The son of actor Baruch Lumet and dancer Eugenia Wermus, Lumet was born in Philadelphia and made his stage debut at New York's Yiddish Art Theater at the age of four, acting until the 1950s when he began working as a television director.

Lumet made his feature film debut in 1957 with the widely praised 12 Angry Men, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for directing.

He has earned three additional directing nominations, for Dog Day Afternoon in 1975, Network in 1976 and The Verdict in 1982, as well as a nomination for adapted screenplay (with Jay Presson Allen) for Prince of the City in 1981.

His more than 40 films include such additional titles as Running on Empty, The Wiz, Equus, Murder on the Orient Express, Serpico, Fail-Safe, The Pawnbroker and Long Day's Journey into Night.