Born in Chicago, IL; educated at Goddard College (Plainfield, VT; English) and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater; sometimes credited as "Richard Weisz." Leading American playwright whose spare, gritty work reflects the rhythms of writer Harold Pinter and the attitudes of Mamet's native Chicago. Mamet's first produced screenplay was THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1981), adapted from the novel by James M. Cain. He then turned out a number of meticulously crafted scripts (including THE VERDICT, 1982, and THE UNTOUCHABLES, 1987) before making his directorial debut with HOUSE OF GAMES (1987), a slick, engrossing study of confidence trickery starring his then-wife Lindsay Crouse and Joe Mantegna. Mamet also wrote and directed the whimsical comedy, THINGS CHANGE (1988) and the uneven but occasionally gripping police thriller HOMICIDE (1991), both starring Mantegna. His Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross was adapted into an acclaimed 1992 film directed by James Foley and starring Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon. Other notable (non-nominated) writing credits include (as writer) ABOUT LAST NIGHT... (1986), WE'RE NO ANGELS (1989), HOFFA (1992), VANYA ON 42ND STREET and OLEANNA (also director) (both 1994), AMERICAN BUFFALO (1996), THE EDGE and THE SPANISH PRISONER (also director) (both 1997), RONIN (1998 - as Richard Weisz), THE WINSLOW BOY (1999, also director), STATE AND MAIN (also director) and LAKEBOAT (both 2000), HANNIBAL and HEIST (also director) (both 2001), SPARTAN (2004, also director), EDMOND (2005), JOAN OF BARK: THE DOG THAT SAVED FRANCE (2007), and REDBELT (scheduled for 2008). Mamet has seen his plays produced on Broadway since 1977, beginning with American Buffalo and progressing to November, which is scheduled to open in 2008. Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-the-Plow were nominated for Tony® Awards for Best Play in 1984 and 1988 respectively, and Mamet himself was nominated for Drama Desk Awards for Edmond (1983), Oleanna (1993) and The Cryptogram (1995). His sister is writer-producer Lynn Mamet. In 1991, he married actress Rebecca Pidgeon (b. 1965); they have 2 children.  Nominated for Writing (Best Screenplay based on material from another medium) 1982: THE VERDICT  Nominated for Writing (Screenplay based on material previously produced or published) 1997: WAG THE DOG 2 nominations