Mamet, David

Mamet, David

▪ American author
in full  David Alan Mamet 
born November 30, 1947, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

      American playwright, director, and screenwriter noted for his often desperate working-class characters and for his distinctive, colloquial, and frequently profane dialogue.

      Mamet began writing plays while attending Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont (B.A. 1969). Returning to Chicago, where most of his plays were first staged, he worked at various factory jobs, at a real-estate agency, and as a taxi driver; all these experiences provided background for his plays. In 1973 he cofounded a theatre company in Chicago. He also taught drama at several American colleges and universities.

      Mamet's early plays include Duck Variations (produced 1972), in which two elderly Jewish men sit on a park bench and trade misinformation on various subjects. In Sexual Perversity in Chicago (produced 1974; filmed as About Last Night… [1986]), a couple's budding sexual and emotional relationship is destroyed by their friends' interference. American Buffalo (1976; filmed 1996) concerns dishonest business practices; A Life in the Theatre (1977) explores the teacher-student relationship; and Speed-the-Plow (1987) is a black comedy about avaricious Hollywood scriptwriters. Glengarry Glen Ross (1983; filmed 1992), a drama of desperate real estate salesmen, won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for drama. In all these works, Mamet used the rhythms and rhetoric of everyday speech to delineate character, describe intricate relationships, and drive dramatic development.

      Mamet wrote fiction, plays for children, and screenplays for a number of motion pictures, including The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), The Verdict (1982), Rising Sun (1993), Wag the Dog (1997), and Hannibal (2001), all adaptations of novels. He both wrote and directed the motion pictures House of Games (1987), Homicide (1991), Oleanna (1994), The Spanish Prisoner (1998), and State and Main (2000).

Additional Reading
Ira Nadel, David Mamet: A Life in the Theatre (2008), is a biography. Christopher Bigsby (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to David Mamet (2004), is a collection of critical essays.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • MAMET, DAVID — (1947– ), U.S. playwright. Born in Chicago, Mamet received a B.A. from Goddard College in 1969 and taught playwriting there for a brief period. He started his theatrical career as an actor and director before his own plays were ever produced. He… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Mamet,David — Mam·et (mămʹĭt), David. Born 1947. American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. His plays include American Buffalo (1975) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1984), for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. * * * …   Universalium

  • Mamet, David (Alan) — born Nov. 30, 1947, Chicago, Ill., U.S. U.S. playwright, director, and screenwriter. In 1973 he founded the St. Nicholas Theatre Co. in Chicago. He won wide notice with Sexual Perversity in Chicago (1974) and followed it with plays such as… …   Universalium

  • Mamet, David (Alan) — (n. 30 nov. 1947, Chicago, Ill., EE.UU.). Dramaturgo, guionista y director de cine estadounidense. En 1973 fundó la compañía St. Nicholas Theatre en Chicago. Luego obtuvo amplia notoriedad con la pieza Perversión sexual en Chicago (1974), a la… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Mamet, David —    см. Меймет, Дэвид …   Режиссерская энциклопедия. Кино США

  • Mamet, David — (b. 1947)    American playwright. Born in Chicago, his works include Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • David Mamet — Mamet at the premiere of Redbelt Born November 30, 1947 (1947 11 30) (age 63) Chicago, Illinois, United States …   Wikipedia

  • David Mamet — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda David Mamet David Mamet en la premiere de Redbelt Nombre …   Wikipedia Español

  • David — (rey de Israel) V. «lágrimas de David». * * * David. □ V. estrella de David, lágrimas de David. * * * Esta página se refiere al rey bíblico de Israel. Para otros significados del término véase David (desambiguación). David (דָּוִד Amado ) fue el… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • David — /day vid/ for 1, 2, 5; Fr. /dann veed / for 3, 5; Sp. /dah veedh / for 4, 5, n. 1. died c970 B.C., the second king of Israel, reigned c1010 c970, successor to Saul: slayer of the Philistine giant Goliath. 2. Saint. Also called Dewi Sant. A.D.… …   Universalium

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