Talent Associates
Encyclopedia
Talent Associates, Ltd. was a production company headed by David Susskind
, later joined by Daniel Melnick
, Leonard Stern
and Ron Gilbert.
's fairly newly minted television program department, managing Dinah Shore
, Jerry Lewis
, and others. He then went to New York and formed Talent Associates, representing creators of material rather than performers. Susskind converted Talent Associates into a packaging company for new programs in 1952.
, such as the Wally Cox
comedy Mr. Peepers
, the anthology series Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
and Armstrong Circle Theatre
. In 1953-54, Talent Associates produced Jamie
starring a young Brandon De Wilde
, fresh off his success in George Stevens
' Shane (1953), for ABC
. De Wilde together with veteran character actor
Ernest Truex
, told the story of aging Grandpa McHummer striking a bond with young Jamie, his recently orphaned grandson.
Talent Associates was structured like a small, family-run firm; Susskind deliberately chose young and inexperienced associates, many of them women, who would learn on the job.
). In 1958, Susskind became the host of Open End, one of the first major TV talk shows. By 1963, Susskind had a reputation as a maverick, one of the last producers willing to stand up to the ever more powerful TV networks; his East Side/West Side
, a hard-hitting dramatic series starring George C. Scott
, began on CBS
in 1963 and won fairly high critical praise.
in one of the first major regular roles for an African-American actress in a primetime drama, and the series dealt a few times with issues facing African-Americans, as well as other urban issues such as drug addiction and abortion
, leading to some affiliates in Southern states not clearing the program. East Side/West Side also had trouble attracting advertisers. The drama was canceled by CBS after only one season, due also in large part with CBS programming head James Aubrey's discomfort with the socially conscious subject matter, as well as Aubrey's conflicts with Scott and Susskind over the direction of the series.
After East Side/West Side, Talent Associates continued in television and motion picture projects, winning more than 20 Emmy awards as the 1960s and 1970s progressed; one of its most enduring legacies was the sitcom Get Smart
, a spoof of the then-popular secret agent
genre, which premiered in 1965 on NBC and starred Don Adams
and Barbara Feldon; it spawned sequels, reunion shows and even major Hollywood feature films decades after its premiere.
duo Seals and Crofts
were signed to TA Records in 1969. After releasing two albums on TA which received little attention the group moved to Warner Bros. Records
in 1971 where they recorded a string of hit albums and singles during the mid 1970s.
. The company became known as Talent Associates-Norton Simon, Inc. until 1974, when Susskind and Gilbert bought the company back from Norton Simon. In 1977, the company was sold to Time-Life Films. Time Warner
's HBO currently owns the copyrights to the Talent Associates library, with TV distribution rights handled by CBS Television Distribution
.
David Susskind
David Susskind was a producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a pioneer TV talk show host.-Personal:...
, later joined by Daniel Melnick
Daniel Melnick
Daniel Melnick was an American film producer and movie studio executive who started working in Hollywood as a teenager in television and then became the producer of such films as All That Jazz, Altered States and Straw Dogs...
, Leonard Stern
Leonard B. Stern
Leonard Bernard Stern was an American screenwriter, film and television producer, director, and one of the creators, with Roger Price, of the classic word game Mad Libs.-Life and career:...
and Ron Gilbert.
Origins
In the years after World War II, Susskind was a talent agent for Century Artists, ultimately ending up in the powerhouse Music Corporation of AmericaMusic Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
's fairly newly minted television program department, managing Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
, Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
, and others. He then went to New York and formed Talent Associates, representing creators of material rather than performers. Susskind converted Talent Associates into a packaging company for new programs in 1952.
Golden Age television
Talent Associates produced some of the classic series of the Golden Age of TelevisionGolden Age of Television
The Golden Age of Television in the United States began sometime in the late 1940s and extended to the late 1950s or early 1960s.-Evolutions of drama on television:...
, such as the Wally Cox
Wally Cox
Wallace Maynard Cox was an American comedian and actor, particularly associated with the early years of television in the United States. He appeared in the U.S. TV series Mr. Peepers , plus several other popular shows, and as a character actor in over 20 films...
comedy Mr. Peepers
Mr. Peepers
Mr. Peepers is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from July 3, 1952 to June 12, 1955.-Overview:Mr. Peepers starred Wally Cox as Jefferson City's junior high school science teacher Robinson J. Peepers...
, the anthology series Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
Goodyear Television Playhouse
The Goodyear Television Playhouse produced live television dramas from 1951 to 1957 during the "Golden Age of Television".Sponsored by Goodyear, the hour-long anthology series was telecast Sundays at 9pm on NBC...
and Armstrong Circle Theatre
Armstrong Circle Theatre
Armstrong Circle Theatre is an American anthology drama television series which ran from 1950 to 1957 on NBC, and then until 1963 on CBS. It alternated weekly with The U.S. Steel Hour.-Synopsis:...
. In 1953-54, Talent Associates produced Jamie
Jamie (TV series)
Jamie is a sitcom television series, created by David Susskind's Talent Associates, that was telecast live in the United States of America by ABC-TV from October 5, 1953, until October 4, 1954. The series was the result of the success of the pilot, an episode of the ABC Album/Plymouth Playhouse...
starring a young Brandon De Wilde
Brandon De Wilde
Andre Brandon deWilde was an American theatre and film actor. He was born into a theatrical family in Brooklyn. Debuting on Broadway at the age of 7, De Wilde became a national phenomenon by the time he completed his 492 performances for The Member of the Wedding and was considered a child...
, fresh off his success in George Stevens
George Stevens
George Stevens was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.Among his most notable films were Diary of Anne Frank , nominated for Best Director, Giant , winner of Oscar for Best Director, Shane , Oscar nominated, and A Place in the Sun , winner of Oscar for Best...
' Shane (1953), for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. De Wilde together with veteran character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
Ernest Truex
Ernest Truex
Ernest Truex was an American actor of stage and film.-Career:...
, told the story of aging Grandpa McHummer striking a bond with young Jamie, his recently orphaned grandson.
Talent Associates was structured like a small, family-run firm; Susskind deliberately chose young and inexperienced associates, many of them women, who would learn on the job.
Expansion
Susskind began to branch out, putting together Broadway shows (“Mr. Lincoln”) and feature films (A Raisin in the SunA Raisin in the Sun (film)
A Raisin in the Sun is a 1961 drama film starring Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Roy Glenn, and Louis Gossett. The adaptation was based on the play by Lorraine Hansberry....
). In 1958, Susskind became the host of Open End, one of the first major TV talk shows. By 1963, Susskind had a reputation as a maverick, one of the last producers willing to stand up to the ever more powerful TV networks; his East Side/West Side
East Side/West Side
East Side/West Side is an American drama series starring George C. Scott, Elizabeth Wilson, Cicely Tyson, and later on, Linden Chiles. The series aired for only one season and was shown Monday nights on CBS.-Synopsis:...
, a hard-hitting dramatic series starring George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
, began on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in 1963 and won fairly high critical praise.
East Side/West Side
In an era where race relations was a volatile subject in the United States, East Side/West Side featured Cicely TysonCicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....
in one of the first major regular roles for an African-American actress in a primetime drama, and the series dealt a few times with issues facing African-Americans, as well as other urban issues such as drug addiction and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, leading to some affiliates in Southern states not clearing the program. East Side/West Side also had trouble attracting advertisers. The drama was canceled by CBS after only one season, due also in large part with CBS programming head James Aubrey's discomfort with the socially conscious subject matter, as well as Aubrey's conflicts with Scott and Susskind over the direction of the series.
After East Side/West Side, Talent Associates continued in television and motion picture projects, winning more than 20 Emmy awards as the 1960s and 1970s progressed; one of its most enduring legacies was the sitcom Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
, a spoof of the then-popular secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
genre, which premiered in 1965 on NBC and starred Don Adams
Don Adams
Don Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
and Barbara Feldon; it spawned sequels, reunion shows and even major Hollywood feature films decades after its premiere.
Record division
Talent Associates also had a record division which released a total of only 4 LP titles. The soft rockSoft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
duo Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts is a band made up of Jim Seals and Dash Crofts . The soft rock duo was one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl"...
were signed to TA Records in 1969. After releasing two albums on TA which received little attention the group moved to Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
in 1971 where they recorded a string of hit albums and singles during the mid 1970s.
Ownership changes
In August 1968, Talent Associates was acquired by industrialist Norton SimonNorton Simon
Norton Winfred Simon , in the United States was a millionaire industrialist and philanthropist based in California. A significant art collector, he is the namesake of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California.-Early life:...
. The company became known as Talent Associates-Norton Simon, Inc. until 1974, when Susskind and Gilbert bought the company back from Norton Simon. In 1977, the company was sold to Time-Life Films. Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
's HBO currently owns the copyrights to the Talent Associates library, with TV distribution rights handled by CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...
.