Coopersmith's education was interrupted by two years of service in WW2's 94th Infantry Division of the United States Army, where he was awarded a Purple Heart.

[16] Jerome Coopersmith landed his first television job in 1947[17] with pioneer TV producer Martin Stone, who had a number of shows on the air including the popular "Howdy Doody".

Coopersmith's first assignment was with the quiz show entitled "Americana" which challenged a panel of high school students to answer questions about American history based on brief dramatizations performed by actors.

[24] Coopersmith became a principal writer for the “Armstrong Circle Theatre”, penning 19 additional teleplays airing from 1955 to 1963[citation needed] and providing him with some extraordinary experiences.

[23] The episode "I Was Accused" was based on the true experience of actor George Voskovec, who was kept interned at Ellis Island during the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch hunt".

[29] Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s Coopersmith wrote episodes for many popular television series including "Justice", "Appointment with Adventure", "The Big Story", "Decoy",[citation needed] "Brenner",[30] and "Combat!

"[31], as well as anthology dramas for "Goodyear Playhouse"'', "The Alcoa Hour"[citation needed] , "Kraft Television Theater"[32], and "Hallmark Hall of Fame".

One of Coopersmith's episodes, "Retire In Sunny Hawaii – Forever" featured Helen Hayes, mother of James MacArthur (Danno), in the leading guest role.

"Nine Dragons", one of Coopersmith's feature-length episodes, was filmed in Hong Kong and continues to air as a full-length movie in foreign countries.

Coopersmith continued to write scripts for many popular television series throughout the 70's and 80's including "Streets of San Francisco", "Medical Center", "The Andros Targets", "Nurse", "Spencer for Hire" and its spin-off "A Man Called Hawk".

[35] In 1973, Coopersmith wrote the screenplay for "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" an animated adaptation of Clement Moore's classic poem "A Visit From Saint Nicholas".

The holiday special, produced by Gilbert and Joseph Cates in 1977 and directed by Marc Daniels, starred Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows, Herb Edelman, Jim Backus, and Adrienne Barbeau.

[37] "An American Christmas Carol", another holiday-inspired work, is a feature-length movie adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic transplanted to New England during the great depression.

The movie, produced by Stanley Chase and Jon Slan, first aired in 1979 with Henry Winkler starring as Benedict Slade (the adaptation version of Scrooge), and David Wayne and Dorian Harewood co-starring.

[38] Another of Coopersmith's TV movies was an adaption of the Mary Higgins Clark best-selling novel, "The Cradle Will Fall", a murder-mystery about a doctor obsessed with creating a fountain-of-youth drug.

[1] Coopersmith's next stage venture was Baker Street a musical based on the stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

[43] The cast included Fritz Weaver, Peter Sallis, Martin Gabel, Inga Swenson, Virginia Vestoff, Teddy Green, and featured the Broadway debuts of Tommy Tune and Christopher Walken in small supporting roles.

[49] The Roundabout Theatre Company mounted a revival in 2006 that ran for a total of 117 performances starring Kristin Chenoweth in the multiple roles originally played by Harris.

[51] Coopersmith's next theater project was "Mata Hari", a stage play with music and lyrics by Martin Charnin and Edward Thomas and directed by Vincente Minnelli.

In 1968, Coopersmith, Charnin, and Thomas produced the show at New York's off-Broadway Theatre DeLys (now the Lucille Lortel Theater) with the alternate title "Ballad For A Firing Squad".

[59][60] Coopersmith continued bringing children's stories to the stage with his musical adaption of Johann David Wyss's "Swiss Family Robinson".

"Anna O" was a code name given to the young Austrian woman, so treated to protect her identity, as mental Illness was considered shameful in those days.

[65][68] Gruber declared herself highly pleased with the musical version of her book, and celebrated her 90th birthday on stage after curtain call on opening night.

[69][70] Coopersmith's research led him to learn of the controversial relationship between illusionist Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle over the subject of spiritualism.