Events in Film & TV
- 1924 The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips".
- 1927 "The General", American silent film directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman, starring Al Boasberg, premieres in New York City
- 1929 Jimmy Hatlo's "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoon debuts in San Francisco
Film Release
1936 "Modern Times", silent film directed by, written by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released
Charlie Chaplin
Film Release
1942 "Woman of the Year" film directed by George Stevens, starring Katherine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy opens at Radio City
Spencer Tracy
Film Premier
1944 "Captain American" serial film premieres starring Dick Purcell, first appearance of a Marvel superhero outside a comic
Jack Kirby
Television Awards
1953 5th Emmy Awards: I Love Lucy, Thomas Mitchell and Helen Hayes win
Helen Hayes
- 1954 WCDC TV channel 19 in Adams, MA (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1966 BBC opens a relay radio station on Ascension Island
- 1967 "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" premieres on CBS (later ABC, NBC)
- 1968 KDTV TV channel 39 in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (IND) begins broadcasting
- 1969 "Turn-On," debuts and cancelled by ABC after flopping so badly
- 1970 WSCV TV channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale, FL (IND) suspends broadcasting
Film and TV Awards
1971 28th Golden Globes: "Love Story", George C. Scott, & Ali MacGraw win
George C. Scott
Event of Interest
1986 Corazon Aquino & Ferdinand Marcos appear on "Nightline"
Corazon Aquino
Ferdinand Marcos
- 1990 Notre Dame becomes 1st team to sell its game to a major network (NBC)
- 1994 "Where On Earth Is Carmen San Diego," debuts on Fox TV
- 1997 Brook Lee from Hawaii, crowned 46th Miss USA (en route to Miss Universe)
- 2004 54th Berlin International Film Festival: "Head-On" wins the Golden Bear
- 2009 59th Berlin International Film Festival: "The Milk of Sorrow" wins the Golden Bear
Hall of Fame
Event of Interest
2012 Flavor Flav and Elton John appear in a Pepsi Co. ad during Super Bowl XLVI
Flavor Flav
Elton John
- 2015 65th Berlin International Film Festival: "Taxi" wins the Golden Bear
Birthdays in Film & TV
- 1879 Edward Rigby, British actor (Star Look Down, Young & Innocent), born in Ashford, Kent, England (d. 1951)
- 1902 Bronislaw Kaper, Polish film composer and Academy Award winner (Green Dolphin Street, Lili), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1983)
- 1906 John Carradine, American actor (The Grapes of Wrath, Stagecoach, Howling), born in Greenwich Village, New York (d. 1988)
- 1908 Peg Entwistle, Welsh actress, born in Port Talbot, Wales (d. 1932)
- 1912 Willard Parker, American actor (Kiss Me Kate, What A Woman), born in NYC, New York (d. 1996)
- 1919 Tim Holt [Charles John Holt III], American actor (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), born in Beverly Hills, California (d. 1973)
- 1919 Red Buttons [Aaron Chwatt], American comedian and actor (Sayonara, Five Weeks in a Balloon), born in NYC, New York (d. 2006)
- 1920 Frank Muir, British comedian (d. 1998)
- 1921 Ken Adam, British film production designer (James Bond sets), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2016)
- 1922 Bernard Kalb, American journalist, moderator, lecturer and author, one of the most respected broadcast journalists of his time (CBS News, NYT, Times), born in NYC, New York
- 1923 Stephen J Cannell, TV producer/writer
- 1927 Robert Brown, American actor (Here Come the Brides, Primus), born in Trenton, New Jersey
- 1927 Val Dufour, American actor (Eugenie Grandet, Another World), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2000)
- 1933 Nick Georgiade, American actor (Untouchables, Run Buddy Run), born in NYC, New York
- 1937 Stuart Damon, American actor (Alan Quartermaine-General Hospital), born in Brooklyn, New York
- 1939 Jane Bryant Quinn, newscaster/financial writer (Everyone's Money Book), born in Niagara Falls, New York
- 1941 David Selby, Morganstown WV, actor (Falcon Crest, Flamingo Road)
- 1943 Michael Mann, actor and director (Sexpot, Close Friends), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1946 Charlotte Rampling, England, actress (Zardoz, Night Porter, Verdict)
- 1947 David Ladd, actor (Raymie, Catlow, Misty, Deathline), born in Los Angeles, California
- 1948 Christopher Guest, American actor (SNL, Heartbeeps, This is Spinal Tap), born in NYC, New York
- 1948 Tom Wilkinson, English actor, born in West Yorkshire, England
- 1954 Roseanne Katan, American model and playmate (Sep 1978), born in NYC, New York
- 1955 Debra Jo Fondren, playmate of year (September, 1977), born in Los Angeles, California
- 1961 Tim Meadows, American actor and comedian
- 1962 Jennifer Jason Leigh [Morrow], American actress (Single White Female, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle), born in Los Angeles, California
- 1963 Steven Shainberg, American film director
- 1964 Laura Linney, American actress (The Truman Show, Mystic River), born in NYC, New York
- 1967 Chris Parnell, American actor
- 1968 Eyþór Guðjónsson, Icelandic actor
- 1969 Michael Sheen, Welsh actor
- 1971 Marcus Redman, actor (Raymond-Doogie Howser)
- 1972 Erin Phillips, Miss America-Missouri (1996), born in Mexico, Missouri,
- 1972 Koriki Chōshū, Japanese comedian
- 1973 Diego Serrano, Quito Ecuador, actor (Tomas Rivera-Another World)
- 1974 Omarosa Manigault Newman, American reality TV star and former political aide, born in Ohio
- 1976 Tony Jaa, Thai actor and martial artist, born in Surin, Thailand
- 1976 Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor
- 1978 Shawn Reaves, American actor
- 1981 Nora Zehetner, American actress
- 1985 Crystal Hunt, American actress
- 1987 Henry Golding, Malaysian actor (Crazy Rich Asians), born in Betong, Sarawak, Malaysia
- 1987 Darren Criss, American actor and singer-songwriter (Glee, The Assassination of Gianni Versace), born in San Francisco, California
- 1989 Cristine Reyes, Filipino actress
- 1989 Jeremy Sumpter, American actor
Weddings in Film & TV
Wedding of Interest
1971 Actress Judi Dench (36) weds actor Michael Williams (35) at St Mary's Catholic Church in Hampstead, London
Judi Dench
Wedding of Interest
1990 Actor Rowan Atkinson (35) weds Sunetra Sastry in New York
Rowan Atkinson
- 2007 "Rudo y Cursi" Mexican actor Diego Luna (28) weds actress and model Camila Sodi (21) in Mexico City
Deaths in Film & TV
- 1917 Paul Rubens, English musical comedy composer, (Miss Hook of Holland), dies at 41
George Arliss
1946 George Arliss, British actor (Devil, Green Goddess), dies at 77
George Arliss
- 1959 Gwili Andre, actress (No Other Woman, Roar of the Dragon), dies
- 1965 Irving Bacon, American actor (Branded Men, Fort Ti), dies at 71
- 1969 Thelma Ritter, American actress (All About Eve, Pillow Talk), dies at 63
- 1976 Roger Livesey, Welsh actor (Drum, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp), dies from bowel cancer at 69
- 1981 Barend Barendse, Dutch sports reporter and actor (Zeskamp, Oebele), dies at 73
- 1982 Dolores Moran, actress (Yankee Doodle Dandy), dies at 56
- 1989 Joe Raposa, composer/songwriter (Sesame Street), dies at 51
- 1991 Dean Jagger, American actor (White Christmas, Vanishing Point), dies at about 87
- 1992 Laura Liddell, English actress (Shakespeare Wallah), dies at 83
- 1995 Courtenay E Benson, broadcaster, dies at 79
- 1995 Doug Mcclure, US rodeo rider/actor (Trampas-Virginian), dies at 59
- 1996 Peter Pooley, broadcaster, dies at 84
- 2000 Claude Autant-Lara, French film director (Four Bags Full, Rouge et noir), dies at 98
- 2004 John Hench, American animator (b. 1908)
- 2006 Norma Candal, Puerto Rican actress and comedian (La criada malcriada), dies at 78
- 2006 Franklin Cover, American actor (Tom-The Jeffersons), dies at 77
- 2010 Ian Carmichael, British actor (Private's Progress, I'm All Right Jack), dies at 89
- 2012 Sam Coppola, US actor (Saturday Night Fever), dies at 79
- 2015 Jeffrey Segal, British actor and playwright (Dad's Army, Traitors), dies at 94
February in History
River of Dreams Delivers a Writer of Genius
Forced to find a new job when the American Civil War struck the Mississippi river, Samuel Longhorne Clemens turned to writing and Mark Twain was born.
February 2, 1863
I'm Not Gay Insists 'Fruit-Flavoured, Mincing' Liberace
Entertainer Liberace died on this day, going to his grave insisting he was not gay. But his death from AIDS told a different story . . .
February 4, 1987
Soccer Star Dodges TV Trap
How did a 'This Is Your Life' surprise for footballer Danny Blanchflower backfire so badly and end with the Tottenham Hotspur star storming off the set?
February 6, 1961
2,000-year-old Glass Treasure Shattered by a Drunk
One of the British Museum's treasured pieces of Roman antiquity was shattered on this day by a drunken visitor.
February 7, 1845