Synopses & Reviews
A rich biography of one of the most important cultural figures of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s—maverick television producer and talk show host David Susskind A flamboyant impresario who began his career as an agent, David Susskind helped define a fledgling television industry. He was a provocateur who fought to bring high-toned literary works to TV. His series
East Side/West Side and
N.Y.P.D. broke the color barrier in casting and brought gritty, urban realism to prime time. He indulged his passion for issues and ideas with his long running discussion program, first called
Open End and then
The David Susskind Show, where guests could come from The White House one week and a whore house the next. The groundbreaking program made news year in and year out. His legendary live interview with Nikita Khrushchev at the height of the Cold War inflamed both the political and media establishments.
Susskind was an enfant terrible whose life—both on and off the screen—makes fascinating reading. His rough edges, appetite for women, and scorn for the business side of his profession often left his own career hanging by a thread.
Through extensive original reporting and deep access to David Susskinds personal papers, family members and former associates, Stephen Battaglio creates a vivid portrait of a go-go era in American media. David Susskind is as much a biography of an expansive and glamorous time in the television business as it is the life of one of its most colorful and important players.
Review
“As a kid growing up in Nebraska in the sixties, it was David Susskinds talk show—Mailer! Vidal! Steinem! Capote! Malcolm X!—that made me start mentally packing my bags for New York and a writers life. But who knew he was also producing the TV series (East Side/West Side, Get Smart!) and movies (by Scorsese, Altman, Peckinpah) that I loved? Stephen Battaglio has produced a fascinating, definitive portrait of one of the kings of the Mad Men era.”—Kurt Andersen, author of Heyday
"David Susskind's remarkable career perfectly parallels the evolution of American television in the twentieth Century. Stephen Battaglio skillfully intertwines the history of the man and the history of the medium into an engrossing biography."—Mary Ann Watson, professor of Electronic Media and Film Studies, Eastern Michigan University, and author of The Expanding Vista: American Television in the Kennedy Years
Review
“As a kid growing up in Nebraska in the sixties, it was David Susskinds talk show—Mailer! Vidal! Steinem! Capote! Malcolm X!—that made me start mentally packing my bags for New York and a writers life. But who knew he was also producing the TV series (East Side/West Side, Get Smart!) and movies (by Scorsese, Altman, Peckinpah) that I loved? Stephen Battaglio has produced a fascinating, definitive portrait of one of the kings of the Mad Men era.”—Kurt Andersen, author of Heyday
"David Susskind's remarkable career perfectly parallels the evolution of American television in the twentieth Century. Stephen Battaglio skillfully intertwines the history of the man and the history of the medium into an engrossing biography."—Mary Ann Watson, professor of Electronic Media and Film Studies, Eastern Michigan University, and author of The Expanding Vista: American Television in the Kennedy Years
“A detailed, authoritative biography, written with an emotional edge”-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A great book!” - Chris Matthews, MSNBC
"Stephen Battaglio gives flesh and blood to one of early televisions feistiest champions." - Kathy Newman, American Quarterly (The Journal of the American Studies Association)
"A fascinating biography that covers both Mr. Susskind's life and the history of early television." -- King Features Syndicate
"The media impresario Battaglio depicts in David Susskind: A Televised Life goes far beyond anything a scriptwriter might imagine...a well-researched and highly readable biography." - Robert Fulford, The National Post
“The strength of David Susskind: A Televised Life, Stephen Battaglios thoroughly researched book, is its sense of history… Susskind comes through, one of television's loudest, most provocative lions." - The New York Times Book Review
“A wonderful new book which, frankly, should be required reading in any college media curriculum. It details not just the high points of producing but the frustrations and heartbreak that go, as they say, with the territory even with someone as famous and successful as David Susskind.” - Dan OBrien, Reelgrok.com
"This enjoyable biography of the media swashbuckler of the 50s through the 70s kind of reads like a thriller too, the high velocity business kind." -- Sullivan County Democrat
"David Susskind: A Televised Life makes the case for remembering an impresario who brought a brash exuberance to the rough-and-tumble of ideas and social issues." -- The Jewish Daily Forward
Synopsis
David Susskind was the first TV producer to become a TV star. His freewheeling discussion program Open End, later known as The David Susskind Show, brought the turbulent issues of the 1960s and provocative social trends of the 1970s into the nations living rooms at a time when television was tame. Susskind grilled everyone from a Mafia hit man to transsexuals to a famously hilarious Mel Brooks. Behind the camera, he was a high-minded, flamboyant New York impresario who took risks and railed against the Hollywood establishment. He battled the TV network practice of blacklisting, brought great actors such as Sir Laurence Olivier to prime time and fought to make gritty shows (East Side/West Side, N.Y.P.D., Death of a Salesman) that accurately reflected the human condition. His feature film output included such groundbreaking works as A Raisin In the Sun and Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore. Through it all, Susskind was an enfant terrible with an insatiable appetite for women and a scorn for the business side of his profession that left his career hanging by a thread more than once. David Susskind: A Televised Life is a wild ride through an expansive and glamorous time in the entertainment industry and an incisive look at one of its most colorful and influential players.
About the Author
STEPHEN BATTAGLIO is the business editor for TV Guide Magazine. He has written about the television industry for The New York Times, Fortune, the New York Daily News and The Hollywood Reporter. He is the author of From Yesterday to Today (Running Press), a history of the first 60 years of NBCs Today. He has appeared as a media commentator on National Public Radio, CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Nightly News, Entertainment Tonight and numerous other programs. He lives in New York City.