1937 in television
Encyclopedia
The year 1937 in television involved some significant events.
Below is a list of television-related events in 1937.
Below is a list of television-related events in 1937.
Events
- February 6 – The BBC Television ServiceBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
drops the BairdJohn Logie BairdJohn Logie Baird FRSE was a Scottish engineer and inventor of the world's first practical, publicly demonstrated television system, and also the world's first fully electronic colour television tube...
system in favour of the MarconiMarconi CompanyThe Marconi Company Ltd. was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company...
-EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
405 lines405-lineThe 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting....
system. - May – Gilbert SeldesGilbert SeldesGilbert Vivian Seldes was an American writer and cultural critic. He was editor and drama critic of The Dial. He also hosted the NBC television program The Subject is Jazz....
becomes the first television critic, with his Atlantic Monthly article, the "Errors of Television". - March 9 Experimental broadcasting from Shabolovka Ulitsa television center, in Moscow (USSR).
- May 12 – The BBC use their outside broadcast unit for the first time, to televise the coronationCoronationA coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
of King George VIGeorge VI of the United KingdomGeorge VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
. A fragment of this broadcast is one of the earliest surviving examples of British television – filmed off-screen at home by an engineer with an 8 mm8 mm film8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
cine camera. A short section of this footage was used in a programme during the week of the 1953 coronation of Elizabeth II, and this latter programme survives in the BBC's archives. - May 14 – The BBC broadcasts a thirty-minute excerpt of Twelfth Night, the first known instance of a ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
play on television. Among the cast are Peggy AshcroftPeggy AshcroftDame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE was an English actress.-Early years:Born as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon, Ashcroft attended the Woodford School, Croydon and the Central School of Speech and Drama...
and Greer GarsonGreer GarsonGreer Garson, CBE was a British-born actress who was very popular during World War II, being listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top ten box office draws in 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award...
. - May 15 – RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
demonstrates projection television, with images enlarged to 8 by 10 feet, at the Institute of Radio EngineersInstitute of Radio EngineersThe Institute of Radio Engineers was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until January 1, 1963, when it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers .-Founding:Following several attempts to form a...
convention. - June 21 – Wimbledon Championships (tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
) first televised by the BBC. - July 10 – High definition television with 455 lines is first shown in France at the International Exposition, Paris.
- September – High definition television broadcasts are sent from a new 30 kW (peak power) transmitter below the Eiffel TowerEiffel TowerThe Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
in Paris. - November 9 – Bell Telephone Laboratories transmits television signal of 800 kHz bandwidth on a coaxial cable laid between New York and Philadelphia.
- November 11 – The BBC broadcasts an adaptation of the World War I-set play Journey's EndJourney's EndJourney's End is a 1928 drama, the seventh of English playwright R. C. Sherriff. It was first performed at the Apollo Theatre in London by the Incorporated Stage Society on 9 December 1928, starring a young Laurence Olivier, and soon moved to other West End theatres for a two-year run...
by R. C. SherriffR. C. Sherriff-External links:**...
, starring Reginald TateReginald TateReginald Tate was an English actor, veteran of many roles on stage, in film and on television. He is best remembered as the first actor to play the television science-fiction character Professor Bernard Quatermass, in the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment.-Early life:Reginald...
as Stanhope. Shown in commemoration of Armistice DayArmistice DayArmistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
, it is the first time that a whole evening's programming has been given over to a single play. - December 31 – 2,121 television sets have been sold in England.
- CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
announces their efforts to develop television broadcasts.
Debuts
- April 17 – The Disorderly RoomThe Disorderly RoomThe Disorderly Room was a very early British television comedy production, written by Eric Blore and starring Tommy Handley. Blore was also an actor who played roles such as butlers in various Hollywood films, while Handley later found greater fame in the BBC radio comedy show It's That Man...
(UK) premieres on the BBC Television ServiceBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
(1937 & 1939). - April 24 – For The ChildrenFor The ChildrenFor The Children is a British television programme, the first to be designed especially for young children of school age. First broadcast on the BBC Television Service at 3pm on Saturday 24 April 1937, for its first two years the series was only ten minutes in length...
(UK), the BBC's first programme for young children, debuts (1937–1939; 1946–1950). - April 30 – Sports ReviewSports ReviewSports Review was an early British television programme, produced by the BBC and screened on their BBC Television Service in the late 1930s. It was the first regular sports programme to be transmitted on television....
(UK), the first regular sports programme, debuts on the BBC (1937–1939).
Television shows
| Series | Debut | Ended |
|---|---|---|
| Picture Page Picture Page Picture Page is a British television programme, broadcast on the BBC Television Service from 1936 to 1939, and again after the service's hiatus during the Second World War from 1946 until 1952... (UK) |
October 8, 1936 | 1939 |
| 1946 | 1952 | |
| Starlight Starlight (TV series) Starlight was an early British television programme, one of the first regular series to be shown on the BBC Television Service in the 1930s... (UK) |
November 3, 1936 | 1939 |
| 1946 | 1949 | |
| Theatre Parade Theatre Parade Theatre Parade was a British television programme, one of the world's very first regular shows, running on the BBC Television Service from its inception in 1936 until 1938... (UK) |
1936 | 1938 |
| The Disorderly Room The Disorderly Room The Disorderly Room was a very early British television comedy production, written by Eric Blore and starring Tommy Handley. Blore was also an actor who played roles such as butlers in various Hollywood films, while Handley later found greater fame in the BBC radio comedy show It's That Man... (UK) |
April 17, 1937 | August 20, 1939 |
| For The Children For The Children For The Children is a British television programme, the first to be designed especially for young children of school age. First broadcast on the BBC Television Service at 3pm on Saturday 24 April 1937, for its first two years the series was only ten minutes in length... (UK) |
April 24, 1937 | 1939 |
| July 7, 1946 | 1950 | |
| Sports Review Sports Review Sports Review was an early British television programme, produced by the BBC and screened on their BBC Television Service in the late 1930s. It was the first regular sports programme to be transmitted on television.... (UK) |
April 30, 1937 | 1939 |
Births
- February 1 – Garrett MorrisGarrett MorrisGarrett Gonzalez Morris is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.-Early life and career:...
, actor, comedian, Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture... - April 22 – Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, actor - June 1 – Morgan FreemanMorgan FreemanMorgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
, actor - June 2 – Sally KellermanSally KellermanSally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...
, actress - July 12 – Bill CosbyBill CosbyWilliam Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, actor, comedian - August 8 – Dustin HoffmanDustin HoffmanDustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
, actor - November 21 – Ingrid PittIngrid PittIngrid Pitt was an actress best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 1970s.-Background:Pitt was born Ingoushka Petrov in Warsaw, Poland to a German father of Russian descent and a Polish Jewish mother. During World War II she and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp...
, actress - December 21 – Jane FondaJane FondaJane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, actress - December 29 – Barbara SteeleBarbara SteeleBarbara Steele is an English film actress. She is best known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. Her breakthrough role came in Italian director Mario Bava's Black Sunday , now hailed as a classic.Steele starred in a string of horror films, including The Horrible Dr...
, actress