David Susskind
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.
The David Susskind Show: Give 'em Hell Harry
(Self)
Requiem for a Heavyweight
(Self - Trailor Narrator (uncredited))
A Raisin in the Sun
(On-screen Trailer Narrator (uncredited))
David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
(himself)
The Trials of Muhammad Ali
Simon
(Himself)
David Susskind Archive: Truman Capote Tells All
Fear on Trial
(Self)
The Merv Griffin Show
(Self)
Saturday Night Live
(Self (uncredited))
The Mike Douglas Show
(Self)
Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine
(Cameo)
Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine
(Himself)
The Phil Donahue Show
(Self)
On Our Own
The Dick Cavett Show
(Self - Guest)
The David Susskind Show
(Self - Host)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
(Self)
What's My Line?
(Self - Panelist)
David Susskind Archive: Truman Capote Tells All
(Director)
Eagle in a Cage
(Producer)
The Country Girl
(Producer)
Mrs. Miniver
(Producer)
David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
(Director)
Edge of the City
(Producer)
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
(Producer)
Mark Twain Tonight!
(Producer)
Loving Couples
(Executive Producer)
The Glass Menagerie
(Producer)
Howard Hughes: the Watergate Connection
(Director)
David Susskind Archive: Gay Rights Pro and Con
(Director)
David Susskind Archive: I Was a Hitman for the Mafia
(Director)
A Moon for the Misbegotten
(Producer)
The Bunker
(Producer)
Requiem for a Heavyweight
(Producer)
The Moon and Sixpence
(Producer)
Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
(Executive Producer)
Hedda Gabler
(Producer)
Casey Stengel
(Executive Producer)
Medea
(Producer)
Fort Apache, the Bronx
(Executive Producer)
Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
(Executive Producer)
Harvey
(Producer)
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
(Executive Producer)
Tell Me My Name
(Executive Producer)
The Diary of Anne Frank
(Producer)
Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
(Producer)
Who'll Save Our Children?
(Executive Producer)
A Raisin in the Sun
(Producer)
Of Mice and Men
(Executive Producer)
The Plutonium Incident
(Producer)
Father Figure
(Executive Producer)
The Price
(Producer)
Transplant
(Executive Producer)
Sex and the Single Parent
(Executive Producer)
The Family Man
(Executive Producer)
Breaking Up
(Executive Producer)
The World of Darkness
(Executive Producer)
Death of a Salesman
(Producer)
Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking
(Producer)
The Pursuit of Happiness
(Producer)
All the Way Home
(Producer)
Back to Back
(Producer)
Three Plays by Tennessee Williams
(Executive Producer)
Five in Judgement
(Executive Producer)
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
(Executive Producer)
At the Drop of a Hat
(Producer)
The World Beyond
(Executive Producer)
Laura
(Executive Producer)
Dial M for Murder
(Producer)
Crisis at Central High
(Executive Producer)
A Hatful of Rain
(Producer)
The Human Voice
(Producer)
The Desperate Hours
(Executive Producer)
Home to Stay
(Executive Producer)
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
(Executive Producer)
The Winslow Boy
(Producer)
If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band
(Producer)
Walking Through the Fire
(Executive Producer)
Lovers and Other Strangers
(Producer)
The Power and the Glory
(Producer)
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
(Executive Producer)
Miracle On 34th Street
(Producer)
Johnny Belinda
(Producer)
Tom and Joann
(Executive Producer)
Alice
(Producer)
Play of the Week
(Producer)
East Side/West Side
(Producer)
Armstrong Circle Theatre
(Producer)
Hallmark Hall of Fame
(Producer)
On Our Own
(Producer)
Mr. Broadway
(Producer)
CBS Playhouse
(Producer)
Too Young to Go Steady
(Producer)
Eleanor and Franklin
(Executive Producer)
DuPont Show of the Month
(Producer)
Hallmark Hall of Fame
(Executive Producer)
Blind Ambition
(Executive Producer)
N.Y.P.D.
(Creator)