1944 in television

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Last updated March 23, 2025

The year 1944 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1944.

Events

May 22 – The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) increases its limits for single ownership of television stations from three to five.
May 25 – First commercial U.S. telecast by relay. Eddie Cantor is broadcast from NBC's Manhattan station WNBT to Philco's Philadelphia station WPTZ, via an automatic relay tower halfway between the two cities. (The AT&T corporation's coaxial cable between the cities is unavailable because of the war.) NBC stops broadcasting Cantor in the middle of his rendition of the song "We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me" when it finds some of the lyrics and his gestures "objectionable."
August 16
- Paris télévision – Fernsehsender Paris stops broadcasting. Broadcasting is resumed by the new French government in October 1944 under the name Télévision française with the same technical equipment.
- John Logie Baird demonstrates the world's first color television picture tube. Color movies are shown from a flying-spot scanner.

Debuts

The War As It Happens, an early news show debuts (1944-1945)^[1]
At Home , variety series (1944-1945)
Missus Goes a Shopping , a game series, premieres (1944–1949)
The World in Your Home , an educational series, (1944–1948)
Opinions on Trial, a discussion series (1944-1945?)
Will You Remember? , a music series (1944-1945)

Television shows

Series	Debut	Ended	Network
The War As It Happens	February 21, 1944	1945
Missus Goes a Shopping	August 1, 1944	1949	CBS
The World in Your Home	1944	1948	NBC
Will You Remember?	1944	1945?	CBS
Opinions on Trial	1944	1945?
At Home	1944	1945	CBS

Births

January 4 - Jim Bohannon, broadcaster (died 2022)
January 6 - Bonnie Franklin, actress and director, One Day at a Time (died 2013)
January 10 - William Sanderson, actor, Newhart , Deadwood , True Blood
January 19 - Shelley Fabares, actress and singer, The Donna Reed Show , Coach
January 21 - Keith Strachan, composer
January 23 - Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor (died 2019)^[2]
January 28 - Susan Howard, American actress
February 3 - Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress (died 2021)
February 8
- Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (died 2014)
- Richard Durden, English actor
February 13
- Stockard Channing, actress, The West Wing
- Michael Ensign, American actor
- Jerry Springer, American television-judge, broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, and former lawyer and politician (died 2023)
February 17 - Nick Hewer, English television presenter
February 22 - Robert Kardashian, lawyer and patriarch of the Kardashian family (died 2003)^[3]
February 28 - Kelly Bishop, actress, Gilmore Girls
February 29
- Sharon Hugueny, actress (died 1996)
- Dennis Farina, actor, Crime Story , Law & Order (died 2013)
- Phyllis Frelich, actress (died 2014)
March 3 - Lee Holdridge, composer
March 10 - Richard Gant, actor
March 17 - Petra Markham, actress
March 22 - Michael Zinberg, writer
March 24 - R. Lee Ermey, actor and drill instructor (died 2018)
March 26 - Diana Ross, singer and actress
March 28 - Ken Howard, actor, The White Shadow (died 2016)
April 1 - Frank Gari, singer
April 3 - Tony Orlando, singer
April 4 - Craig T. Nelson, actor, Coach , The District , Parenthood
April 6 - Judith McConnell, actress
April 7
- oshik levi, Israeli singer and actor
- Warner Fusselle, sportscaster (died 2012)
April 8 - Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor, Shelley (died 2017)
April 10 - Vin Di Bona, producer
April 20 - Cuba Gooding Sr., singer (died 2017)
April 25 - Len Goodman, English professional, Dancing with the Stars (died 2023)
April 29
- Richard Kline, actor and director, Three's Company
- Michael Angelis, actor (died 2020)
April 30 - Jill Clayburgh, actress (died 2010)
May 5 - John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor, Sliders
May 14 - George Lucas, director and producer
May 16 - Danny Trejo, actor
May 23 - Ronald L. Schwary, producer (died 2020)
May 24 - Patti LaBelle, singer and actress
May 25
- Frank Oz, actor and puppeteer
- John Bunnell, host
May 28 - Patricia Quinn, actress
June 2 - Marvin Hamlisch, composer (died 2012)
June 4 - Michelle Phillips, singer and actress
June 20 - John McCook, actor, The Bold and the Beautiful
June 21 - Tony Scott, actor (died 2012)
June 25 - Gary David Goldberg, producer (died 2013)
June 29 - Gary Busey, actor
June 30 - Terry Funk, actor (died 2023)
July 8
- Jeffrey Tambor, actor, The Larry Sanders Show , Arrested Development , Transparent
- Janet Sheen, actress
July 12 - Denise Nicholas, actress, Room 222 , In the Heat of the Night
July 15 - Jan-Michael Vincent, actor, Airwolf (died 2019)
July 22 - Peter Jason, actor
July 31 - Geraldine Chaplin, actress
August 1 - Christopher Lewis, screenwriter (died 2021)
August 4 - Richard Belzer, actor, Homicide: Life on the Street , Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (died 2023)
August 7
- John Glover, actor, Smallville
- David Rasche, actor, Sledge Hammer!
August 9 - Sam Elliott, actor
August 11 - Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
August 13 - Kevin Tighe, actor, Emergency!
August 25 - Anthony Heald, actor, Boston Public
August 27
- Barbara Trentham, actress (died 2013)
- G. W. Bailey, actor
August 30 - Molly Ivins, author (died 2007)
September 1 - Beau Starr, actor
September 6 - Swoosie Kurtz, actress, Sisters
September 13 - Jacqueline Bisset, English actress
September 16 - Linda Kaye Henning, actress, Petticoat Junction
September 21 - Fannie Flagg, actress, Match Game
September 25
- Michael Douglas, actor, producer, The Streets of San Francisco
- Eugenia Zukerman, American flutist
September 26 - Anne Robinson, presenter
September 27
- Angélica María, actress
- Steven Robman, American television and theatre director/producer
September 28 - Matthew Cowles, actor
September 29 - Mike Post, composer
October 15 - Haim Saban, American composer
October 28
- Dennis Franz, actor, NYPD Blue
- Alyce Cleese, talk show host
November 1 - Bobby Heenan, pro wrestler and commentator (died 2017)^[4]
November 2 - Michael Buffer, ring announcer
November 4 - Linda Gary, American actress, voice actress, Spider-Man (died 1995)
November 12 - Al Michaels, sportscaster
November 16 - Jay Hammer, actor, Guiding Light
November 17
- Danny DeVito, actor, director and producer, Taxi , It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Lorne Michaels, screenwriter
- Gary Goldman, screenwriter
November 20 - John Pasquin, television director
November 21
- Harold Ramis, actor (died 2014)
- Marcy Carsey, American television producer
November 25 - Ben Stein, television actor
November 27 - Gregory Hoblit, television director
December 2 - Cathy Lee Crosby, actress and host, That's Incredible!
December 6 - Kit Culkin, actor
December 11
- Teri Garr, actress
- Lynda Day George, actress, Mission: Impossible
- Susan Blanchard, actress, All My Children
December 17 - Bernard Hill, English actor (died 2024)
December 19 - Tim Reid, actor, Sister, Sister
December 31 - Neil Ross, voice actor

References

↑ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009-06-24). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307483201.
↑ "Blade Runner star Rutger Hauer dies aged 75". BBC News. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
↑ Dodd, Sophie (September 9, 2023). "Who Was Robert Kardashian Sr.? Everything the Kardashians Have Said About Their Late Father". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
↑ Hester, Matthew. "Bobby Heenan: A Look Beyond the Brain (Part One)". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2024-08-14.

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[1] Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009-06-24). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307483201.

[2] "Blade Runner star Rutger Hauer dies aged 75". BBC News. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.

[3] Dodd, Sophie (September 9, 2023). "Who Was Robert Kardashian Sr.? Everything the Kardashians Have Said About Their Late Father". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2024-07-05.

[4] Hester, Matthew. "Bobby Heenan: A Look Beyond the Brain (Part One)". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2024-08-14.

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