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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.
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- wc Gender: Male
- calendar_month Birth Date: 1920-12-19
- event Death Date 1987-02-22
- school Known for: Production
- star Popularity: 1.5
- info Birth Place New York City, New York, USA
- visibility Views: 3 views
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star User Ratings:
image Images
smart_display Movies and TV shows by David Susskind
0
The David Susskind Show: Give 'em Hell Harry
2012-06-19
7.2
Requiem for a Heavyweight
1962-10-16
7.7
A Raisin in the Sun
1961-05-28
0
David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
1963-03-16
7.1
The Trials of Muhammad Ali
2013-08-23
6.2
Simon
1980-02-01
0
David Susskind Archive: Truman Capote Tells All
9
Fear on Trial
1975-10-02
5.3
The Merv Griffin Show
1962-10-01
6.9
Saturday Night Live
1975-10-11
4.8
The Mike Douglas Show
1961-12-11
5
Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine
1962-09-29
5
Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine
1962-09-29
0
The Phil Donahue Show
1967-11-06
5
On Our Own
1977-10-09
6.6
The Dick Cavett Show
1968-06-06
5
The David Susskind Show
1959-01-18
7.4
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962-10-01
6.6
What's My Line?
1950-02-02
movie_edit Directing
6.6
David Susskind Archive: Truman Capote Tells All
6.6
Eagle in a Cage
1965-10-20
6.6
The Country Girl
1974-02-05
6.6
Mrs. Miniver
1960-01-07
6.6
David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
1963-03-16
6.6
Edge of the City
1957-01-04
6.6
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1974-12-09
6.6
Mark Twain Tonight!
1967-03-06
6.6
Loving Couples
1980-10-24
6.6
The Glass Menagerie
1973-12-16
6.6
David Susskind Archive: Gay Rights Pro and Con
6.6
Howard Hughes: the Watergate Connection
6.6
David Susskind Archive: I Was a Hitman for the Mafia
2020-03-17
6.6
A Moon for the Misbegotten
1975-05-27
6.6
The Bunker
1981-04-15
6.6
Requiem for a Heavyweight
1962-10-16
6.6
The Moon and Sixpence
1959-10-30
6.6
Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
1977-01-27
6.6
Hedda Gabler
1962-12-28
6.6
Casey Stengel
1981-05-06
6.6
Medea
1959-10-12
6.6
Fort Apache, the Bronx
1981-02-06
6.6
Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
1983-11-01
6.6
Harvey
1972-03-20
6.6
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
1978-12-13
6.6
Tell Me My Name
1977-12-20
6.6
The Diary of Anne Frank
1967-11-26
6.6
Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
1983-11-01
6.6
Who'll Save Our Children?
1978-12-16
6.6
A Raisin in the Sun
1961-05-28
6.6
Of Mice and Men
1968-01-31
6.6
The Plutonium Incident
1980-03-11
6.6
Father Figure
1980-10-26
6.6
The Price
1971-02-03
6.6
Transplant
1979-04-17
6.6
Sex and the Single Parent
1979-09-19
6.6
The Family Man
1979-12-19
6.6
Breaking Up
1978-01-02
6.6
The World of Darkness
1977-04-17
6.6
Death of a Salesman
1966-05-07
6.6
Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking
1976-10-06
6.6
The Pursuit of Happiness
1971-02-23
6.6
All the Way Home
1971-12-01
6.6
Back to Back
1959-11-02
6.6
Three Plays by Tennessee Williams
1958-04-15
6.6
Five in Judgement
1955-04-10
6.6
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
1977-03-13
6.6
At the Drop of a Hat
1962-05-22
6.6
The World Beyond
1978-01-21
6.6
Dial M for Murder
1967-11-15
6.6
Laura
1968-01-24
6.6
Crisis at Central High
1981-02-04
6.6
A Hatful of Rain
1968-03-03
6.6
The Human Voice
1966-08-12
6.6
The Desperate Hours
1967-12-13
6.6
Home to Stay
1978-05-02
6.6
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
1976-06-24
6.6
The Winslow Boy
1958-11-13
6.6
If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band
1972-12-19
6.6
Walking Through the Fire
1979-05-15
6.6
Lovers and Other Strangers
1970-08-12
6.6
The Power and the Glory
1963-05-31
6.6
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
1980-10-20
6.6
Miracle On 34th Street
1959-11-27
6.6
Johnny Belinda
1967-10-22
6.6
Tom and Joann
1978-05-08
6.6
Alice
1976-08-31
6.6
Play of the Week
1959-10-12
6.6
East Side/West Side
1963-09-23
6.6
Armstrong Circle Theatre
1950-06-06
6.6
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951-12-24
6.6
On Our Own
1977-10-09
6.6
Mr. Broadway
1964-09-26
6.6
CBS Playhouse
1966-12-08
6.6
Too Young to Go Steady
1959-05-14
6.6
Eleanor and Franklin
1976-01-11
6.6
DuPont Show of the Month
1957-09-29
6.6
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951-12-24
6.6
Blind Ambition
1979-05-20
6.6
N.Y.P.D.
1967-09-05