David Mamet

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Lore & Background

Mamet was born in 1947 in Chicago to Lenore June (née Silver), a teacher, and Bernard Morris Mamet, a labor attorney. He is Jewish, with paternal grandparents who were Polish Jews. He described himself as a 'red diaper baby' and worked as a busboy, actor, editor for Oui magazine, and cab driver. He was educated at the Francis W. Parker School and Goddard College. At a 2006 fundraiser, he stated, 'My alma mater is the Chicago Public Library. I got what little educational foundation I got in the third-floor reading room, under the tutelage of a Coca-Cola sign.' After moving to Chicago's North Side, he met theater director Robert Sickinger and began working at Hull House Theatre, starting his lifelong involvement with theater. Mamet is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for Glengarry Glen Ross. His plays American Buffalo and Speed-the-Plow were included on Harold Bloom's list of works constituting the Western Canon. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2002 and received the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award for Grand Master of American Theater in 2010. In 2017, he released an online class for writers titled David Mamet teaches dramatic writing. In 2019, his play Bitter Wheat opened at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End, starring John Malkovich. In 2023, a new play, Henry Johnson, was announced to debut in Los Angeles starring Shia LaBeouf. Mamet's first film work was as a screenwriter. His first produced screenplay was The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981). He received an Academy Award nomination for The Verdict (1982) and a second for Wag the Dog (1997). He made his film directing debut with his screenplay House of Games (1987), which won the Golden Osella Best Screenplay award at the 1987 Venice Film Festival. He wrote and directed Heist (2001), his biggest commercial success. He created and produced the CBS series The Unit (2006–2009).

Reader's Guide

David Mamet's significance lies in his distinctive, terse dialogue and his contributions to American theater and film. His plays, particularly Glengarry Glen Ross (1983) and American Buffalo, are considered modern classics. His screenwriting for films like The Untouchables (1987) and The Verdict (1982) earned him critical and commercial success, while his directorial work, such as House of Games (1987) and The Spanish Prisoner (1997), showcased his skill with intricate plots and con-artist narratives. Mamet's influence extends to his teaching and writing on filmmaking, notably in On Directing Film (1991), where he advocates for storytelling through juxtaposed images based on Eisenstein's montage theory. His later works, including books on Jewish identity and cultural commentary like The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture (2011), reflect his evolving political and personal views. Despite mixed reviews for some later plays, Mamet remains a central figure in American drama and cinema, known for his uncompromising style and exploration of power dynamics.

Did You Know?

• Mamet worked as a busboy at Chicago's London House and The Second City, and also as an actor, editor for Oui magazine, and a cab driver.
• He credited the Chicago Public Library as his alma mater, saying he got his educational foundation in the third-floor reading room under a Coca-Cola sign.
• Mamet's film House of Games (1987) won the Golden Osella Best Screenplay award at the 1987 Venice Film Festival.
• He rewrote the script for Ronin (1998) under the pseudonym 'Richard Weisz'.
• Mamet's play Bitter Wheat (2019) starred John Malkovich at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End.