Film Premiere
Feb 15 Walt Disney's animated film "Cinderella" premieres in Boston
Golden Globes
Feb 23 7th Golden Globes: "All the King's Men", Broderick Crawford, and Olivia de Havilland win
Television Premiere
Feb 25 "Your Show of Shows" with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premieres on NBC. Writers include Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen.
Academy Awards
Mar 23 22nd Academy Awards: "All The King's Men", Broderick Crawford and Olivia de Havilland win
Music Premiere
Apr 24 Leonard Bernstein's musical "Peter Pan", starring Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff, opens at Imperial Theater, NYC; runs for 320 performances
- May 1 WJIM (now WLNS) TV channel 6 in Lansing, MI (CBS) begins broadcasting
- May 29 3rd British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAs): "Bicycle Thieves" Best Film
- Jun 1 WKZO (now WWMT) TV channel 3 in Kalamazoo, MI (CBS) 1st broadcast
- Jul 1 WHBF TV channel 4 in Rock Island, IL (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Jul 10 "Your Hit Parade" premieres on NBC-TV (later CBS), after being broadcast on radio from 1935
- Jul 20 "Arthur Murray Party" premieres on ABC TV (later DuMont, CBS, NBC)
Film Premiere
Aug 10 "Sunset Boulevard", American film noir directed by Billy Wilder, and starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in NYC
Film Release
Aug 25 "Rashomon", Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyō, is released (Honorary Academy Award 1952)
- Aug 27 1st transmission of a TV programme from continental Europe shown on BBC
- Sep 11 Dick Tracy TV show sparks uproar concerning violence
- Sep 29 "Tin Pan Alley TV" last airs on ABC-TV
- Sep 30 Radio's "Grand Ole Opry" is broadcast on TV for 1st time
- Sep 30 WSM TV channel 4 in Nashville, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 3 Ethel Waters becomes 1st Black lead actress on TV sit-com (Beulah)
- Oct 11 The U.S. Federal Communications Commission issues the first license to broadcast television in color, to CBS
- Oct 12 The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show debuts on CBS television, airs until 1958
Film Premiere
Oct 13 "All About Eve" directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Bette Davis and Anne Baxter premieres (Academy Awards Best Picture 1951)
Radio Premiere
Dec 3 Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast
Film & TV History
Dec 13 James Dean begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial
Film & TV History
Dec 16 Child star Shirley Temple announces her retirement from films aged 22
Film Premiere
Dec 20 "Harvey" starring James Stewart premieres in New York