Matthew Weiner

Matthew Hoffman Weiner Bio

Matthew Hoffman Weiner (born June 29, 1965) is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the acclaimed drama series Mad Men and as a writer and executive producer on The Sopranos. Weiner began his television career writing for sitcoms before achieving breakthrough success with Mad Men, which became a landmark series in modern television. He has won multiple Primetime Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards throughout his career and is widely regarded as a defining figure in contemporary television drama.

Early Life and Background

Matthew Hoffman Weiner was born on June 29, 1965, in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. He grew up in a Jewish family and attended The Park School of Baltimore during his formative years. His family later relocated to Los Angeles, where he continued his education at Harvard School for Boys. His father worked as a medical researcher and served as the chair of the neurology department at the University of Southern California, while his mother graduated from law school but chose not to practice law.

Weiner pursued higher education at Wesleyan University, where he enrolled in the College of Letters and studied literature, philosophy, and history. He later earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television, now known as the School of Cinematic Arts. This academic background in both liberal arts and filmmaking provided him with the foundation for his future career in television writing and production.

Path to Television Writing

Weiner described the early phase of his career as a challenging period. He recalled that show business initially appeared so impenetrable that he eventually stopped writing. During this difficult time, his wife, an architect, financially supported their household while he continued pursuing his passion for writing.

He began his screenwriting career in 1996 with the short-lived Fox sitcom Party Girl. He subsequently worked as a writer and producer on The Naked Truth and Andy Richter Controls the Universe. In 1999, while employed as a writer on the sitcom Becker, Weiner wrote the pilot episode of Mad Men as a spec script, laying the foundation for what would become his signature work.

The turning point in Weiner’s career came when The Sopranos creator and executive producer David Chase noticed Weiner’s talent after being impressed by the Mad Men pilot script. Chase offered Weiner a position on The Sopranos writing staff, beginning a significant chapter in his career that would eventually lead to his own successful series.

Matthew Hoffman Weiner Career

Early Career (1996–2007)

Weiner joined The Sopranos as supervising producer for the fifth season in 2004. He then advanced to co-executive producer for the first part of the sixth season in 2006 and executive producer for the second part of the sixth season in 2007. Throughout his tenure on The Sopranos, Weiner had sole or joint credit for 12 episodes, including the Primetime Emmy Award-nominated episodes “Unidentified Black Males” and “Kennedy and Heidi.”

His work on The Sopranos earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards as a producer—one for the show’s fifth season in 2004 and another for the second part of the sixth season in 2007. Beyond writing and producing, Weiner made acting appearances in two episodes of the series, portraying fictional mafia expert Manny Safier in scenes within the show.

Breakthrough (2007–2015)

During his time working on The Sopranos, Weiner sought a network to produce Mad Men. HBO, Showtime, and FX all passed on the project initially. HBO offered to move forward only if David Chase joined as a writer or producer, but Chase declined to focus on developing feature films. Weiner eventually pitched the series to AMC, a network that had never before produced an original dramatic television series. AMC took a chance on the project, ordering a full 13-episode season.

Mad Men premiered on July 19, 2007, just six weeks after The Sopranos concluded its run. Weiner served as showrunner, executive producer, and head writer throughout all seven seasons of the series. In this capacity, he maintained major involvement in every aspect of production, including writing, directing, and approving casting decisions, costumes, hairstyles, and props. He wrote or co-wrote episodes across all seasons and directed all seven season finales, along with the season seven midseason finale and the penultimate episode of the series.

Notable Works and Milestones

Mad Men achieved considerable critical acclaim and became the first basic cable series to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, claiming the honor in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 consecutively. Weiner won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” in 2008 and continued earning recognition for his writing throughout the series run. The show accumulated four Golden Globe Awards and fifteen Primetime Emmy Awards during its broadcast.

Weiner expanded his creative portfolio with his first feature film, Are You Here, which he wrote, directed, and produced. The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and received a theatrical release in 2014. In 2017, he published his first novel titled Heather, the Totality.

Matthew Hoffman Weiner Award Nominations

Throughout his career, Weiner has accumulated numerous award nominations reflecting his impact on television writing and production. His work on Mad Men garnered multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series across multiple seasons, including nominations for episodes such as “The Wheel,” “A Night to Remember,” “Six Month Leave,” “The Jet Set,” “Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency,” “The Suitcase,” “Far Away Places,” “The Other Woman,” “Lost Horizon,” and “Person to Person.”

His writing staff received nominations for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at multiple ceremonies, recognizing their collective contributions to the show’s success.

Matthew Hoffman Weiner Awards Won

Weiner has won a total of nine Primetime Emmy Awards throughout his career. He received two Emmy Awards for his work as a producer on The Sopranos and seven Emmy Awards for his work on Mad Men. Additionally, he has won three Golden Globe Awards, all for Mad Men, recognizing the series as Outstanding Television Drama Series.

Matthew Hoffman Weiner Family

Weiner married architect Linda Brettler in 1991. The couple shared four children together. One of their sons, Marten Holden Weiner, appeared in a recurring role as Glen Bishop on Mad Men, following in his father’s creative footsteps. The marriage ended when Weiner filed for divorce in July 2019.

Personal Life

Beyond his professional achievements, Weiner has maintained connections to his roots in Baltimore. In May 2025, his play “John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only” premiered at Baltimore Center Stage, located approximately a mile from Green Mount Cemetery where John Wilkes Booth is buried. Both Weiner and Booth originated from the Baltimore area. In August 2015, Weiner joined 98 other members of the Los Angeles Jewish community in signing an open letter supporting the proposed nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers.

Regarding recent professional developments, it was reported in 2025 that New Regency had hired Weiner to write a television series adaptation of the 1989 psychological thriller film Dead Calm.