Brodkin, Herbert, 1912-1990

Herbert Brodkin, television producer.

From the description of Herbert Brodkin Television Production Files 1953-1972. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702185997

Herbert Brodkin was a successful and influential television producer whose work spanned the first four decades of the medium. Concentrating chiefly on dramatic programming, he worked for sponsored anthologies including The Alcoa Hour and The Motorola TV Hour in the 1950s, and then went on to produce popular series such as the courtroom drama The Defenders and the hospital drama The Nurses in the 1960s. Brodkin's programs, and those produced by his companies Plautus Productions and Titus Productions, frequently explored controversial social, ethical, and political issues including addiction, abortion, euthanasia, racism, blacklisting, and war crimes.

Brodkin was born on November 9, 1912, in New York City, to Russian immigrant parents. He earned a B.A. in drama from the University of Michigan and an M.F.A. in directing and set design from the Yale School of Drama. Before his career in television began in the late 1940s, he worked in the theatre in and around New York City, and as a filmmaker for the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. He died on October 29, 1990, in New York.

From the guide to the Herbert Brodkin Television Production Files, 1953-1972, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)