1912 in film

The year 1912 in film involved some significant events.

Events

February – Babelsberg Studio outside Berlin begins operation with the shooting of The Dance of the Dead by Danish director Urban Gad, starring Asta Nielsen.
April 15 – Sinking of the Titanic: British passenger liner Titanic sinks having struck an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean on her maiden voyage from the United Kingdom to the United States, killing more than 1,500. This is depicted in many works of popular culture, including films, beginning with the May 16 U.S. release Saved from the Titanic, starring and co-written by Dorothy Gibson, who is herself a survivor of the disaster.
April 30 – Universal Film Manufacturing Company is founded in New York, the oldest surviving film studio in the United States.
May 8 – Famous Players Film Company, the forerunner of Paramount Pictures, is founded by Adolph Zukor.
May 18 – Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, the first Indian film, is released.
June 8 – New York Motion Picture Company is merged with Universal, giving Universal a studio in Edendale, Los Angeles.
July 4 – Mack Sennett, who has previously worked as an actor and comedy director with D. W. Griffith, forms a new company with New York City entrepreneur Adam Kessel, Keystone Studios. It will play an important role in developing slapstick comedy as the home to the Keystone Cops, English actor Charlie Chaplin, and others.
July 12 – Queen Elizabeth is the first film released by Famous Players.
July 26 – Edison Studios releases What Happened to Mary, the first ever motion picture serial.
Edison introduces the Home Kinetoscope, a home film-projector which uses a 22 mm print consisting of three rows of frames.
Pathé releases Pathe Kok, their first entry into the amateur market, with a gauge of 28 mm.
Alexander F. Victor improves on the 17.5 mm format with his Duoscope, which uses two center perforations instead of the typical one.
Bell & Howell introduce the first all-metal camera, the 2709 35mm.

Notable films

Films produced in the United States unless stated otherwise

Births

January 8 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor and director
January 13 – Paul Birch, American actor
February 4 – James Craig, American actor
February 5 – Willard Parker, American actor
February 19 – Saul Chaplin, American film composer
February 19 – Dorothy Janis, American actress
February 21 – Arline Judge, American actress
February 26 – Dane Clark, American actor
March 22 – Karl Malden, American actor
April 5 – Gordon Jones, American actor
April 8 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian Olympic ice-skater, actress
April 11 – John Larkin, American actor
April 12 – Walt Gorney, Austrian-American actor
April 16 – Catherine Scorsese, American actress
April 18 – Wendy Barrie, English actress
April 29 – Richard Carlson, American actor and director
May 9 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican actor
May 18 – Perry Como, American singer, actor
May 23
*Marius Goring, English actor
*John Payne, American actor
May 29 – Iris Adrian, American actress
May 31 – Dave O'Brien, American actor, director, writer
June 1 – Doris Wishman, American filmmaker
June 26 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian actor
July 4 – Viviane Romance, French actress
July 5 – Ilona Massey, Hungarian-born American actress
August 1 – Henry Jones, American actor
August 12 – Samuel Fuller, American director
August 15 – Wendy Hiller, English actress
August 23 – Gene Kelly, American actor
August 25 – Ted Key, writer
August 29 – Barry Sullivan, American actor
September 5
*Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-born German actress
*Frank Thomas, American animator
September 10 – Mary Walter, Filipina actress
September 21 – Chuck Jones, American animator
September 23 – Martha Scott, American actress
September 29 – Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian director
October 10 – Rudy Bond, American actor
October 11 – Betty Noyes American singer/dubber
October 12 – Peer Guldbrandsen, Danish screenwriter, actor, film director and producer
October 13 – Cornel Wilde, Hungarian-born American actor
October 31 –
* Dale Evans, American actress
* Ollie Johnston, American animator
November 5 – Paul Dehn, English screenwriter and poet
November 8 – June Havoc, American actress
November 21 – Eleanor Powell, American dancer, actress
November 24 – Garson Kanin, American writer
December 11 – Carlo Ponti, Italian producer

Deaths

March 30 – Karl May, writer, Apache Gold
April 15 – Jacques Futrelle, writer, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes,
April 20 – Bram Stoker, writer, Dracula
May 14 – August Strindberg, writer, Miss Julie
May 19 – Bolesław Prus, writer, Faraon
June 1 – Philip Orin Parmelee, actor ; pioneer aviator for the Wright brothers
July 1 – Harriet Quimby, writer ; actress in one film; pioneer American aviator
December 14 – Harry Cashman, comedy producer and actor for the Chicago-based Essanay company.

Film debuts

John Barrymore – The Dream of a Moving Picture Director
May Buckley - Paid in His Own Coin
Frank Borzage – On Secret Service (short)
Charlotte Burton – The Would-Be Heir
Lon Chaney – The Honor of the Family (short)
Dorothy Gish – An Unseen Enemy (short)
Lillian Gish – An Unseen Enemy (short)
Louise Glaum – Brave Heart's Hidden Love
Mildred Harris – The Post Telegrapher
Cleo Madison – A Business Buccaneer (short)
Mary Miles Minter – The Nurse (short)
Antonio Moreno – Iola's Promise
Warner Oland – Pilgrim's Progress
Olga Petrova – Departure of a Grand Old Man (short)
Victor Sjöström – director, A Ruined Life; actor, The Gardener
Frederick Warde – Richard III

1912 in film

Events

Notable films

A

B

C

D

F

H

I

K

L

M

N

O

Q

R

S

U

V

W

Births

Deaths

Film debuts