Biography
David Howard Susskind (December 19, 1920 β 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.
Filmography
all 99
Producer 80
Movies 76
TV Shows 23
self 12
Director 5
Writer 1
David Susskind Archive: I Was a Hitman for the Mafia (2020)
The Trials of Muhammad Ali (2013)
The David Susskind Show: Give 'em Hell Harry (2012)
Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess (1983)
Casey Stengel (1981)
The Bunker (1981)
Fort Apache, the Bronx (1981)
Crisis at Central High (1981)
Father Figure (1980)
Loving Couples (1980)
Mom, the Wolfman and Me (1980)
The Plutonium Incident (1980)
Simon (1980)
The Family Man (1979)
Sex and the Single Parent (1979)
Blind Ambition (1979)
Walking Through the Fire (1979)
Transplant (1979)
Who'll Save Our Children? (1978)
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II (1978)
Tom and Joann (1978)
Home to Stay (1978)
The World Beyond (1978)
Breaking Up (1978)
Tell Me My Name (1977)
On Our Own (1977)
The World of Darkness (1977)
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977)
Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye (1977)
Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking (1976)
Alice (1976)
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976)
Caesar and Cleopatra (1976)
Eleanor and Franklin (1976)
Saturday Night Live (1975)
All Creatures Great and Small (1975)
A Moon for the Misbegotten (1975)
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
The Country Girl (1974)
The Glass Menagerie (1973)
If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band (1972)
Harvey (1972)
The Pursuit of Happiness (1971)
The Price (1971)
Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
The Dick Cavett Show (1968)
A Hatful of Rain (1968)
Of Mice and Men (1968)
Laura (1968)
The Desperate Hours (1967)
The Diary of Anne Frank (1967)
Dial M for Murder (1967)
The Phil Donahue Show (1967)
Johnny Belinda (1967)
N.Y.P.D. (1967)
The Crucible (1967)
Mark Twain Tonight! (1967)
The Glass Menagerie (1966)
CBS Playhouse (1966)
The Human Voice (1966)
Death of a Salesman (1966)
Ages of Man (1966)
Eagle in a Cage (1965)
Mr. Broadway (1964)
All the Way Home (1963)
East Side/West Side (1963)
The Power and the Glory (1963)
David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (1963)
Hedda Gabler (1962)
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)
The Merv Griffin Show (1962)
Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine (1962)
The Mike Douglas Show (1961)
A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
The Citadel (1960)
Mrs. Miniver (1960)
Miracle On 34th Street (1959)
I, Don Quixote (1959)
Back to Back (1959)
The Moon and Sixpence (1959)
Medea (1959)
Play of the Week (1959)
The Ransom of Red Chief (1959)
Too Young to Go Steady (1959)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1959)
The David Susskind Show (1959)
The Winslow Boy (1958)
Wuthering Heights (1958)
Three Plays by Tennessee Williams (1958)
DuPont Show of the Month (1957)
Edge of the City (1957)
Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951)
Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950)
What's My Line? (1950)
The Power and the Glory
David Susskind Archive: Truman Capote Tells All
David Susskind Archive: Gay Rights Pro and Con
Howard Hughes: the Watergate Connection
Ratings
Information
Known ForProduction
GenderMale
Birthday1920-12-19
Deathday1987-02-22 (66 years old)
Birth PlaceNew York City, United States of America
RelationshipsJoyce Davidson (1966-01-01 - 1986-01-01)
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
Awardshonorary citizen of Brussels
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