 Sussman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but as a child he moved with his family first to New Jersey and finally to Sarasota, Florida.He was a fan of "Star Trek" from an early age, and was involved in letter writing campaigns to local television stations when they dropped "" from broadcast syndication.He credits David Gerrold's book about the making of the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" as being an influence on his future career.