![]() said, ‘We are not going to sponsor a show where the principal character commits suicide.’ So, we had to have him from a gunshot wound.” The Rod Steiger character was supposed to commit suicide, but four days before the show went on, the Prudential Insurance Co. The sponsors told the network they would not sponsor it, it was too controversial. Times interview: “That show was supposed to have been the first show of the opening of the second year of ‘Playhouse 90.’ It was supposed to be what happened to the men who killed Emmett Till, the civil rights worker. And that is what happened to “A Town Has Turned to Dust.” Frankenheimer told me in a 1997 L.A. Ironically, his last “Playhouse 90” Emmy nomination was for the 1958 “A Town Has Turned to Dust.” Serling ran into difficulties with the networks and sponsors who censored or forced changes in his work. PREDICT the 2020 Emmy nominees now change through July 28 Strangely, Frankenheimer lost to Bob Banner for “The Dinah Shore Chevy Show.” Rooney was nominated for his performance, as was Frankenheimer for his direction. Whit Bissell also stars as an odious columnist and Edmond O’Brien plays the head writer who is desperate to keep his job he uses jokes written by a writer who had died in World War II.īesides Serling, “The Comedian” also won the Emmy for single program of the year. Rooney’s Sammy Hogarth is constantly berating his weak brother Lester (an impressive Mel Torme) on the air, so much so that his wife ( Kim Hunter) leaves him for not standing up to Sammy. Based on a novella by Ernest Lehman (“Sweet Smell of Success”), the drama is anchored by an extraordinary performance by Mickey Rooney as the ultimate egotistical TV comedian, beloved by his fans but hated by those who know him. Serling won his third consecutive Emmy for his “Playhouse 90” drama “The Comedian,” directed by Frankenheimer. Still, Lithgow won the Drama Desk Award and earned a Tony nomination. A production starring John Lithgow and George Segal lasted only three performances. But in 1985, Serling’s lauded script didn’t shake up Broadway critics and audiences. Six years later, Serling also penned the feature film version with Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Julie Harris and very briefly Muhammad Ali then known as Cassius Clay. Kim Hunter also stars as the caring employment work who tries to get Palance a job out of the ring.Ĭonsidered one of the best dramatic presentations of the 1950s, “Requiem” also won Emmys for Serling, for Ralph Nelson’s direction and for single program of the year. ![]() Ed Wynn, Keenan’s father who was best known for his comedic work, plays Palance’s cutman. Jack Palance, who won an Emmy, is heartbreaking as a washed-up boxer with head trauma who is exploited by his manager ( Keenan Wynn). 11, 1956 was Serling’s “Requiem for a Heavyweight.” Watching the drama is like a kick to the gut. ![]() And the second installment of the classic show telecast Oct. SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s newsletter with experts’ latest predictionsĬBS’ “Playhouse 90” was the Rolls Royce of live dramatic anthology series. Just over a year later, a well-received film version, also penned by Serling, with Begley, Sloane and Van Heflin replacing Kiley was released. But he soon learns from his boss ( Everett Sloane) that he was hired to replace the V.P who had devoted his life to the firm. Richard Kiley plays a new young executive of a large New York firm who becomes friendly with the vice-president of the company ( Ed Begley). And “Patterns” is a searing look at ageism and the other machinations of the workplace. Serling, who was wounded in World War II, examined the injustices of life, the relationships between people, racial inequality and the aftermath of war. ![]() It was “Patterns” which gave him his first Emmy Award.Ībove all, Serling was a humanist. In fact, it became the first live presentation to be repeated four weeks later. But it was the 1955 “Kraft Television Theatre” drama “Patterns,” which put him on the map. Among his earliest work was the 1953 “Kraft Television Theatre” presentation “A Long Time Till Dawn,” which gave a 22-year-old James Dean one of his first starring roles on the small screen and “Knife in the Dark,” a 1954 episode of CBS’ “Danger” starring Paul Newman - who is seen shirtless in many scenes - directed by Serling’s frequent collaborator, John Frankenheimer. ![]()
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