David Susskind | |
|---|---|
 David Susskind circa 1980 | |
| Born | David Howard Susskind December 19, 1920 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | February 22, 1987(1987-02-22) (aged 66) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (B.A.) |
| Known for | Television host, personality, producer |
| Spouses | |
| Relatives | Norman Lear (first cousin) |
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.[1] His talk shows were innovative in the genre and addressed timely, controversial topics beyond the scope of others of the day.
Susskind was born to aJewish family of modest means[2] inManhattan and grew up inBrookline, Massachusetts. He graduated fromBrookline High School in 1938. He attended theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison and thenHarvard University, graduating with honors in 1942. He served in the Navy duringWorld War II and, as communications officer on an attack transport,USS Mellette, saw action atIwo Jima andOkinawa.[3]
His first job after the war was as a press agent forWarner Brothers. Next he was a talent agent for Century Artists, ultimately ending up in theMusic Corporation of America's newly minted television programming department, managingDinah Shore,Jerry Lewis, and others. In New York, Susskind formedTalent Associates, representing creators of material rather than performers. Ultimately, Susskind produced movies, stage plays and television programs.[1]
In 1954, Susskind became producer of theNBClegal dramaJustice, based on case files of the Legal Aid Society ofNew York. His programOpen End began in 1958 on New York City's commercial independent stationWNTA-TV, channel 13, the predecessor toWNET, and was so titled because the program continued until Susskind or his guests were too tired to continue.[4]
In 1961,Open End was constrained to two hours and went into nationalsyndication. The show was retitledThe David Susskind Show for its telecast on Sunday night, October 2, 1966.[5] In the 1960s it was the first nationally broadcast television talk show to feature people speaking out against American involvement in theVietnam War. The show continued until its New York outlet cancelled it in 1986, approximately six months before Susskind died.[6]
During his close to three decade run, Susskind covered many controversial topics of the day, such as race relations,transsexualism, and the Vietnam War. It was the first nationally broadcast television talk show to feature people speaking out forgay rights. In 1971, Susskind interviewed six lesbians, includingLilli Vincenz,Barbara Gittings, andBarbara Love, who were among the first open lesbians to appear on television in the United States, and debated long-heldstereotypes about gays with Susskind.[7]
His interview ofSoviet PremierNikita Khrushchev, which aired in October 1960, during the height of theCold War, generated national attention.[8] It is one of the very few talk show telecasts from the era that was preserved and can be viewed today.[6]
In 1961, Susskind conducted a series of interviews with former PresidentHarry Truman in Truman's hometown ofIndependence, Missouri. After picking Truman up at his home to take him to theTruman Presidential Library for the interviews over a number of days, Susskind asked Truman why he hadn't been invited into the home. According to presidential historianMichael Beschloss, Truman flatly told Susskind, "This isBess's house" and that there had never been nor would there ever be a Jewish guest in it.[9]
Joyce Davidson, with whom Susskind was in a relationship, began working as a co-producer of a television talk show Susskind hosted locally in New York calledHot Line in June 1964. It was a different show from theOpen End talk show.Hot Line was the first television show to use the recently invented ten-second broadcast delay. This gave the control room time to delete material deemed unfit for broadcast, especially from telephone call-ins.[6] Davidson had a hand in the on-air version of the show and among other duties screened viewer phone calls.[6] She also made the first approach to some of the people who appeared as guests onHot Line, includingMalcolm X, whom she invited forHot Line immediately after he gave a speech atThe Town Hall.[6]
In a now notorious interview with then 25-year-oldMuhammad Ali during a recently unearthed 1968 appearance on the British programTheEamonn 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.[10]
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. Among other projects, he produced television adaptations ofBeyond This Place (1957),The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1958),The Moon and Sixpence (1960),Ages of Man (1966),Death of a Salesman (also 1966),Look Homeward, Angel (1972),The Glass Menagerie (1973), andCaesar and Cleopatra (1976); the television filmsTruman at Potsdam (1976),Eleanor and Franklin (1976), andEleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977);The World Beyond (1978); and the feature filmsA Raisin in the Sun (1961),Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), andLoving Couples (1980). In 1964, he producedCraig Stevens's acclaimedCBS dramaMr. Broadway, which left the air after thirteen episodes. He also produced and owned all the rights to the 1961 fourteen-episodemacabre CBS TV series –Way Out. His production company,Talent Associates, also producedGet Smart.
Susskind was married twice. Both of his marriages ended in divorce. In 1939, he married Phyllis Briskin;[11] they had three children: Diana Susskind Laptook, Pamela Susskind Schaenen, andAndrew Susskind.[1][12] They divorced in 1966.[13] In the same year he marriedJoyce Davidson, who had two daughters from a prior marriage,[14] Connie and Shelley.[15] They had a daughter, Samantha Maria Susskind Mannion.[16][15] They separated in 1982 and divorced in 1986.[17]
Susskind was first cousin to television writer and producerNorman Lear.[6]
In 1987 at the age of 66, Susskind suffered a fatal heart attack in New York City, hours afterAndy Warhol died, also in Manhattan.[1] He was interred atWestchester Hills Cemetery inHastings-on-Hudson, New York.
Susskind was among those parodied in theAllan Sherman medley "Shticks and Stones," on Sherman's 1962My Son, the Folk Singer album. In 1988, Susskind was inducted into theTelevision Hall of Fame.[18]
David Susskind, the television producer and one of the country's earliest and best-known television talk-show hosts, was found dead, apparently of natural causes, yesterday afternoon in his hotel suite in midtown Manhattan. He was 66 years old. ... According to the police, Mr. Susskind had been under a doctor's care for a heart ailment and had been scheduled to enter Lenox Hill Hospital today.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
