow
  • Things Change (director)
1989
  • Bobby Gould In Hell
  • We’re No Angels
1991
  • Homicide (director)
  • On Directing Film
1992
  • Oleanna
  • Hoffa (producer)
  • Glengarry Glen Ross
  • The Cabin: Reminiscence and Diversions
1994
  • The Cryptogram
  • Oleanna (director)
  • Vanya on 42nd Street
  • The Village
1996
  • American Buffalo
  • Make-Believe Town: Essays and Remembraces
1997
  • The Old Neighborhood
  • Wag the Dog
  • The Spanish Prisoner (director)
  • The Edge
  • The Old Religion
1998
  • Ronin (writer)
  • Three Uses of the Knife
1999
  • Boston Marriage
  • The Winslow Boy (director)
  • True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor
  • The Chinaman (poems)The Chinaman
  • Jafsie and John Henry: Essays
2000
  • Lakeboat
  • State and Main (director)
  • Wilson: A Consideration of the Sources
2001
  • Hannibal
  • Heist (director)
2002
  • South of the Northeast Kingdom
2004
  • Faustus
  • Spartan (director)
2005
  • Romance
  • The Voysey Inheritance (adaptation)
  • Edmond
2006
  • The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-hatred, and the Jews
2007
  • Keep Your Pantheon
  • November
  • Bambi Vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business
2008
  • The Vikings and Darwin
  • A Waitress in Yellowstone
  • Redbelt (director)
2009
  • Race
  • School
  • The Prince of Providence
2010
  • Come Back to Sorrento
  • Theatre
  • The Trials of Roderick Spode (The Human Ant)
2011
  • The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture
2012
  • The Anarchist
2013
  • Phil Spector