- Jan 3 Bryant Gumbel co-hosted his final "Today" show on NBC-TV
Event of Interest
Jan 9 Heart attacks sends Frank Sinatra back to hospital
Frank Sinatra
- Jan 10 4,000th episode of "Entertainment Tonight"
Film and TV Awards
Jan 12 23rd People's Choice Awards: Mel Gibson & Sandra Bullock win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Tim Allen & Oprah Winfrey win (TV)
Golden Globes
Jan 19 54th Golden Globes: The English Patient, Geoffrey Rush, & Brenda Blethyn win
Geoffrey Rush
- Jan 20 2nd Critics' Choice Movie Awards: Fargo wins Best Film
- Jan 26 13th Sundance Film Festival: "Sunday" wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
- Feb 5 Brook Lee from Hawaii, crowned 46th Miss USA (en route to Miss Universe)
- Feb 8 28th NAACP Image Awards: "A Time to Kill" wins Outstanding Motion Picture
- Feb 9 11th American Comedy Award: Debbie Reynolds
- Feb 9 Fox cartoon series "Simpsons" airs 167th episode the longest-running animated series in cartoon history
- Feb 10 13th Soap Opera Digest Awards - General Hospital wins
Event of Interest
Feb 13 47th Berlin International Film Festival: "The People vs. Larry Flynt" wins the Golden Bear
Larry Flynt
Janusz Kamiński
- Feb 28 The North Hollywood shootout takes place.
Television Premiere
Mar 10 "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" created by Joss Whedon and starring Sarah Michelle Geller premieres on WB Television Network
Sarah Michelle Gellar
- Mar 11 Ashes of Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry are launched into space
- Mar 13 Phoenix lights seen at night over Phoenix, Arizona by hundreds of people, and by millions on television. Now a hotly debated controversy.
- Mar 17 CNN begin Spanish broadcasts
- Mar 23 17th Golden Raspberry Awards: "Striptease" wins
- Mar 23 WrestleMania XIII, Rosemont Horizon, IL: Undertaker beats Sycho Sid for WWF Heavyweight title
Academy Awards
Mar 24 69th Academy Awards: "The English Patient", Geoffrey Rush and Frances McDormand win
Frances McDormand
Geoffrey Rush
Event of Interest
Apr 5 Steve Irwin's "The Crocodile Hunter" debuts
Steve Irwin
Film Premier
Apr 15 The disaster film "Volcano" directed by Mick Jackson starring Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche premieres in South Korea
Anne Heche
Event of Interest
Apr 30 42 million watch Ellen DeGeneres publicly declare she is gay
Ellen DeGeneres
Event of Interest
May 2 Police arrest transsexual prostitute Atisone Seiuli with Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Film Release
May 2 "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery", starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley, is released
Elizabeth Hurley
- May 5 "Married With Children" final episode on Fox TV
Film Release
May 7 Science fiction film "The Fifth Element" written and directed by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich is released. Then the most expensive European film ever made.
Milla Jovovich
Bruce Willis
- May 15 ABC News & Starwave Corp launch ABCNEWS.com
- May 16 Brandi Sherwood (Idaho) replaces Brook Lee (Miss Universe) as Miss USA
- May 16 Brook Mehealani Lee, 26, of US crowned 46th Miss Universe
- May 18 50th Cannes Film Festival: "Taste of Cherry" directed by Abbas Kiarostami and "Unagi" directed by Shohei Imamura jointly awarded the Palme d'Or
Film Premier
May 19 "The Lost World: Jurassic Park", directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Moore, premieres in the US
- Jun 1 1st NY Women Film Festival opens
Film Premier
Jun 12 "Batman and Robin" directed by Joel Schumacher, starring George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chris O'Donnell premieres in Los Angeles
George Clooney
Chris O'Donnell
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Event of Interest
Jun 15 British model Naomi Campbell hospitalized due to drug overdose
Naomi Campbell
Event of Interest
Jul 25 Autumn Jackson, found guilty of trying to extort $40M from Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
- Aug 4 "Keenan Ivory Wayan Show" premieres on Fox TV
Event of Interest
Aug 4 William Ryan Holt and Michael Mischler are arrested for breaking into Elle MacPherson’s Los Angeles home
Elle MacPherson
Music Concert
Aug 7 Garth Brooks performs a free concert in NYC's Central Park for HBO, later releasing it as Garth: Live from Central Park
Garth Brooks
- Aug 20 Shelly Moore, 18, of Tenn, crowned 15th Miss Teen USA
- Aug 27 54th Venice Film Festival: "Hana-bi" directed by Takeshi Kitano wins Golden Lion
- Aug 29 Netflix is founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hasting in Scotts Valley, California as an online DVD rental business
- Sep 1 Cartoon Channel premieres in Japan
Event of Interest
Sep 1 Jerry Lewis' 32nd Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $50,500,000
Jerry Lewis
Film Premier
Nov 1 "Titanic" directed by James Cameron, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet premieres at the Tokyo International Film Festival (Academy Awards Best Picture 1998)
- Nov 3 British TV comedy "I'm Alan Partridge" starring Steve Coogan premieres on BBC Two
Event of Interest
Nov 5 French court orders producer Jacques Charrier, ex-husband of Brigitte Bardot, to pay the former screen star $8,300 in damages
Brigitte Bardot
Film Release
Nov 7 "Mr Bean" directed by Mel Smith and starring Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean opens in the US
Rowan Atkinson
- Nov 11 CBS News anchor Dan Rather renews his contract to 2002
- Nov 12 Dick Vitale signs with ESPN through year 2004
- Nov 14 Disney's "Lion King" sets Broadway record of $2,700,000 daily sale
- Nov 18 "Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture" album is released by Sony Music Soundtrax
- Nov 28 Final episode of "Beavis & Butt-head" on MTV
- Dec 1 Westinghouse formally changes its name to CBS
Film Premier
Dec 9 "Tomorrow Never Dies", 18th James Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh, premieres in London
Pierce Brosnan
Michelle Yeoh
- Dec 12 Fed judge sentences Autumn Jackson, who claims to be Bill Cosby's daughter, to 26 months for trying to extort $40 million from him
Film Premier
Dec 15 "Spice World" movie directed by Bob Spiers and starring girl group the Spice Girls premieres in the UK
Keith Flint
- Dec 22 Hunter Tylo awarded $4 million in Melrose Place breach of contract
Film Release
Dec 23 "As Good as It Gets" film released written and directed by James L. Brooks, starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Jack Nicholson
- Dec 25 For 1st time US movie box office receipts pass $6 billion
Event of Interest
Dec 25 Jerry Seinfeld announces the final season of his TV show "Seinfeld" will air the following year
Jerry Seinfeld