David Steven Viscott (May 24, 1938 – October 10, 1996) was an American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

, author, businessman, and media personality. He was a graduate of

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(1959), Tufts Medical School and taught at

University Hospital A university hospital is an institution which combines the services of a hospital with the education of medical students and with medical research. These hospitals are typically affiliated with a medical school or university. The following is a l ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. He started a private practice in psychiatry in 1968 and later moved to

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in 1979 where he was a professor of psychiatry at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. He founded and managed the Viscott Center for Natural Therapy in

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and

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Biography

In 1980 Viscott began presenting his own full-time show on

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

, and was notably one of the first psychiatrists to do so (talk station KABC). He screened telephone calls and gave considerable amount of free psychological counselling to his on-air "patients." In 1987 Viscott briefly had his own live syndicated TV show, ''Getting in Touch with Dr. David Viscott'', providing much the same service as his radio show. In fact, the shows ran concurrently. In the early 1990s he had a weekly call-in therapy television program on

KNBC KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Corona-licens ...

in Los Angeles early Sunday morning after

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

, titled ''Night Talk with Dr. David Viscott''. Viscott's signature style was to attempt to isolate an individual's source of emotional problems in a very short amount of time. Many of his books were of a self-help nature, written to assist the individual with his own examination of life. His autobiography, ''The Making of a Psychiatrist'', was a best-seller, a

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Main Selection, and nominated for the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

. Along with

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psychi ...

advice, he would fall back on his medical knowledge to regularly devote entire segments of radio to answering

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

questions. During these segments he would give medical advice. Many of the questions answered had to do with

pharmacological Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

advice. This was unique in the world of talk radio. Viscott's popularity peaked in the early 1990s, and then fell sharply. A separation from his wife, followed by declining health, occurred at about the same time that he left the air waves. He died in 1996 of

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complicated by a

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condition. At the time, he was living alone in Los Angeles. He is survived by three of his four children: Elizabeth, Penelope, and Jonathan.

''The Simpsons''

In the television show ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'', the character Dr. Marvin Monroe's voice was based on Viscott. Monroe has been retired since the seventh season because voicing the character strained Harry Shearer's throat. The character's retirement was marked by the broadcast of a Dr. Marvin Monroe Memorial Hospital over Lou's walkie-talkie in " Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)".Oakley, Bill (2005). Commentary for " Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season'' VD 20th Century Fox. Since then, several references to Monroe being dead have been made: a glimpse of his gravestone in "

Alone Again, Natura-Diddily "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" is the fourteenth episode of the eleventh season of the American television series ''The Simpsons'', and marks the final regular appearance of the character Maude Flanders. In the episode, she is killed in an acciden ...

", a Dr. Marvin Monroe Memorial Gymnasium seen in "

Bye Bye Nerdie "Bye Bye Nerdie" is the sixteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 11, 2001. In the episode, after Lisa becomes the ...

", and a trivia interstitial in the " 138th Episode Spectacular" regarding which popular characters had recently died. However, Monroe is seen alive in the fifteenth season in "

Diatribe of a Mad Housewife "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" is the tenth episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox Network in the United States on January 25, 2004. Marge is inspired to write a ...

" purchasing a copy of Marge's novel, ''The Harpooned Heart'', stating simply that he had "...been very sick" when asked about his long absence by Marge. He was later seen as a ghost, claiming that he was "stuck in limbo" in "

Treehouse of Horror XXV "Treehouse of Horror XXV" is the fourth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', the 25th episode in the ''Treehouse of Horror'' series of Halloween specials, and the 556th episode overall. I ...

Notable books by Viscott

* ''The Making of a Psychiatrist'' See

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

* ''The Viscott Method'' * ''Risking'' * ''I Love You, Let's Work It Out'' * ''The Language of Feelings'' * ''Emotional Resilience'' * ''Finding Your Strength in Difficult Times'' * ''Emotionally Free'' * ''How to Live with Another Person'' * ''Feel Free'' * ''Winning'' * ''Taking Care of Business'' * ''What Every Kid Should Know'' * ''Labyrinth of Silence''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viscott, David 1938 births 1996 deaths American psychiatrists American psychology writers American talk radio hosts American self-help writers Television personalities from Los Angeles Tufts University School of Medicine alumni Dartmouth College alumni David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA faculty 20th-century American physicians 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers