Henry Denker

Who was Henry Denker?

Henry Denker was an American novelist and playwright.

Denker was admitted to the New York Bar in 1935, at the height of the Depression, and he soon left law practice to earn his living by writing. His legal training was reflected in many of his works. During Denker’s brief legal career, he won a Workmen’s Compensation case which, according to Denker, for the first time established that a physical trauma can induce a mental disease. In another case, Denker served a summons on heavyweight champion Jack Johnson.

Denker was married for 61 years to Edith Heckman, whom he met when he was a patient and she was a nurse in Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Denker was the originator and writer of what he describes as the “first television series ever produced,” False Witness, on NBC-TV in 1939. Despite its success, the series was discontinued when the nascent medium of television was converted into an instruction tool for the mass training of Air Raid Wardens in anticipation of the U.S. entry into World War II.

Denker started writing for radio with three productions on CBS Radio’s Columbia Workshop: “Me?