1962

The Price Of Tomatoes
Dick Powell Theatre (NBC)
hour-long drama
David Friedkin, director
Edward Denault, assistant director
Ken Herman, associate director

Peter Falk received an Emmy Award for his performance as Aristede Fresco, a Greek truck driver whose tomato-delivery schedule is interrupted when he picks up a pregnant hitchhiker. Richard Alan Simmons' teleplay on 1/16/62 was given an urgency by Friedkin's perceptive direction, and Falk's performance was one of his high-water marks. Simmons and Inger Stevens, as the woman, also received Emmy nominations. Alejandro Rey co-starred. Friedkin was later, along with Mort Fine and Sheldon Leonard, one of the architects of the hugely successful I Spy.