David Susskind (1920-1987)

Birthplace:
New York City, New York, USA

Born:
December 19, 1920

Died:
February 22, 1987

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.

Additional information:

The Search Form


Director:
1963  David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
2020  David Susskind Archive: I Was a Hitman for the Mafia
????  David Susskind Archive: Gay Rights Pro and Con
????  David Susskind Archive: Truman Capote Tells All
????  Howard Hughes: the Watergate Connection

Executive Producer:
1955  Five in Judgement
1958  Three Plays by Tennessee Williams
1963  David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
1967  The Desperate Hours
1968  Laura
1968  Of Mice and Men
1976  Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
1977  Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
1977  Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
1977  Tell Me My Name
1977  The World of Darkness
1978  Breaking Up
1978  Home to Stay
1978  Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
1978  The World Beyond
1978  Tom and Joann
1978  Who'll Save Our Children?
1979  Sex and the Single Parent
1979  The Family Man
1979  Transplant
1979  Walking Through the Fire
1980  Father Figure
1980  Loving Couples
1980  Mom, the Wolfman and Me
1981  Casey Stengel
1981  Crisis at Central High
1981  Fort Apache, the Bronx
1983  Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
2020  David Susskind Archive: I Was a Hitman for the Mafia
????  David Susskind Archive: Gay Rights Pro and Con
????  David Susskind Archive: Truman Capote Tells All
????  Howard Hughes: the Watergate Connection

Producer:
1955  Five in Judgement
1957  Edge of the City
1958  The Winslow Boy
1958  Three Plays by Tennessee Williams
1959  Back to Back
1959  Medea
1959  Miracle On 34th Street
1959  The Moon and Sixpence
1960  Mrs. Miniver
1961  A Raisin in the Sun
1962  At the Drop of a Hat
1962  Hedda Gabler
1962  Requiem for a Heavyweight
1963  David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
1963  The Power and the Glory
1965  Eagle in a Cage
1966  Death of a Salesman
1966  The Human Voice
1967  Dial M for Murder
1967  Johnny Belinda
1967  Mark Twain Tonight!
1967  The Desperate Hours
1967  The Diary of Anne Frank
1968  A Hatful of Rain
1968  Laura
1968  Of Mice and Men
1970  Lovers and Other Strangers
1971  All the Way Home
1971  The Price
1971  The Pursuit of Happiness
1972  Harvey
1972  If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band
1973  The Glass Menagerie
1974  Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1974  The Country Girl
1975  A Moon for the Misbegotten
1976  Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
1976  Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking
1977  Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
1977  Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
1977  Tell Me My Name
1977  The World of Darkness
1978  Breaking Up
1978  Home to Stay
1978  Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
1978  The World Beyond
1978  Tom and Joann
1978  Who'll Save Our Children?
1979  Sex and the Single Parent
1979  The Family Man
1979  Transplant
1979  Walking Through the Fire
1980  Father Figure
1980  Loving Couples
1980  Mom, the Wolfman and Me
1980  The Plutonium Incident
1981  Casey Stengel
1981  Crisis at Central High
1981  Fort Apache, the Bronx
1981  The Bunker
1983  Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
2020  David Susskind Archive: I Was a Hitman for the Mafia
????  David Susskind Archive: Gay Rights Pro and Con
????  David Susskind Archive: Truman Capote Tells All
????  Howard Hughes: the Watergate Connection

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  • Regarding those polls wherein "franchise" movies were submitted as one project until BFI's policy changed to regard them separately, I treated them as ties and renumbered the affected lists accordingly (e.g. the Godfather films).

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