(1947– )
a US writer and director of plays and films, which are often about human failure and disappointment. Many people have been offended by his use of language. His first successful play was American Buffalo (1977). He won the Pulitzer Prize for Glengarry Glen Ross (1984). Oleanna (1992), a play about a woman who claims falsely that a man has taken advantage of her sexually, caused a lot of public discussion. Mamet’s films include The House of Games (1987), which he also directed, Hoffa (1992), The Spanish Prisoner (1998) and State and Main (2000).