Biography
David Alan Mamet (/ˈmæmɪt/; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays Glengarry Glen Ross(1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). He first gained critical acclaim for a trio of 1970s off-Broadway plays: The Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and American Buffalo. His plays, Race and The Penitent, respectively, opened on Broadway in 2009 and premiered off-Broadway in 2017. Feature films that...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Henry Johnson
2025
Writer, Director
A quiet man is abruptly arrested without explanation, thrust into a surreal legal nightmare where truth and identity blur. As he fights to assert his ...

The Penitent - A Rational Man
2023
Theatre Play
A psychiatrist, Charles, has his career and life become derailed after he refuses to testify on behalf of a former patient who had become clinically v...

Beau Is Afraid
2023
as Rabbi
Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odys...
Just a Scene
2022
Original Story
A couple discusses their first night and relationship.

About Last Night
2014
Theatre Play
Bernie and Joan are two fiery flirters who are passionate about everything from hookups to breakups and each other. When he sets up his best friend, D...

Phil Spector
2013
Director, Screenplay, Executive Producer
A drama centered on the relationship between Phil Spector and defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden while the music business legend was on trial for the...

Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay
2012
as Himself
The life and career of renowned magician and sleight of hand artist Ricky Jay.

Glengarry Glen Ross
2011
Writer
This Iranian adaptation of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross is set in early 1980s Chicago, where the ruthless world of real estate sales takes center...

Two Painters
2010
Director, Writer
A bad interview.
The Marquee
2010
Director, Writer
A marquee runs out of letters, leaving a humorous blank.

Our Valley
2010
Director, Writer
A wind machine causes problems on set.

Inside the Actor's Workshop
2010
Writer, Director
An on-set interview is quietly absurd.
Lost Masterpieces of Pornography
2010
Director, Writer
This lost masterpiece of pornography was recently discovered in a woodworking shop of a Beverly Hills dentist. June Crenshaw (Kristen Bell) was known ...

Redbelt
2008
Director, Writer
Is there room for principle in Los Angeles? Mike Terry teaches jujitsu and barely makes ends meet. His Brazilian wife, whose family promotes fights, w...

David Mamet on House of Games
2007
as Himself
A documentary filmed on location and behind the scenes during the making of David Mamet's 1987 film HOUSE OF GAMES

Edmond
2005
Writer, Theatre Play
Seemingly mild-mannered businessman Edmond Burke visits a fortuneteller and hears a remark that spurs him to leave his wife abruptly and seek what is ...
Biography: Val Kilmer
2004
as Self
A&E's Biography of Val Kilmer.

Spartan
2004
Director, Screenplay
U.S. government agent Scott is assigned to rescue the daughter of a high-ranking government official. As willing as he is to bend the rules to get thi...

Heist
2001
Director, Writer
Joe Moore has a job he loves. He's a thief. His job goes sour when he gets caught on security camera tape. His fence, Bergman, reneges on the money he...

Catastrophe
2001
Director
An autocratic Director (Harold Pinter) and his Assistant (Rebecca Pidgeon) put the final touches to the last scene of some kind of dramatic presentati...

Hannibal
2001
Screenplay
After having successfully eluded the authorities for years, Hannibal peacefully lives in Italy in disguise as an art scholar. Trouble strikes again wh...

State and Main
2000
Director, Screenplay
A movie crew invades a small town whose residents are all too ready to give up their values for showbiz glitz.

Lakeboat
2000
Theatre Play, Writer
A college student befriends various crew members while working a summer internship at sea.

The Winslow Boy
1999
Director, Writer
Early 20th century England: while toasting his daughter Catherine's engagement, Arthur Winslow learns the royal naval academy expelled his 14-year-old...

Lansky
1999
Writer
Organized crime boss Meyer Lansky remembers his life as he is moving about the world looking for some country that will take him in since the USA have...

Ronin
1998
Screenplay
A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembl...

Wag the Dog
1997
Screenplay
During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President...

The Spanish Prisoner
1997
Writer, Director
An inventor of a secret process suddenly finds himself alone as both his friends and the corporation he works for turn against him.

The Edge
1997
Screenplay
The plane carrying wealthy Charles Morse crashes down in the Alaskan wilderness. Together with the two other passengers, photographer Robert and assis...

Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants
1996
Director
Sleight of hand magician Ricky Jay blends light comedy and close-up magic to entertain a live audience. He discusses everything from the birth of the ...

Hustlers, Hoaxsters, Pranksters, Jokesters and Ricky Jay
1996
A documentary about the life and work of sleight-of-hand artist Ricky Jay, with appearances by Ricky Jay, David Mamet and Steve Martin.

American Buffalo
1996
Screenplay, Theatre Play
Three inner-city losers plan a robbery of a valuable coin in a seedy second-hand junk shop.

Oleanna
1994
Director, Screenplay, Theatre Play
Carol, a college student, comes to John's office, her professor, to discuss the grade she has received for one of her papers.

Vanya on 42nd Street
1994
Screenplay
An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 1899 play "Uncle Vanya" played out by a company of actors. The setting is their run down theater with an unusa...
Texan
1994
Writer
A retired pilot finds out his young wife is lying to him, hiding a meeting with a military man, withdrawing money from the bank...

A Life in the Theatre
1993
Theatre Play, Teleplay, Executive Producer
A veteran actor and a young up-and-comer join for a season of reparatory theatre.

Hoffa
1992
Screenplay, Associate Producer
A portrait of union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro. The film follows Hoffa through his countless battles w...

Glengarry Glen Ross
1992
Theatre Play, Screenplay
When an office full of real estate salesmen is given the news that all but the top two will be fired at the end of the week, the atmosphere begins to ...

The Water Engine
1992
as Brown Haired Man
In the 1930s, Charles Lang invents an engine that runs using water for fuel. But when he tries to get it patented, he is first offered a ridiculously ...

The Water Engine
1992
Theatre Play, Writer
In the 1930s, Charles Lang invents an engine that runs using water for fuel. But when he tries to get it patented, he is first offered a ridiculously ...

Uncle Vanya
1991
Writer
Vanya is a bitter, sarcastic man, obsessed with his wasted years and what might have been. He has spent his life toiling for the benefit of the schola...

Homicide
1991
Director, Writer
A Jewish homicide detective investigates a seemingly minor murder and falls in with a Zionist group as a result.

The Yiddish Cinema
1991
as Narrator
Narrated by prolific writer and director David Mamet, this film is a perfect introduction to Yiddish cinema. The Yiddish Cinema traces the history of ...
Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret
1990
as Self
A leading acting teacher who trained some of the most famous performers of the stage and screen, Sanford Meisner was a founding member of the Group Th...

We're No Angels
1989
Writer
Two escaped cons' only prayer to escape is to pass themselves off as priests and pass by the police blockade at the border into the safety of Canada.

The Shawl
1989
Writer
Miss A, troubled by problems, consults a clairvoyant. Can he solve them for her by summoning the spirits? Or is he just a fraud, out to steal her mone...

Things Change
1988
Director, Writer
Jerry, a misfit Mafia henchman, is assigned the low-level job of keeping an eye on Gino, a shoe repairman fingered by the Mob to confess to a murder h...

Lip Service
1988
Executive Producer
A young news reporter schemes to take over the job of a veteran news anchor whose ratings he's been hired to promote.

House of Games
1987
Director, Screenplay, Story
A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams,...

The Untouchables
1987
Writer
Elliot Ness, an ambitious prohibition agent, is determined to take down Al Capone. In order to achieve this goal, he forms a group given the nickname ...

Black Widow
1987
as Herb
Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But sin...

About Last Night...
1986
Theatre Play
A man and woman meet and try to have a romantic affair, despite their personal problems and the interference of their disapproving friends.

The Verdict
1982
Screenplay
Frank Galvin is a down-on-his-luck lawyer and reduced to drinking and ambulance chasing, when a former associate reminds him of his obligations in a m...

The Postman Always Rings Twice
1981
Screenplay
The sensuous wife of a lunch wagon proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordidly steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.
The Prince
N/A
Writer, Executive Producer
Chronicles a recovering addict's journey through drug underworld, struggles with addiction, intense highs, and lows, and eventual path to sobriety.
Assassination
N/A
Screenplay
A new take on the JFK conspiracy, centering around Dorothy Kilgallen, one of the most famous voices in media at the time. When Dorothy suspects that L...
House of Games
N/A
Original Film Writer
A reimagining of the 1987 MGM feature film of the same name.