Happy As Larry
Jan 6 Mischa Portnoff, Wesley Portnoff, and Donagh MacDonagh's musical "Happy As Larry", starring Burgess Meredith and Gene Barry, opens at the Coronet Theater, NYC; runs for 3 performances
- Jan 7 Mischa Portnoff, Wesley Portnoff, and Donagh MacDonagh's musical "Happy As Larry", starring Burgess Meredith and Gene Barry, closes at the Coronet Theater, NYC, after 3 performances
- Jan 27 2nd Emmy Awards: Ed Wynn Show & Texaco Star Theater win
- Jan 30 "Robert Montgomery Presents" dramatic anthology premieres on NBC TV
- Feb 2 1st broadcast of "What's My Line" on CBS-TV
- Feb 15 KENS TV channel 5 in San Antonio, Texas (CBS) begins broadcasting
Cinderella Premieres
Feb 15 Walt Disney's animated film "Cinderella" premieres in Boston. Massachusetts
Film & TV History
Feb 15 William Inge's stage drama "Come Back, Little Sheba", starring Shirley Booth and Sidney Blackmer, opens at the Booth Theatre, NYC; runs for 190 performances, and wins 2 Tony Awards
Golden Globes
Feb 23 7th Golden Globes: "All the King's Men", Broderick Crawford, and Olivia de Havilland win
Your Show of Shows
Feb 25 "Your Show of Shows" with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premieres on NBC. Writers include Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen.
22nd Academy Awards
Mar 23 22nd Academy Awards: "All The King's Men", Broderick Crawford and Olivia De Havilland win
Film & TV History
Apr 17 Priscilla Presley's surname legally changed from Wagner to Beaulieu
Peter Pan
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 2 Carlo Terron's comedy "Giuditta" premieres in Milan
- 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)
- Jul 29 William Inge's stage drama "Come Back, Little Sheba", starring Shirley Booth and Sidney Blackmer, closes at the Booth Theatre, NYC, after 191 performances, and 2 Tony Award wins
Sunset Boulevard
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
Rashomon
Aug 25 "Rashomon", Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyō, is released (Honorary Academy Award 1952)
- Aug 25 Akira Kurosawa's film "Rashomon" premieres in Tokyo
- 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
All About Eve
Oct 13 "All About Eve" directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Bette Davis and Anne Baxter premieres (Academy Awards Best Picture 1951)
James Dean's Pepsi Commercial
Dec 13 James Dean begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial
Shirley Temple Retires
Dec 16 Child star Shirley Temple announces her retirement from films aged 22
"Harvey"
Dec 20 "Harvey" starring James Stewart premieres in New York
"Out of This World"
Dec 21 Cole Porter's musical "Out of This World" an adaptation of Titus Plautus's mythological comedy Amphitryon, starring George Gaynes, opens at New Century Theater, NYC; runs for 157 performances
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