Events in Film & TV
- Jan 3 WHAG TV channel 25 in Hagerstown, MD (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Jan 5 American daytime soap opera "All My Children" premieres on ABC
- Jan 5 KPTS TV channel 8 in Hutchinson-Wichita, Kansas (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Jan 10 Preview Center opens at Walt Disney World, Florida - first building to open
M*A*S*H
Jan 25 Dark comedy film "M*A*S*H", directed by Robert Altman, starring Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, and based on novel by Richard Hooker, premieres (Palme d'Or 1970)
- Jan 27 Movie rating system modifies "M" rating to "PG"
Birthdays in Film & TV
- Jan 1 Gabriel Jarret, American actor
- Jan 2 Royce Clayton, American baseball shortstop (MLB All Star 1997; SF Giants, St Louis Cardinals) and actor (The Rookie, Moneyball), born in Burbank, California
- Jan 3 Christian Duguay, American comic actor
- Jan 3 Mahaya Petrosian, Iranian actress
- Jan 3 Matt Ross, American actor
- Jan 4 Chris Kanyon, American pro wrestler (WCW/WWF World Tag Team C'ship), born in Sunnyside, New York City (d. 2010)
- Jan 5 Rick Campanelli, Canadian TV presenter, born in Hamilton, Canada
- Jan 6 Gabrielle Reece, American volleyball player & actress (Extremists), born in La Jolla, California
- Jan 6 Julie Chen, American television presenter, born in NYC, New York
- Jan 7 Doug E. Doug [Douglas Bourne], American actor and comedian (Cosby, Operation Dumbo Drop, Jungle Fever), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Jan 10 Marcus Bagwell, American professional wrestler, born in Marietta, Georgia
- Jan 12 MiG {Miguel Ayesa], Filipino-Australian rock and theatrical singer and actor (We Will Rock You), born in Manila, Philippines
- Jan 13 Keith Coogan, American actor (Jeffrey in The Waltons, Gun Shy), born in Palm Springs, California
Shonda Rhimes (53 years old)
Jan 13 American television producer and series creator (Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal), born in Chicago Illinois
- Jan 14 Gene Snitsky, American professional wrestler, born in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania
- Jan 17 Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian-born animator, born in Moscow, Russia
- Jan 19 Ghetty Chasun, American actress (Red Lips), born in Erie, Pennsylvania
- Jan 19 Udo Suzuki, Japanese comedian, born in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan
- Jan 20 Mitch Benn, English comedian and musician, born in Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Jan 20 Skeet Ulrich, American actor (Scream), born in Lynchburg, Virginia
- Jan 21 Ken Leung, American actor (Lost; Shanghai Kiss; The Night Shift), born in New York City
- Jan 22 Brian Gaskill, American actor (David Michaels-Models Inc, Bob-All My Children), born in Honolulu, Hawaii
- Jan 24 Matthew Lillard, American actor (Scream), born in Lansing, Michigan
- Jan 29 Heather Graham, American actress (Drugstore Cowboy, Diggstown), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Jan 31 (Amelia) "Minnie" Driver, British-American actress (Good Will Hunting; The Riches), and singer-songwriter (Everything I've Got in My Pocket), born in London, England
Deaths in Film & TV
- Jan 7 Robert [Harriot] Barrat, American actor (Bad Lands, Go West, Distant Drums), dies at 80
- Jan 19 Hal March [Harold Mendelson], American comedian, actor and TV host ($64,000 Question; Outrage), dies of lung cancer at 49
- Jan 25 Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese television writer and producer (Ultraman) (b. 1901)
- Jan 25 Marie Benavente, actress (Paradise), dies at 84
- Jan 30 Malcolm Keen, British actor (The Lodger, The Manxman, The Murder Party), dies at 82
