# 1977 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1977.

## Events

| Date | Event |
| January 3 | Holly Hallstrom becomes the third model on the CBS game show The Price Is Right along with Janice Pennington and Dian Parkinson. This lineup would remain unchanged for the next thirteen years until Kathleen Bradley joined in 1990. |
| January 15 | Bill Murray joins the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live, replacing Chevy Chase who left the previous year. |
| January 30 | The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, based on The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew book series, premieres on ABC; Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy star as Frank and Joe Hardy, and Pamela Sue Martin stars as Nancy Drew. The series at first alternated between the two characters, with The Brady Bunch Hour airing sporadically. |
| February 4 | American Bandstand celebrates its 25th anniversary on television with a special hosted by Dick Clark and telecast by ABC. An "all-star band" made up of Chuck Berry, Seals & Crofts, Gregg Allman, Junior Walker, Johnny Rivers, the Pointer Sisters, Charlie Daniels, Doc Severinsen, Les McCann, Donald Byrd, Chuck Mangione and three members of Booker T and the MGs perform "Roll Over Beethoven." |
| February 27 | Fed up with excessive violence and distorted images of sex on TV, the Reverend Donald Wildmon declares "Turn the Television Off Week." He is largely ignored. |
| March 1 | The CBS game show Match Game is named the #1 rated game show on television for the fifth year in a row. |
| March 4 | Freddie Prinze makes his final appearance on the NBC sitcom Chico and the Man. Prinze had actually taped the episode in question a mere hours before he fatally shot himself on January 28, 1977. |
| March 7 | Second Chance, the forerunner to Press Your Luck, premieres on ABC. |
| March 11 | Sesame Street broadcasts its 1,000th episode. |
| March 15 | Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti are seen in "La bohème" on PBS and heard in stereo on local (mostly NPR) stations in the first live "simulcast" from the Met. |
| March 19 | The series finale of The Mary Tyler Moore Show is broadcast on CBS. |
| March 27 | In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ABC affiliate WITI and CBS affiliate WISN-TV swap affiliations, reversing a swap that took place in 1961. |
| March 30 | Esther Rolle departs the CBS sitcom Good Times shortly after the conclusion of the two-part fourth-season finale, "Love Has a Spot On Its Lung." due to the dismissal of John Amos (who portrayed her on-screen husband James Evans) and the stereotypical behavior of its de facto star Jimmie Walker (who portrayed her son J.J. Evans). Rolle does not return until the sixth and final season in September 1978. |
| April 22 | Cleveland's CBS station WJW-TV changes its name to WJKW-TV. |
| June 6 | Lisa Peluso makes her first appearance on the CBS soap opera Search for Tomorrow as Wendy Wilkins, a role she would play until December 1985. |
| June 27 | In San Diego, California, ABC, angered over the forced loss of their affiliation from XETV in nearby Tijuana, Mexico in 1973, moves from the station which forced the change, KCST-TV, to NBC affiliate KGTV. KCST-TV assumes KGTV's former NBC affiliation and is now KNSD, an NBC O&O. |
| August 14 | NBC affiliate WRDU-TV changes its call sign to WPTF-TV, following Durham Life's purchase of the station. |
| August 16 | Television stations nationwide interrupt regular programming following news of the death of Elvis Presley. As a result, Elvis in Concert airs on CBS on October 3 that year to bad reviews. |
| September 5 | In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ABC affiliate WRBT (now WVLA-TV) and NBC affiliate WBRZ-TV swap affiliations. WBRZ-TV makes its move in search for stronger programming (ABC is, at the time, the nation's #1 rated television network, while NBC is in last place). The move is a precursor to similar events that will take place in the course of the next few years. |
| September 14 | A tube top-clad woman named Yolanda Bowsley is called into Contestants' Row on the CBS game show The Price Is Right, and while running down her breasts pop out of her shirt. The incident was censored with a large blue bar but it is still remembered today. |
| September 14 | Cheryl Ladd is introduced as Kris Munroe, the younger sister of former Angel Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) in the second season premiere of Charlie's Angels. |
| September 20 | The third part of the three-part fifth season premiere of Happy Days airs on ABC. The episode is highlighted by a scene in which Fonzie literally jumps over a shark while on water-skis. |
| September 21 | Eleven-year old Janet Jackson joins the cast of the CBS sitcom Good Times for its final two seasons as Penny Gordon, an upstairs neighbor who is abused by her biological mother (Chip Fields), later adopted by Willona (Ja'Net DuBois), in the four-part season opener "The Evans Get Involved". Comedian Johnny Brown, who recurred as the building superintendent Bookman from Seasons 2 to 4, also joins the main cast. |
| September 24 | Marla Gibbs joins the cast of the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons as a series regular in the fourth season as fan-favorite Florence Johnston. Zara Cully, who portrayed Mother Jefferson, appears in only three episodes that season, prior to her death at age 86 in February 1978. |
| October 23 | CBS affiliates WTEN in Albany, New York and WCDC in Adams, Massachusetts swap affiliations with ABC affiliate WAST after WTEN/WCDC's incoming owners Knight-Ridder sign an affiliation deal for the station with ABC. |
| October 24 | A new Peanuts special, It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, airs on CBS. It shows and names "Heather", the Little Red-Haired Girl, thereupon ending the 'mystery'. |
| November 6 | KTVZ in Bend, Oregon signs-on as an NBC affiliate. Bend is technically still part of the Portland DMA at the time, but in 1981, it becomes its own television market. |
| November 30 | CBS commentator Eric Sevareid bade farewell in his final two-minute segment on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, after 48 years at CBS News. |
| December 2 | Billy Crystal sets a winner's circle record by getting the contestant to the top of the pyramid in 26 seconds on ABC's The $20,000 Pyramid. The record still stands today. |
| December 11 | In Huntsville, Alabama, NBC affiliate WAAY-TV swaps affiliations with ABC affiliate WYUR in search for stronger programming (at the time, NBC is in last place among the three major networks, and ABC is in first place). |
| December 17 | Miskel Spillman, guest hosts an episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Spillman, who is at the time, an 80-year-old German immigrant and grandmother from New Orleans, won the only "Anyone Can Host" contest. She is to date, the only non-celebrity to host an episode of SNL. She was also, the oldest host in SNL's history until 88-year-old Betty White hosted on May 8, 2010. It is also in this episode that musical guest Elvis Costello halted his band the Attractions seven seconds into their scheduled performance of the song "Less Than Zero" in favor of "Radio Radio", which was a then unreleased song that was critical of mainstream broadcasting. |

## Programs
### Debuting this year

| Date | Title | Network |
| January 3 | Lovers and Friends | NBC |
| January 3 | Shoot for the Stars | NBC |
| January 10 | Circus of the Stars | CBS |
| January 17 | Busting Loose | CBS |
| January 30 | The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | ABC |
| January 31 | The Andros Targets | CBS |
| February 2 | Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected | NBC |
| February 18 | Hunter | CBS |
| March 7 | Second Chance | ABC |
| March 15 | Eight Is Enough | ABC |
| March 15 | Three's Company | ABC |
| March 20 | Loves Me, Loves Me Not | CBS |
| March 23 | How Do You Like Your Eggs? | QUBE |
| April 1 | This Week in Baseball | Syndication |
| May 7 | Quark | NBC |
| June 13 | It's Anybody's Guess | NBC |
| July 6 | Comedy Time | NBC |
| July 18 | The Better Sex | ABC |
| August 3 | The Kallikaks | NBC |
| September 5 | The Fitzpatricks | CBS |
| September 10 | Baggy Pants and the Nitwits | NBC |
| September 10 | CB Bears | NBC |
| September 10 | I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali | NBC |
| September 10 | The New Archie and Sabrina Hour | NBC |
| September 10 | The Red Hand Gang | NBC |
| September 10 | Search and Rescue | NBC |
| September 10 | Space Sentinels | NBC |
| September 10 | Thunder | NBC |
| September 10 | Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics | ABC |
| September 10 | The Skatebirds | CBS |
| September 10 | Space Academy | CBS |
| September 12 | The Betty White Show | CBS |
| September 12 | Young Dan'l Boone | CBS |
| September 12 | Lucan | ABC |
| September 13 | Soap | ABC |
| September 13 | Mulligan's Stew | NBC |
| September 13 | The Richard Pryor Show | NBC |
| September 14 | Inside the NFL | HBO |
| September 15 | Carter Country | ABC |
| September 15 | CHiPs | NBC |
| September 16 | Sanford Arms | NBC |
| September 16 | Logan's Run | CBS |
| September 17 | Operation Petticoat | ABC |
| September 19 | The San Pedro Beach Bums | ABC |
| September 19 | The Amazing Spider-Man | CBS |
| September 20 | Lou Grant | CBS |
| September 21 | The Oregon Trail | NBC |
| September 22 | Man from Atlantis | NBC |
| September 24 | The Love Boat | ABC |
| October 1 | We've Got Each Other | CBS |
| October 3 | Knockout | NBC |
| October 3 | To Say the Least | NBC |
| October 9 | On Our Own | CBS |
| October 27 | James at 15 | NBC |
| December 1 | Pinwheel | Nickelodeon |

### Resuming this year

| Title | Final aired | Previous network | New title | Returning network | Date of return |
| The Mickey Mouse Club | 1959 | ABC | The New Mickey Mouse Club | Syndication | January 17 |

### Ending this year

| Date | Title | Debut |
| January 7 | New Howdy Doody Show | 1976 |
| January 26 | The Practice | 1976 |
| March 3 | The McLean Stevenson Show | 1976 |
| March 13 | Delvecchio | 1976 |
| March 13 | Phyllis | 1975 |
| March 18 | Sanford and Son | 1972 |
| March 19 | The Mary Tyler Moore Show | 1970 |
| March 30 | The Streets of San Francisco | 1972 |
| April 13 | Sirota's Court | 1976 |
| April 15 | The Electric Company | 1971 |
| April 17 | McCloud | 1970 |
| April 24 | McMillan & Wife | 1971 |
| April 27 | Loves Me, Loves Me Not | 1977 |
| May 16 | The Andros Targets | 1977 |
| May 27 | Hunter | 1977 |
| July 30 | The Feather and Father Gang | 1976 |
| August 24 | Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected | 1977 |
| August 31 | The Kallikaks | 1977 |
| September 1 | Comedy Time | 1977 |
| September 2 | Let's Make a Deal | 1971 |
| October 4 | The Richard Pryor Show | 1977 |
| October 14 | Sanford Arms | 1977 |
| November 16 | Busting Loose | 1977 |
| November 30 | The Oregon Trail | 1977 |
| December 3 | Emergency! | 1972 |
| December 13 | Mulligan's Stew | 1977 |
| December 19 | The San Pedro Beach Bums | 1977 |
| December 30 | Storybook Squares | 1969 |

### Changing networks

| Show | Moved from | Moved to |
| The Bionic Woman | ABC | NBC |
| Wonder Woman | ABC | CBS |
| The Tony Randall Show | ABC | CBS |
| Tattletales | CBS | Syndication |
| The Mickey Mouse Club | ABC | Syndication |

### Made-for-TV movies

| Debut | Name | Network |
| May 13 | The San Pedro Bums | ABC |
| October 10 | Killer on Board | NBC |
| November 10 | The Incredible Hulk | CBS |
| November 23 | The Last of the Mohicans | NBC |
| November 26 | The Hobbit | NBC |
| December 11 | It Happened One Christmas | ABC |

### Miniseries

| Debut | Name | Network |
| January 23 | Roots | ABC |
| April 3 | Jesus of Nazareth | NBC |

## Networks and services
### Launches

| Network | Type | Launch date |
| CBN Satellite Channel | Satellite television | April 29 |
| Tri-State Christian Television | Cable television | May 20 |
| Madison Square Garden Sports Network | Cable television | September 22 |

### Conversions and rebrandings

There are no conversions and rebrandings for Cable and satellite television channels in this year.

### Closures

There are no closures for Cable and satellite television channels in this year.

## Television stations
### Sign-ons

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| January 17 | Medford, Oregon | KSYS | 8 | PBS | |
| March 6 | Plattsburgh, New York | WCFE-TV | 57 | PBS | |
| April | Corpus Christi, Texas | KORO | 28 | Spanish International Network | Now a Univision affiliate |
| April 10 | Fresno, California | KMTF | 18 | PBS | |
| May 1 | Mason City, Iowa | KYIN | 24 | PBS | Part of Iowa Public Television |
| June 30 | Long Beach/Los Angeles, California | KSCI | 18 | Independent | |
| September 10 | South Bend, Indiana | WHME | 46 | Independent | |
| October 17 | Boston, Massachusetts | WXNE-TV | 25 | Independent | |
| October 21 | Rock Springs, Wyoming | KTUX | 13 | CBS | |
| November 6 | Bend, Oregon | KTVZ | 21 | NBC | |
| December 1 | New Haven, Connecticut | WEDY | 65 | PBS | Part of Connecticut Public Television |
| December 8 | Fayetteville, Arkansas | KTVP | 29 | CBS | |
| December 15 | Park Falls/Superior, Wisconsin (Duluth, Minnesota) | WLEF-TV | 36 | PBS | Part of Wisconsin Public Television |
| December 21 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | WFFT-TV | 55 | Independent | |
| December 28 | Sheridan, Wyoming | KSGW-TV | 12 | NBC (primary) CBS (secondary) | Satellite of KOTA-TV/Rapid City, South Dakota |
| Unknown | New York City | W60AI | 60 | Independent | Signed on as a translator of WWHT |

### Network affiliation changes

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| March 27 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WISN-TV | 12 | CBS | ABC | |
| March 27 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WITI | 6 | ABC | CBS | |
| June 27 | San Diego, California | KCST-TV | 39 | ABC | NBC | These affiliation changes were part of ABC's retaliation for KCST-TV previously forcing the ABC affiliation to move to that station from XETV in nearby Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, four years earlier. |
| June 27 | San Diego, California | KGTV | 10 | NBC | ABC | These affiliation changes were part of ABC's retaliation for KCST-TV previously forcing the ABC affiliation to move to that station from XETV in nearby Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, four years earlier. |
| September 5 | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | WBRZ-TV | 2 | NBC | ABC | |
| September 5 | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | WRBT | 33 | ABC | NBC | |
| October 23 | Adams, Massachusetts | WCDC-TV | 19 | ABC | CBS | WCDC-TV is a satellite of WTEN/Albany, New York |
| October 23 | Albany, New York | WTEN | 10 | ABC | CBS | |
| December 11 | Huntsville, Alabama | WAAY-TV | 31 | NBC | ABC | |
| December 11 | Huntsville, Alabama | WYUR | 48 | ABC | NBC | |

### Station closures

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| May 4 | Fort Dodge, Iowa | KVFD-TV | 21 | NBC | November 23, 1953 |

## Births

| Date | Name | Notability |
| January 7 | Dustin Diamond | Actor (Saved by the Bell) (died 2021) |
| January 7 | Daniela Sea | Actor |
| January 7 | Cecilia Vega | American journalist |
| January 8 | Amber Benson | Actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and singer |
| January 18 | Lloyd Ahlquist | American internet personality |
| January 19 | Benjamin Ayres | Canadian actor (Saving Hope) |
| January 21 | Jerry Trainor | Actor (Drake & Josh, iCarly, Wendell & Vinnie, T.U.F.F. Puppy, Bunsen Is a Beast) |
| January 26 | Vince Carter | NBA basketball player |
| January 28 | Joey Fatone | Singer and actor |
| January 29 | Justin Hartley | Actor (Passions, Smallville, The Young and the Restless, This Is Us) |
| January 29 | Sam Jaeger | Actor (Parenthood) |
| January 31 | Bobby Moynihan | Actor and comedian (Saturday Night Live, We Bare Bears, DuckTales, Me, Myself & I) |
| January 31 | Kerry Washington | Actress (Scandal) |
| February 2 | Michael Koman | Writer |
| February 2 | Shakira | Colombian singer (Dancing with Myself, The Voice) |
| February 3 | Maitland Ward | Actress (The Bold and the Beautiful, Boy Meets World) |
| February 6 | Josh Stewart | Actor |
| February 9 | A. J. Buckley | Irish-born Canadian actor (CSI: NY) |
| February 14 | Jim Jefferies | Actor and comedian |
| February 16 | Paul Brittain | Actor and comedian (Saturday Night Live) |
| February 18 | Ike Barinholtz | Actor (Mad TV, The Mindy Project) |
| February 18 | Kristoffer Polaha | Actor |
| February 20 | Stephon Marbury | NBA basketball player |
| February 21 | Steve Francis | NBA basketball player |
| February 26 | Greg Rikaart | Actor (The Young and the Restless) |
| March 3 | Buddy Valastro | Baker |
| March 7 | Mark Taylor | Actor |
| March 7 | Heather McComb | Actress |
| March 8 | Alison Becker | Actress (Mayne Street, Parks and Recreation) |
| March 8 | James Van Der Beek | Actor (Dawson's Creek) |
| March 8 | Tom Brady | Film director |
| March 9 | Rupert Evans | Actor |
| March 10 | Jeff Branson | Actor (The Young and the Restless, All My Children, Guiding Light) |
| March 10 | Bree Turner | Actress (Undressed, Grimm) |
| March 15 | Brian Tee | Actor (Chicago Med) |
| March 17 | Jorma Taccone | Actor |
| March 23 | Joanna Page | Welsh actress (Gavin & Stacey, Poppy Cat, Q Pootle 5) |
| March 24 | Jessica Chastain | Actress |
| March 26 | Bianca Kajlich | Actress (Rules of Engagement, Undateable) |
| March 27 | Malia Jones | Model |
| March 28 | Annie Wersching | Actress (General Hospital, 24, Bosch, The Vampire Diaries) (died 2023) |
| March 31 | Erica Tazel | Actress |
| April 1 | Jon Gosselin | American former television personality |
| April 6 | Teddy Sears | Actor (Raising the Bar, American Horror Story, Masters of Sex, The Flash) |
| April 10 | Stephanie Sheh | Voice actress (Three Delivery, Peter Rabbit, The Legend of Korra) |
| April 12 | Jordana Spiro | Actress (The Huntress, My Boys, The Mob Doctor) |
| April 12 | Sarah Jane Morris | Actress (Brothers & Sisters) |
| April 14 | Sarah Michelle Gellar | Actress (Swans Crossing, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ringer, The Crazy Ones) |
| April 14 | Rob McElhenney | Actor (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) |
| April 18 | Adam Sinclair | Actor |
| April 23 | Eric Edelstein | Actor (Shameless, Monsters vs. Aliens, Clarence, We Bare Bears) |
| April 23 | Kal Penn | Actor (House, Designated Survivor) |
| April 23 | John Oliver | Actor |
| April 23 | John Cena | Professional wrestler and actor |
| April 24 | Eric Balfour | Actor (24, Haven) and singer |
| April 24 | Rebecca Mader | Actress (Justice, Lost, Once Upon a Time) |
| April 25 | Manolo Cardona | Actor |
| April 26 | Jason Earles | Actor (Hannah Montana, Kickin' It, Hotel Du Loone) |
| April 26 | McKenzie Westmore | Actress (Passions, All My Children) |
| April 26 | Tom Welling | Actor (Smallville) |
| April 26 | Leonard Earl Howze | Actor |
| April 28 | Zeb Wells | Writer |
| April 29 | Brandon McMillan | American television personality |
| April 30 | Alexandra Holden | Actress |
| May 2 | Jenna von Oÿ | Actress (Blossom) |
| May 3 | Jeffrey Garcia | Voice actor (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Back at the Barnyard, Planet Sheen) |
| May 10 | Todd Lowe | Actor (Gilmore Girls, True Blood) |
| May 12 | Rebecca Herbst | Actress (Days of Our Lives, General Hospital) |
| May 12 | Rachel Wilson | Canadian actress (Heather on Total Drama) |
| May 13 | Neil Hopkins | Actor (Lost) |
| May 13 | Brian Thomas Smith | Actor |
| May 13 | Samantha Morton | Actress |
| May 16 | Adam MacDonald | Actor |
| May 16 | Lynn Collins | Actress |
| May 20 | Matt Czuchry | Actor (Gilmore Girls, The Good Wife) |
| May 23 | Heather Wahlquist | Actress |
| May 23 | Lisa Joy | Screenwriter |
| May 23 | Richard Ayoade | English actor (Gadget Man, Strange Hill High, Apple & Onion) |
| May 25 | Alberto Del Rio | Pro wrestler |
| May 27 | Shanola Hampton | Actress |
| May 28 | Elisabeth Hasselbeck | Talk show host |
| May 28 | Brian Friedman | Dancer |
| May 29 | Rory Albanese | Writer |
| May 31 | Eric Christian Olsen | Actor (NCIS: Los Angeles, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil) |
| June 1 | Sarah Wayne Callies | Actress (Prison Break, The Walking Dead, Colony) |
| June 1 | Danielle Harris | Actress (The Wild Thornberrys, That's Life, Father of the Pride) |
| June 2 | Zachary Quinto | Actor (Heroes, American Horror Story) |
| June 2 | AJ Styles | Pro wrestler |
| June 5 | Navi Rawat | Actress (The O.C., Numb3rs) |
| June 5 | Liza Weil | Actress (Gilmore Girls, How to Get Away with Murder) |
| June 6 | Amber Nash | American actress |
| June 8 | Kanye West | American rapper |
| June 11 | Ryan Dunn | American stunt performer (Jackass, Viva La Bam) (died 2011) |
| June 14 | Sullivan Stapleton | Australian actor (Blindspot) |
| June 17 | Lauren Pritchard | Comic actress (Mad TV) |
| June 20 | Amos Lee | Singer |
| June 28 | Bob Smiley | Writer |
| June 28 | Hua Hsu | Writer |
| June 29 | Zuleikha Robinson | British actress (Lost, Rome) and singer |
| June 30 | Colton Dunn | Comedian, actor and writer (Superstore) |
| July 1 | Liv Tyler | Actress (The Leftovers) |
| July 2 | John Paesano | Composer |
| July 4 | Stephen Rannazzisi | Actor |
| July 7 | Jessica Chobot | Host |
| July 8 | Milo Ventimiglia | Actor (Gilmore Girls, Heroes, This Is Us) |
| July 12 | Steve Howey | Actor (Reba, Shameless) |
| July 12 | Brock Lesnar | Wrestler and mixed martial artist |
| July 13 | Ashley Scott | Actress (Dark Angel, Birds of Prey, Jericho) |
| July 13 | Kari Wahlgren | Voice actress (Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Naruto, Ben 10, Legion of Super Heroes, The Fairly OddParents) |
| July 15 | Lana Parrilla | Actress (Spin City, Boomtown, Windfall, Swingtown, Miami Medical, Once Upon a Time) |
| July 16 | Raney Shockne | Composer |
| July 18 | Kelly Reilly | British actress (Black Box, True Detective, Under Suspicion) |
| July 18 | Luis Moncada | Actor |
| July 19 | Gennifer Hutchison | Writer |
| July 19 | Erin Cummings | Actress |
| July 23 | Shane McRae | Actor |
| July 26 | Tony Sampson | Canadian voice actor (Eddy on Ed, Edd n Eddy) |
| July 27 | Jason Zimbler | Actor (Clarissa Explains It All) |
| July 27 | Rich Blomquist | Actor |
| July 27 | Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Actor |
| July 29 | Rodney Jerkins | Rapper |
| July 30 | Jaime Pressly | Actress (My Name Is Earl, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Mom) |
| July 30 | Mike Seal | Actor |
| August 2 | Edward Furlong | Actor (CSI: NY) |
| August 2 | Artemis Pebdani | Actress |
| August 3 | Tom Brady | Quarterback in the NFL |
| August 6 | Joe DeRosa | Actor |
| August 8 | Lindsay Sloane | Actress (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) |
| August 8 | Michael Chernus | Actor |
| August 11 | Toby Chu | American film composer |
| August 15 | Nicole Paggi | Actress (Hope & Faith) |
| August 17 | Emily Schulman | Actress (Small Wonder) |
| August 19 | Callum Blue | English actor (Smallville, Dead Like Me, The Tudors) |
| Brooke Mueller | Actress |
| T. J. Holmes | American journalist |
| August 25 | Jonathan Togo | Actor (CSI: Miami) |
| August 28 | Adam Rayner | English actor |
| August 30 | Michael Gladis | Actor |
| September 1 | Adrienne Wilkinson | Actress (Venice: The Series, Suspense) |
| September 2 | Jimmy Smith | Fighter |
| September 7 | Steve Borst | Writer |
| September 8 | Nate Corddry | Actor |
| September 11 | Jackie Buscarino | Voice actress (The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe) |
| September 11 | Ludacris | Rapper and actor |
| September 11 | Todd Williams | Actor |
| September 15 | Kenny Blank | Actor (The Parent 'Hood, As Told by Ginger) and singer |
| September 15 | Marisa Ramirez | Actress |
| September 17 | Jim Conroy | Voice Actor (Celebrity Deathmatch, Kenny the Shark, Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman, Jellystone!, The Cuphead Show!) |
| September 18 | Barrett Foa | Actor (NCIS: Los Angeles) |
| September 18 | Sara Haines | American television host |
| September 19 | Erica Ash | Actress (Mad TV, The Big Gay Sketch Show) |
| September 24 | Elizabeth Bogush | Actress (Titans, The Mountain) |
| September 24 | Alexis DeJoria | Racer |
| September 25 | Dave Jeser | Writer (Drawn Together) |
| September 25 | Clea DuVall | Actress |
| September 26 | Sirena Irwin | Voice actress (SpongeBob SquarePants, Stripperella, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Pig Goat Banana Cricket) |
| September 27 | Mike Maronna | Actor (The Adventures of Pete & Pete) |
| October 11 | Matt Bomer | Actor (Guiding Light, Tru Calling, Chuck, White Collar) |
| October 11 | Rhett McLaughlin | TV host |
| October 13 | Paul Pierce | NBA basketball player |
| October 13 | Kiele Sanchez | Actress (Married to the Kellys, Lost, Related, The Glades, Kingdom) |
| October 14 | Agata Gotova | Actress |
| October 17 | Alimi Ballard | Actor (Numb3rs, The Catch) |
| October 17 | Jason Reitman | Actor |
| October 20 | Jennifer Hall | Actress (Up All Night) |
| October 20 | Sam Witwer | Actor (Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, Being Human) |
| October 26 | Jon Heder | Voice actor (Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Pickle and Peanut, Home: Adventures with Tip and Oh) |
| October 26 | Chaz Lamar Shepherd | Actor (7th Heaven, The Game) |
| October 27 | Mat Lucas | Voice actor (Star Wars: Clone Wars) |
| October 29 | Brendan Fehr | Canadian actor (Roswell, CSI: Miami) |
| November 2 | Gabriella Pession | Actress |
| November 2 | Jason Cerbone | Actor |
| November 4 | Liz Cackowski | Actress |
| November 4 | Lindsay Czarniak | American sports anchor and reporter |
| November 10 | Brittany Murphy | Actress (Drexell's Class, King of the Hill) (d. 2009) |
| November 10 | Lea Moreno Young | Actress (Legacy, Brutally Normal, DAG) |
| November 14 | Brian Dietzen | Actors (NCIS) |
| November 15 | Sean Murray | Actors (NCIS) |
| November 16 | Gigi Edgley | Australian actress (Farscape, The Secret Life of Us, Rescue Special Ops) |
| November 16 | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Actress, singer and sister of Jake Gyllenhaal |
| November 17 | Scoot McNairy | Actor |
| November 17 | Mike Cernovich | TV host |
| November 18 | Miranda Raison | British actress (MI-5, Spotless) |
| November 19 | Reid Scott | Actor (It's All Relative, My Boys, Motorcity, Veep) |
| November 19 | Sanaa Hamri | Director |
| November 20 | Josh Turner | Actor |
| November 24 | Colin Hanks | Actor |
| November 25 | Jill Flint | Actress (Royal Pains, The Night Shift) |
| November 27 | Alex Wagner | American journalist |
| November 30 | Nelsan Ellis | Actor (True Blood) (d. 2017) |
| December 1 | Nate Torrence | Actor (Motorcity, Hello Ladies, Star vs. the Forces of Evil) |
| December 1 | Akiva Schaffer | Actor |
| December 3 | David Iserson | Screenwriter |
| December 5 | Matt Gutman | American reporter |
| December 6 | Lindsey Alley | Actress (The Mickey Mouse Club, On the Patio) |
| December 7 | Big Jay Oakerson | Actor |
| December 10 | Netfa Perry | Actress (The Steve Harvey Show) |
| December 12 | Colin White | Canadian former professional ice hockey player |
| December 15 | Geoff Stults | Actor (7th Heaven) |
| December 17 | Katheryn Winnick | Canadian actress (Vikings) |
| December 24 | Michael Raymond-James | Actor (True Blood, Terriers, Once Upon a Time) |
| December 28 | Michael Spears | Actor |
| December 29 | Katherine Moennig | Actress (The L Word, Three Rivers, Ray Donovan) |
| December 30 | Lucy Punch | Actress (The Class, Ben and Kate) |
| December 31 | Donald Trump Jr. | Television presenter |

## Deaths

| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
| January 28 | Burt Mustin | 92 | Actor (Leave It to Beaver) |
| January 29 | Freddie Prinze | 22 | Actor and comedian (Chico and the Man) |
| February 28 | Eddie "Rochester" Anderson | 71 | Comedian (The Jack Benny Program) |
| March 27 | Diana Hyland | 41 | Actress (The Fugitive, Peyton Place) |
| April 21 | Gummo Marx | 84 | Actor |
| June 13 | Matthew Garber | 21 | English actor (Mary Poppins) |
| June 14 | Alan Reed | 69 | Actor (original voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones) |
| August 16 | Elvis Presley | 42 | Singer and actor (The Ed Sullivan Show) |
| August 17 | Quincy Howe | 76 | Journalist and presidential debate moderator |
| August 19 | Groucho Marx | 86 | Comedian, television host (You Bet Your Life) |
| August 22 | Sebastian Cabot | 59 | Actor (Family Affair) |
| August 29 | Jean Hagen | 54 | Actress (Make Room for Daddy) |
| October 14 | Bing Crosby | 74 | Singer, actor, TV producer (Hogan's Heroes) |

## Television debuts

* Richard Dean Anderson – General Hospital
* Jack Angel – The All-New Super Friends Hour
* Rosanna Arquette – Having Babies II
* Christine Baranski – Busting Loose
* Carole Bouquet – La famille Cigale
* Sofia Coppola – The Godfather Saga
* Jane Curtin – The Love Boat
* Robert Davi – Contract on Cherry Street
* Robert De Niro – The Godfather Saga
* Brian Dennehy – Kojak
* Robert Englund – The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries:Mystery of the Fallen Angels
* Adam Godley – The Ballad of Salomon Pavey
* William Hurt – Kojak
* Nastassja Kinski – Tatort
* Jennifer Jason Leigh – Baretta
* David Margulies – Kojak
* Joe Pantoliano – McNamara's Band
* Mandy Patinkin – Charleston
* Annie Potts – Black Market Baby
* Dennis Quaid – Baretta
* Jennifer Savidge – James at 16
* John Shea – Eight Is Enough
* Meryl Streep – The Deadliest Season
* Jeffrey Tambor – Kojak
* Christoph Waltz – Am dam des
* Ray Winstone – Scum
* John Witherspoon – The Richard Pryor Show