Emmys 2013: David Mamet, Tom Stoppard receive nominations

It was a good morning for two playwrights at the Emmy nominations, with David Mamet and Tom Stoppard set to compete (against each other) in the category of writing for a television movie or miniseries.

Mamet received two nominations for writing as well as directing HBO’s “Phil Spector.” Stoppard was recognized for his script for the HBO miniseries “Parade’s End,” adapted from novels by Ford Madox Ford.

These are the first Emmy nominations for the both playwrights. Netflix’s “House of Cards” received nine nominations, but its writer -- the playwright Beau Willimon -- wasn’t among them.

EMMYS 2013: Full coverage | Complete list | Recap | Nominee reactions

“Phil Spector,” which starred Al Pacino as the convicted music producer, garnered much criticism from journalists who believed that Mamet strayed too far from the facts of Spector’s murder trial. The TV movie, which costarred Helen Mirren as Spector’s attorney, began with the rather odd disclaimer: “This is a work of fiction. It’s not ‘based on a true story.’”

Last season on Broadway, the pugnacious playwright had two high-profile productions -- the popular revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” with Pacino, and the new drama “The Anarchist,” which flopped at the box office.

Stoppard’s script for “Parade’s End” adapted a series novels by Ford into a five-hour saga that starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall. He told The Times in February that he had to invent a lot because “the novel is full of a lot of great things, but very often it consists of a character’s thoughts.”

The venerated British playwright is an Academy Award winner for the movie “Shakespeare in Love,” while Mamet has been nominated for Oscars twice for “Wag the Dog” and “The Verdict.”

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