15 Facts About David Susskind

David Howard Susskind was an American producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and a TV talk show host.

David Susskind's talk shows were innovative in the genre and addressed timely, controversial topics beyond the scope of others of the day.

In New York, David Susskind formed Talent Associates, representing creators of material rather than performers.

In 1954, David Susskind became producer of the NBC legal drama Justice, based on case files of the Legal Aid Society of New York.

In 1971, David Susskind interviewed six lesbians, including Lilli Vincenz, Barbara Gittings, and Barbara Love, who were among the first open lesbians to appear on television in the US, and debated long-held stereotypes about gays with David Susskind.

In 1961, David Susskind conducted a series of interviews with former President Harry Truman in Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri.

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 called Hot Line in June 1964.

David Susskind made the first approach to some of the people who appeared as guests on Hot Line, including Malcolm X, whom she invited for Hot Line immediately after he gave a speech at The Town Hall.

David Susskind was a noted producer, with scores of movies, plays, and TV programs to his credit.

David Susskind's 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.

David Susskind was first cousin to television writer and producer Norman Lear.

In 1987 at the age of 66, David Susskind suffered a fatal heart attack in New York City, hours after Andy Warhol died, in Manhattan.

David Susskind was interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

David Susskind was among those parodied in the Allan Sherman medley "Shticks and Stones," on Sherman's 1962 My Son, the Folk Singer album.

In 1988, David Susskind was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.