Iconic original Emmy statuette awarded to producers David Susskind and Daniel Melnick, standing 15″ tall with a base diameter of 7.5″, engraved on the base: “1965-1966 Awards, Outstanding Dramatic Program, ‘Ages of Man,’ January 23 and January 30, 1966 - CBS, David Susskind and Daniel Melnick, Producers.” The bottom of the base bears its original Dodge Inc. Trophies label. In fine condition, with light overall wear and tarnishing.
Susskind and Melnick were central partners in the award-winning production company Talent Associates, which produced some of the classic series of the Golden Age of Television, including Mister Peepers, East Side/West Side, and Get Smart. As individual producers, Melnick, who served as the head of MGM for a time, worked on shows like The Flintstones and The Fugitive, and later on films like All That Jazz, Straw Dogs, and Footloose. Susskind produced the films A Raisin in the Sun and Requiem for a Heavyweight, but he is perhaps best known for his own innovative talk show, The David Susskind Show. Starting in the late 1950s, Talent Associates began producing television adaptations, which included titles like Death of a Salesman, Look Homeward, Angel, The Glass Menagerie, and Caesar and Cleopatra. Their 1966 adaptation of the play Ages of Man, a popular one-man show featuring John Gielgud reading passages from various William Shakespeare plays, was met with rave reviews, with critic Jack Gould of The New York Times calling it ‘a viewing occasion to be treasured.’
