
Production
David Susskind
Born — Died
1920-12-19 — 1987-02-22
Place of birth
New York City, New York, USA
Known for
Production
Credits
59 titles
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 NB…
Known for
7.6The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
6.9A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.
Saturday Night Live
1975
5.8The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
6.8No synopsis available yet.
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
7.0Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.
What's My Line?
1950
6.8The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
Film credits
2010s · 2 titles
7.1Brash boxer Cassius Clay burst into the American consciousness in the early 1960s, just ahead of the Civil Rights movement. His transformation into the spiritually enlightened heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali is legendary, but this religious awakening also led to a bitter legal battle with the U.S. government after he refused to serve in the Vietnam War. This film reveals the perfect storm of race, religion and politics that shaped one of the most recognizable figures in sports history.
The Trials of Muhammad Ali
2013
NRIn 1961, David Susskind conducted a series of interviews with former President Harry Truman in Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri. After picking Truman up at his home to take him to the Truman Presidential Library for the interviews over a number of days.
The David Susskind Show: Give 'em Hell Harry
2012
1970s · 2 titles
9.0The story of John Henry Faulk, a radio/TV personality of the 1950s, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Faulk sued the organization that was behind the blacklisting, and the resultant trial, and Faulk's victory, helped to put an end to the blacklisting period.
Fear on Trial
1975
Unsold pilot for Carol Lawrence's talk show
The Carol Lawrence Show
1970
1960s · 3 titles
7.2After suffering a brutal defeat and being told he can no longer fight, 37-year-old, scar-ridden prizefighter Louis 'Mountain' Rivera struggles to find a new direction in life.
Requiem for a Heavyweight
1962
7.7Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.
A Raisin in the Sun
1961
NRThe historic interview that stopped JFK in his tracks...
David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
1963
Series credits
7.6The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
6.9A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.
Saturday Night Live
1975
5.8The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
6.8No synopsis available yet.
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
7.0Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.
What's My Line?
1950
6.8The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
NRThe Donahue Show, also known as Donahue, was an American television talk show hosted by Phil Donahue that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast in Dayton, Ohio, and it was broadcast nationwide between 1970 and 1996. In 2002, Donahue was ranked twenty-ninth on TV Guide magazine's list of the fifty greatest television shows of all-time.
The Phil Donahue Show
1967
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine
1962
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine
1962
7.0The David Susskind Show is an American television talk show hosted by David Susskind. The program began its existence in 1958 as Open End, and was broadcast by WNTA-TV in New York City. The title referred to the fact that the program continued until Susskind or his guests were too tired to continue late on a Sunday night.
The David Susskind Show
1959
Behind the camera
7.0After her husband dies, Alice and her son, Tommy, leave their small New Mexico town for California, where Alice hopes to make a new life for herself as a singer. Money problems force them to settle in Arizona instead, where Alice takes a job as waitress in a small diner.
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1974
6.3Dramatization depicting the events surrounding Adolf Hitler's last weeks in and around his underground bunker in Berlin before and during the battle for the city.
The Bunker
1981
7.1A male army deserter and a black male dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager, in a corrupt environment, and as their connection blossoms they must face the oppressive and morally decaying city they live in.
Edge of the City
1957
7.2After suffering a brutal defeat and being told he can no longer fight, 37-year-old, scar-ridden prizefighter Louis 'Mountain' Rivera struggles to find a new direction in life.
Requiem for a Heavyweight
1962
7.7Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.
A Raisin in the Sun
1961
5.1Mike Vecchio and Susan Henderson are preparing for their upcoming wedding. However, they seem to be the only two people at the wedding that are happy. Mike's brother Richie and his wife Joan are going through a divorce, which is upsetting his overly devout Catholic mother Beatrice. Also, Susan's father is carrying on an affair and her sex starved older sister Wilma is going through her troubles with her husband Johnny. All this is going on while Mike's best friend Jerry is trying to bed the maid of honor, Susan's cousin Brenda.
Lovers and Other Strangers
1970
6.2William Popper is the son of a stockbroker and is thoroughly disenchanted with "the system." So much so that even though he can prove that he ran over a woman in his car entirely by accident, he accepts a sentence for manslaughter.
The Pursuit of Happiness
1971
8.0During World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
The Diary of Anne Frank
1967
6.4Willy Loman is an over-the-hill salesman who faces a personal turning point when he loses his job and attempts to make peace with his family: Willy's long-suffering wife Linda, and Biff and Happy, his troubled sons and his life.
Death of a Salesman
1966
10.0Jay Follet is suffering a mid-life crisis while his wife, Mary, is expecting their second child. When Jay takes his family to visit his 103-year-old grandmother, he begins to realize that life is passing by too quickly. He turns more and more toward alcohol to escape from reality. When Jay doesn't come home one night, Mary learns that he was in an accident and waits anxiously for his return. Screen adaptation of Tad Mosel's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning play based on James Agee's Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiographical novel A Death in the Family.
All the Way Home
1971
6.0A year in the life of a turn-of-the-century middle class family, leading up to the opening of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Meet Me in St. Louis
1959
7.0A Korean War veteran's morphine addiction wreaks havoc upon his family.
A Hatful of Rain
1968
7.0The life and times of silverscreen goddess Rita Hayworth.
Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
1983
6.6Elwood P. Dowd's constant companion is Harvey, a six-foot tall invisible rabbit. To his sister, his obsession with Harvey has been a thorn in her plans to marry off her daughter. However, when she decides to put Elwood in a mental institution, a mix-up occurs, and she finds herself committed instead. It's now up to Elwood and "Harvey" to straighten out the mess.
Harvey
1972
7.7An aging Southern Belle complicates life for her ambitious son and crippled daughter because of her own warped views of what life should be.
The Glass Menagerie
1973
7.5Wealthy Margo Wendice's husband (Laurence Harvey) plots her murder to inherit her fortune after discovering her affair, leading to a tense, failed, and improvised criminal scheme. A made-for-television remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film.
Dial M for Murder
1967
9.0Based on Graham Greene's novel about a flawed but devoted priest in 1930s Mexico who attempts to perform his duties while eluding a police lieutenant determined to capture him.
The Power and the Glory
1963
8.0A betrayed queen takes a terrible revenge.
Medea
1959
7.0A staid, dull Englishman abruptly deserts his wife and children to become a painter in the South Seas.
The Moon and Sixpence
1959
5.0Life in a black ghetto isn't easy for 14-year-old Billie Jean Sims, who has a father in jail, a blind grandmother, and a brother with a drug habit. Growing up among drug pushers, prostitutes, and pimps, Billie Jean still has some things going for her: fierce pride, a loyal friend named Fish, and, at last, enough savings to visit her father 1200 miles away in prison.
If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band
1972
NRAfter the Great Depression, Victor Franz gave up going to college to support his father. After 30 years, Victor returns to sell his parents’ estate. His wife, Esther, his brother, Walter, and a canny furniture dealer have their own agendas. Victor must finally deal with his sacrifice.
The Price
1971
"An after-dinner farrago" featuring British writers and performers Michael Flanders and Donald Swann.
At the Drop of a Hat
1962
6.5A plutonium plant employee becomes the target of management, as well as union harassment, when she tries to blow the whistle on the company for negligent safety procedures, and she soon finds her life in peril.
The Plutonium Incident
1980
Unable to marry the divorced Wallis Simpson, King Edward VIII has to choose between the crown and love.
Crown Matrimonial
1974
8.0These dueling one-act comedies highlight the work of playwright John Mortimer. In "The Dock Brief," an ill-prepared attorney is put to the test when his client confesses to killing his wife. In "What Shall We Tell Caroline?" a father with good intentions tries to protect his wife and daughter from the bad things in life.
Back to Back
1959
7.2Hedda Gabler has just come back from her honeymoon, married to boring but reliable academic George Tesman. Refusing to tie herself down in life and name, Hedda is banking on George being appointed a professorship to secure a better life for the young couple, However, the arrival of cleaned up ex-lover Eilert threatens to destroy everything.
Hedda Gabler
1962
6.5A cynical, self-hating, failed actor visits the gruff, earthy daughter of his scheming Irish tenant farmer and passes a soul-baring night of guilt-ridden confessions, tenderness, and absolution.
A Moon for the Misbegotten
1975
NRA biography of President Harry S. Truman.
Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking
1976
10.0Frank Elgin's career in the theater is all washed up — but his friend Bernie thinks he can make a comeback, as long as his wife Georgie doesn't interfere.
The Country Girl
1974
9.0In post-war Cape Breton, a doctor's efforts to tutor a deaf and mute woman are undermined when she is raped, and the resulting pregnancy causes scandal to swirl.
Johnny Belinda
1967
6.8A monologue of a woman talking on the phone with her longterm lover who is about to marry another girl.
The Human Voice
1966
The 1973 program that explored Howard Hughes’ connection to Watergate and the alleged $100,000 bribe to Nixon that may have precipitated the break-in.
Howard Hughes: the Watergate Connection
1973
7.2In this charming TV adaptation of the 1947 film classic, a kindly old gentleman (Ed Wynn) working as a Macy's department store Santa causes a commotion when he claims to be the real St. Nick. Forced to prove his sanity, he is taken to court where he must convince the judge and his friends that he actually is Santa Claus. The faith of one skeptical little girl (Susan Gordon) and a Christmas miracle are the keys to his true identity.
Miracle On 34th Street
1959
A no-nonsense diplomat of the Soviet Union, Nina Ivanovna Ninotchka Yakushova arrives in Paris to ensure the sale of jewels seized during the Russian Revolution. Meanwhile, carefree bachelor Count Leon d'Algout attempts to intercept the valuables on behalf of their former owner, the Grand Duchess Swana. Despite their conflicting allegiances, the icy Ninotchka soon warms to Leon's charms, reluctantly going against her better judgment. A 1960 American television remake of the 1939 Greta Garbo film Ninotchka.
Ninotchka
1960
7.0In pre-WWI England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.
The Winslow Boy
1958
9.0Recounts the events of the final years of Napoleon, culminating in his exile on the isle of St. Helena.
Eagle in a Cage
1965
7.5Recreating the one-man show he starred in on Broadway, Hal Holbrook portrays Mark Twain as a 70-year old humorist who skewers politicians, newspapermen and so-called patriots in this 90 minute monologue. Holbrook adapted Twain's own words for a commentary on slavery, religion and politics, mixing the satire with comic yarns about life on the Mississippi and a very effective ghost story. The show's highlight are the lengthy passages from "Huckleberry Finn".
Mark Twain Tonight!
1967
An extensive interview originally broadcast in Feb. 1979. Host David Susskind and Truman Capote discuss the icon's history, his writing, his social persona and impact. More than an interview, the wide-ranging conversation between longtime friends delves into topics you are unlikely to see elsewhere.
David Susskind Archive: Truman Capote Tells All
—
NRThe historic interview that stopped JFK in his tracks...
David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
1963
NRThe fascinating 1973 interview with a mid-level hitman named “Joey” who describes in detail his life in the mob that included the murder of 38 men.
David Susskind Archive: I Was a Hitman for the Mafia
2020

