Joseph Liss

Joseph Liss (September 2, 1911 – May 20, 1988) was an American radio and television scriptwriter and editor.

Early life and career Born in Odesa, on September 2, 1911,

Entertainment writer Leonard Lyons, writing in 1960 (more than two decades after the fact), informed readers that Liss's entry into the ranks of professional writers, circa late 1930s, had been both utterly unforeseen and purely expedient, arrived at wholly by means of simple elimination; an arrival, moreover, that had the added consequence of connecting Liss to yet another future dramatist of note. Joe Liss, now one of the most successful writers in television, started writing by accident. During the depression days he applied for a job at the WPA offices. There were several lines of applicants. The shortest line was for the "Writers" Section, and so he went there, and was hired. Liss was assigned to work with another young writer, Arthur Miller.

Liss's radio career commenced in 1939 with scripts for Columbia Workshop; by 1941, he had joined the Library of Congress, alongside archivist Alan Lomax, and engineer Jerome Wiesner, serving as the script editor for the Library's Radio Research Project. under whose auspices he contributed to programs such as Report to the Nation and Human Adventure.

Arguably the pinnacle of Liss's Studio One output is his June 1949 adaptation of S. Ansky's The Dybbuk. Produced by Miner, directed by Paul Nickell, starring Arnold Moss, and featuring "special choreography" by Felicia Sorel, the broadcast was dubbed "the most satisfying dramatic performance I have yet seen on the new medium" by New Republic critic Saul Carson, who goes on to commend Liss and Miner's "thorough grasp of television's possibilities" and concludes with the observation, "It would be tragic if the Liss-Miner 'Dybbuk' were relegated to the status of one-shot; it should be in television's repertory."

Carson was similarly impressed the following year with Liss's Philco Playhouse episode, "Ann Rutledge" (ostensibly an adaptation of the like-named, 24-minute Cavalcade of America episode that had aired in 1949, scripted by the much better known Norman Corwin, with whom Liss is credited jointly here). Corwin's contribution consisted of his name (the sponsors insisted on that) and dozen lines or so of dialogue. The play was an original, by Joseph Liss. Probably the busiest dramatist on TV this season, Liss's opportunities for original writing are rare: most often, he is held down to adaptations, like that of Christopher La Farge's The Sudden Guest, which he had to fit to the home screen a week earlier. On this occasion, however, he got his chance, and he used it well. Grace Kelly, who played the title role, and Stephen Courtleigh as the young Lincoln, were entirely credible. 'Ann Rutledge' is not only a fitting tribute to the martyred president; it was also a commentary on what TV might receive from its better writers.

Liss's drama, "The Inward Eye" (aka "The Inward Horizon" ), was produced by Goodyear Playhouse, starring Phyllis Kirk, Philip Abbott, David White, and Steven Hill. The following year it was produced by London Playhouse, starring Patricia Owens, along with William Hartnell, John Horsley, and David Markham.

In her review of a January 1958 episode of Wide Wide World entitled "A World on Wheels", Montreal Star TV critic Pat Pearce credits Liss for at least "managing to make an informative 90 minutes out of what was, in essence, one giant motor car commercial".

Personal life and death On April 17, 1936, in the nation's capitol, Liss married native New Yorker, fellow Brooklynite, and Hunter College alumnus (class of 1930), Mildred Melman, They had at least two children, daughters Josephine and Emily.

Filmography

Studio One Ep. "Not So Long Ago" (1948) - writer Ep. "The Outward Room" (1949) - teleplay Ep. "Moment of Truth" (1949) – teleplay Ep. "The Dybbuk" (1949) – adaptation Ep. "The Outward Room" (1949) – adaptation Ep. "The Light That Failed" (1949) – adaptation Ep. "The Inner Light" (1949) – adaptation Ep. "The Scarlet Letter" (1950) – adaptation "Torrents of Spring" (1950) – adaptation Ep. "Trilby" (1950) – adaptation Ep. "The Floor of Heaven" (1950) adaptation Ep. "Hangman's House" (1951) – adapted by Ep. "Mutiny on the Nicolette" (1951) – by Ep. "Waterfront Boss" (1952) – adaptation Ep. "Pagoda" (1952) – adaptation Philco Television Playhouse Ep. "The Last Tycoon" (1949) – teleplay Ep. "Mist on the Waters" (1949) – adaptation Ep. "Little Boy Lost" (1950) – adaptation Ep. "The Sudden Guest" (1950) – writer Ep. "Ann Rutledge" (1950) – adaptation Ep. "The Second Oldest Profession" (1950) – adaptation Ep. "The Touch of a Stranger" – adaptation Ep. "The Gambler" (1950) – writer Ep. "The Great Escape" (1951) – adaptation Ep. "Bulletin 120" (1951) - writer Ep. "Tender Age" (1952) – writer Ep. "The Best Laid Schemes" (1952) – writer The O'Neills Ep. 1.1 (1949) Suspense Ep. "Suspicion" (1949) – teleplay Ep. "Man in the House" (1949) – adapted by Lux Video Theatre Ep. "To Thine Own Self" (1950) – adaptation The Ford Theatre Hour Ep. "The Heart of Darkness" (1950) – adapted by Ep. "Cause for Suspicion" (1950) – adapted by Ep. "The Golden Mouth" (1951) – adapted by Ep. "The Heart of Darkness (restaged)" (1951) – adapted by Ep. "Dead on the Vine" (1951) – adapted by The Black Forest (1954) – writer Goodyear Playhouse Ep. "The Inward Eye" (1954) – writer American Inventory Ep. "The Doodlebrain" (1955) – written by London Playhouse Ep. "The Inward Eye" (1955) - writer Wide Wide World Ep. "American Rhapsody" (1955) – writer Ep. "Portrait of an American Winter" (1956) – writer Ep. "Birth of an American" (1956) – writer Ep. "Pursuit of Happiness" (1956) – writer Ep. "Song of America" (1956) – writer Ep. "The Florida Story" (1956) – writer Ep. "A Woman's Story" (1957) – writer Ep. "A Man's Story" (1957) – writer Ep. "Land of Promise" (1957) – writer Ep. "The Challenge of Space" (1957) – writer Ep. "The World on Wheels" (1958) – writer Ep. "Force for Survival" (1958) – writer Ep. "The Sound of Laughter" (1958) – writer Matinee Theatre Ep. "Silent Partner" (1956) - written by Encounter Ep. "A Silent Cry" (1956) – writer Ep. "The Silent Partner" (1957) – writer Ep. "Hangman's House" (1959) – teleplay Sunday Showcase Ep. "The Margaret Bourke White Story" (1960) – writer Play of the Week Ep. "The Dybbuk" (1960) – writer Ep. "He Who Gets Slapped" (1961) – adaptation Project Twenty Ep. "The World of Billy Graham" (1961) – writer Ep. "The World of Jimmy Doolittle" (1962) – writer The World of Sophia Loren (TV movie) (1962) – writer The World of Benny Goodman (TV movie) (1963) – writer The World of Maurice Chevalier (TV movie) (1963) – writer Espionage Ep. "Some Other Kind of World" (1964) – writer For the People Ep. "Between Candor and Shame" (1965) – story Bell Telephone Hour Ep. "Wayfarer on the Mississippi" (1965) – writer Ep. "The Many Facets of Cole Porter" (1965) – writer Ep. "Salute to Veteran's Day" (1965) – writer In Search of Man (TV movie) (1965) – writer