Events in Film & TV on September 18

1881 Chicago Tribune reports on a televideo experiment
1932 Actress Peg Entwistle commits suicide by jumping from the letter "H" in the Hollywood sign

Film Premiere

1951 "A Streetcar Named Desire", film directed by Elia Kazan based on Tennessee Williams' 1947 play of the same name, starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, premieres at the Warner Theater, NYC

1951 "The Day the Earth Stood Still", science fiction film directed by Robert Wise, and starring Michael Rennie, opens
1954 KTUL TV channel 8 in Tulsa, OK (ABC) begins broadcasting
1954 WLOS TV channel 13 in G'ville-Spartanburg, SC (ABC) 1st broadcast
1957 US Western TV drama "Wagon Train" premieres

Television Premiere

1964 TV series "The Addams Family", starring John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Cassidy premieres on ABC

Television Premiere

1965 Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's spy spoof sitcom "Get Smart" starring Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, and Edward Platt, debuts on NBC-TV

Television Premiere

1965 TV sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie", starring Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, premieres on NBC

Film Premiere

1968 "Funny Girl" biopic film based on life of Fanny Brice premieres, directed by William Wyler, starring Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif

1977 2nd Toronto International Film Festival opens
1978 "WKRP in Cincinnati", an ensemble TV sitcom created by Hugh Wilson and set in a struggling radio station debuts on CBS
1982 7th Toronto International Film Festival: "Tempest" directed by Paul Mazursky wins the People's Choice Award
1983 Action series "Hardcastle and McCormick" premieres on ABC in the US
1983 Kiss' first "unmasked" (no make up) appearance on MTV
1985 "The Equalizer" TV spy/crime drama debuts in the US on CBS (starring Edward Woodward)

Film Release

1987 Film thriller "Fatal Attraction" directed by Adrian Lyne, starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close is released

1993 18th Toronto International Film Festival: "The Snapper" directed by Stephen Frears wins the People's Choice Award
1993 Kimberly Clarice Aiken (SC), 18, crowned 67th Miss America 1994

Television Premiere

1994 Ken Burn's documentary miniseries "Baseball" premieres on PBS (Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series)

Film Release

1998 "Rush Hour" directed by Brett Ratner, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker released - Jackie Chan's Hollywood breakthrough

Toronto Film Festival

1999 24th Toronto International Film Festival: "American Beauty" directed by Sam Mendes wins the People's Choice Award

2004 29th Toronto International Film Festival: "Hotel Rwanda" directed by Terry George wins the People's Choice Award
2005 57th Emmy Awards: Lost, Everybody Loves Raymond, James Spader & Patricia Arquette win
2006 Right wing protesters riot the building of the Hungarian Television in Budapest, Hungary, one day after an audio tape was made public, in which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány admitted he and his party lied during the 2006 general elections.
2009 The 72 year run of the soap opera The Guiding Light ends as its final episode is broadcast.
2011 36th Toronto International Film Festival: "Where Do We Go Now?" directed by Nadine Labaki wins the People's Choice Award (Drama)

Emmy Awards

2011 63rd Emmy Awards: Mad Men, Modern Family, Kyle Chandler & Julianna Margulies win

Film & TV History

2014 Emma Watson delivers an address to a standing ovation at UN Headquarters in New York City, helping launch the UN Women campaign HeForShe, which calls for men to advocate for gender equality