David Susskind
- Known for
- Production
- Born
- December 19, 1920
- Died
- February 22, 1987 (aged 66)
- Birthplace
- New York City, New York, USA
Biography
David Howard Susskind (December 19, 1920 – February 22, 1987) was an American producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a TV talk show host. His talk shows were innovative in the genre and addressed timely, controversial topics beyond the scope of others of the day. His first job after the war was as a press agent for Warner Brothers. Next, he was a talent agent for Century Artists, ultimately ending up in the Music Corporation of America's newly minted television programming department, managing Dinah Shore, Jerry Lewis, and others. In New York, Susskind formed Talent Associates, representing creators of material rather than performers. In 1954, Susskind became a producer of the NBC legal drama Justice, based on case files of the Legal Aid Society of New York. His program Open End began in 1958 on New York City's commercial independent station WNTA-TV and was so titled because the program continued until Susskind or his guests were too tired to continue. In 1961, Open End was constrained to two hours and went into national syndication. The show was retitled The David Susskind Show for its telecast on Sunday night, October 2, 1966. In the 1960s it was the first nationally broadcast television talk show to feature people speaking out against American involvement in the Vietnam War. In the 1970s it was the first nationally broadcast television talk show to feature people speaking out for gay rights. The show continued until its New York outlet canceled it in 1986. During his close to three-decade run, Susskind covered many controversial topics of the day, such as race relations, transsexualism, and the Vietnam War. His interview with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, which aired in October 1960, during the height of the Cold War, generated national attention. It is one of the very few talk show telecasts from the era that was preserved and can be viewed today. In a now notorious interview with then 25-year-old Muhammad Ali during a recently-unearthed 1968 appearance on the British program The Eamonn Andrews Show, Susskind displayed an intense antipathy and vitriol towards the famous boxer, whom he excoriated with withering criticism for refusing to be conscripted into the U.S. military for the Vietnam War. Some commentators have described this as a racist attack. Susskind was also a noted producer, with scores of movies, plays, and TV programs to his credit. His legacy is that of a producer of intelligent material at a time when TV had left its golden years behind and had firmly planted its feet in programming which had wide appeal, whether or not it was worth watching.
Known For
Filmography
Ike
Movie · Executive Producer
J.F.K.: A One-Man Show
Movie · Executive Producer
Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
Movie · Executive Producer
The Bunker
Movie · Producer
Casey Stengel
Movie · Executive Producer
Fort Apache, the Bronx
Movie · Executive Producer
Crisis at Central High
Movie · Executive Producer
Dear Liar
Movie · Executive Producer
Loving Couples
Movie · Executive Producer
The Plutonium Incident
Movie · Producer
Father Figure
Movie · Executive Producer
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
Movie · Executive Producer
Transplant
Movie · Executive Producer
Sex and the Single Parent
Movie · Executive Producer
The Family Man
Movie · Executive Producer
Walking Through the Fire
Movie · Executive Producer
Blind Ambition
TV · Executive Producer · 4 eps
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
Movie · Executive Producer
Who'll Save Our Children?
Movie · Executive Producer
Breaking Up
Movie · Executive Producer
The World Beyond
Movie · Executive Producer
Home to Stay
Movie · Executive Producer
Tom and Joann
Movie · Executive Producer
Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
Movie · Executive Producer
Tell Me My Name
Movie · Executive Producer
World of Darkness
Movie · Executive Producer
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
Movie · Executive Producer
On Our Own
TV · Executive Producer · 22 eps
Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking
Movie · Producer
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
Movie · Executive Producer
Alice
TV · Producer · 202 eps
Eleanor and Franklin
TV · Executive Producer · 2 eps
A Moon for the Misbegotten
Movie · Producer
The Country Girl
Movie · Producer
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Movie · Producer
Crown Matrimonial
Movie · Producer
The Glass Menagerie
Movie · Producer
Harvey
Movie · Producer
If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band
Movie · Producer
The Price
Movie · Producer
The Pursuit of Happiness
Movie · Producer
All the Way Home
Movie · Producer
Lovers and Other Strangers
Movie · Producer
Of Mice and Men
Movie · Executive Producer
Laura
Movie · Executive Producer
A Hatful of Rain
Movie · Producer
Mark Twain Tonight!
Movie · Producer
The Diary of Anne Frank
Movie · Producer
Dial M for Murder
Movie · Producer
The Desperate Hours
Movie · Executive Producer
Johnny Belinda
Movie · Producer
Death of a Salesman
Movie · Producer
The Human Voice
Movie · Producer
The Glass Menagerie
Movie · Producer
CBS Playhouse
TV · Producer · 1 ep
Eagle in a Cage
Movie · Producer
Mr. Broadway
TV · Producer · 12 eps
The Power and the Glory
Movie · Producer
East Side/West Side
TV · Producer · 26 eps
Requiem for a Heavyweight
Movie · Producer
Hedda Gabler
Movie · Producer
At the Drop of a Hat
Movie · Producer
The Lost Apple
Movie · Producer
A Raisin in the Sun
Movie · Producer
Mrs. Miniver
Movie · Producer
Ninotchka
Movie · Producer
The Moon and Sixpence
Movie · Producer
Medea
Movie · Producer
Back to Back
Movie · Producer
Miracle On 34th Street
Movie · Producer
Meet Me in St. Louis
Movie · Producer
Play of the Week
TV · Producer · 66 eps
Too Young to Go Steady
TV · Producer · 7 eps
Three Plays by Tennessee Williams
Movie · Executive Producer
The Winslow Boy
Movie · Producer
Edge of the City
Movie · Producer
A Man's Game
Movie · Producer
DuPont Show of the Month
TV · Producer · 5 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV · Producer, Executive Producer · 271 eps
Armstrong Circle Theatre
TV · Producer · 367 eps