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1960 in television

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The year 1960 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1960.

Events

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  • February 10 – Jack Paar temporarily quits his television program in the United States because his monologue had been edited the night before, in favor of a three-minute news update. Parr walks out to the audience at the beginning of the show, announces that he is quitting, says "There's got to be a better way to make a living," and then walks off the stage. After network executives apologize personally, Parr resumes hosting the program a month later. His first show back starts with the words "As I was saying before I was interrupted...".[1]
  • February–September – In a first for US Audiences, CBS broadcasts the 1960 Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics, on an exclusive basis, for $60,000. From Squaw Valley, American viewers are treated to 31 hours of coverage, which includes a mix of alpine skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, speed skating, and ski jumping. The Winter Olympic broadcast is hosted by Walter Cronkite while a young Jim McKay, who will go on to host ABC's Olympic coverage, does the Rome Games.
  • March 1 – Philippines's third television station DZTV-TV (now owned by the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation) starts broadcasts at 6:30 pm under the Inter-Island Broadcasting Corporation through the tri-media conglomerate of RMN-IBC-Philippine Herald owned by Andrés Soriano, owner at this time of San Miguel Corporation.
  • March 2 – Lucille Ball files for divorce from Desi Arnaz, ending their 20-year marriage and the I Love Lucy franchise on CBS.
  • April 29 – RTSH started test transmissions at 6:00 pm, just only one day before an official launch.
  • June 1 – Auckland TV2, as predecessor for TVNZ 1 (Television New Zealand), a first television station in New Zealand, officially starts regular broadcasting service in Auckland.[2]
  • June 11 - CBS broadcasts the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 race (which took place on May 29), possibly the first broadcast of any F1 race in the United States.
  • June 20 – Nan Winton becomes the first national female newsreader on BBC television in the United Kingdom.[3]
  • June 29 – The BBC Television Centre is opened in London.
  • July 21 – ERTU Al Oula, a member of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, a first television broadcasting service, is launched in Egypt.[citation needed]
  • July 31 – Telecuraçao is launched as the Netherlands Antilles' first television station, and also of the Antilliaanse Television Company (ATM).
  • August 20 – NRK1, a first television station in Norway, an officially regular broadcasting service starts in Oslo.[4]
  • September 19 – Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, arrives in New York City for the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly. The United States government asks television networks to minimize coverage of his visit.[5]
  • September 24 – After thirteen seasons of entertaining American children, NBC children's show Howdy Doody ends with Clarabell the Clown saying the final two words of the show ("Goodbye Kids") after being assumed to be mute.
  • September 25 – First Japanese colour television broadcast.
  • September 26 – The 1960 United States presidential debates, the first in history, take place as the two major candidates, Republican U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Democrat U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, face each other live in Chicago at the television studios of WBBM-TV. Carried live by all three networks, the debate begins at 8:30 p.m. local time and lasts one hour.[6][7] This first debate demonstrates the power of television in influencing voters: Kennedy appears tan and charismatic, while Nixon, due in part to poor makeup and a recent hospitalization, looks unkempt and tense, and this may impact on the outcome of the election. A special act of Congress has been passed in order to allow the American television and radio networks to broadcast the debate without having to provide equal time to other presidential candidates.[8][9] In addition to being the first presidential debates to be televised, the debates also mark the first time "split screen" images are used by a network.
  • October 1 – Argentine television station, El Trece, a first officially regular broadcasting service, starts in Buenos Aires.[citation needed]
  • October 5 – KEYC-TV signs on today, just in time to broadcast the first game of the World Series tonight from NBC.
  • October 12 – Inejiro Asanuma, chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, is assassinated by Otoya Yamaguchi using a wakizashi (samurai sword) during a political debate in Tokyo being taped by Japanese television broadcaster NHK.
  • November 4 – The University of Chile inaugurates its TV station over Channel 9 in Santiago, Chile. Its first broadcast marks the first live broadcast of a TV show in Chile.
  • December 9 – The first episode of soap opera Coronation Street, made by Granada Television in Manchester, England, is aired on ITV.[10] Intended as a 13-week pilot and disfavoured by critics, it continues past its 10,000th episode in 2020 (its 60th anniversary year) as Britain's longest running soap.
  • December 31 – Norma Zimmer officially becomes Lawrence Welk's "Champagne Lady" on The Lawrence Welk Show. She would remain with the show until it ended in 1982.

Undated

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  • Frank and Doris Hursley start their soap opera writing career, taking the jobs of joint head writers for the series Search for Tomorrow.
  • Nearly 90% of homes in the United States now have a television set, and over one hundred million television sets are in use worldwide.

Programs/programmes

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Debuts

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Television shows

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1940s

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1950s

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Ending this year

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Date Show Debut
January 25 Love and Marriage 1959
April 1 The Troubleshooters
June 11 The Man and the Challenge
September 14 Tate 1960
Unknown date This Man Dawson 1959

Births

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Date Name Notability
January 4 Julia St. John British actress
April Winchell American voice actress and daughter of Paul Winchell (Goof Troop, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, Pepper Ann, Recess, Wander Over Yonder)
January 6 Howie Long American football player, commentator
Andrea Thompson American actress
January 7 David Marciano American actor
January 12 Oliver Platt Canadian-American actor
Dominique Wilkins NBA basketball player
January 13 Bruno Heller English screenwriter
January 29 JG Thirlwell Australian musician
January 30 Tony O'Dell American actor (Head of the Class)
February 6 Megan Gallagher American actress
February 7 Robert Smigel American actor, comedian (Saturday Night Live)
Steve Johnson American special effects artist
James Spader American actor (Boston Legal, The Blacklist)
February 18 Greta Scacchi Italian-Australian actress
February 19 Leslie Ash English actress (Men Behaving Badly)
February 20 Wendee Lee American voice actress
February 21 Joel McKinnon Miller American actor
February 22 Paul Abbott English screenwriter (Shameless)
February 28 Dorothy Stratten Canadian model (Playboy) and actress (d. 1980)
February 29 Tony Robbins American author
Steve Levitt American actor
March 8 Buck Williams NBA basketball player
March 11 Perri Peltz American journalist
March 12 Jason Beghe American actor (Chicago P.D.)
Courtney B. Vance American actor (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)
March 13 Joe Ranft American voice actor (d. 2005)
March 17 Vicki Lewis American singer, actress (NewsRadio)
March 18 Richard Biggs American actor (died 2004)
March 21 Matthew Arkin American actor
March 25 Haywood Nelson American actor (What's Happening!!, What's Happening Now!!)
Russ Mitchell American journalist
Brenda Strong American actress (Desperate Housewives)
March 26 Ellia English American singer, actress (The Jamie Foxx Show)
Jennifer Grey American actress
March 29 Annabella Sciorra American actress
March 30 Michael McGrady American actor
April 1 Jennifer Runyon American actress
April 4 Lorraine Toussaint American actress
April 5 Greg Mathis American judge
April 6 Jane A. Rogers American actress
John Pizzarelli American vocalist
April 7 Elaine Miles American actress (Northern Exposure)
April 8 John Schneider American actor (The Dukes of Hazzard)
April 10 Ed Norris American radio host
April 11 Jeremy Clarkson English journalist and presenter (Top Gear)
April 14 Brad Garrett American actor (Everybody Loves Raymond, 'Til Death)
Brian Forster American actor (The Partridge Family)
April 15 Susanne Bier Danish director, screenwriter
Pedro Delgado Spanish sportcaster
April 16 Stan Foster American actor (Tour of Duty)
Michel Gill American actor (House of Cards, Mr. Robot)
April 22 Bobby Clampett American golfer
April 23 Valerie Bertinelli American actress (One Day at a Time, Hot in Cleveland)
April 29 Steve Blum American voice actor (Cowboy Bebop, Megas XLR, Ben 10).
May 2 Kevin Brennan American comedian
May 5 Kurt Sutter American creator, actor
May 6 Julianne Phillips American model, actress (Sisters)
Roma Downey Irish actress
John Flansburgh American musician
May 7 Adam Bernstein American film director, music video director and television director
May 8 Stella Gonet Actress (Holby City)
May 14 Ian Baker-Finch Golfer
May 15 Rob Bowman Director
May 17 Simon Fuller British entrepreneur
Fiona Hutchison American actress (One Life to Live, Guiding Light)
May 20 John Billingsley American actor (Star Trek: Enterprise)
Tony Goldwyn American actor, director (Scandal)
May 21 Jeffrey Toobin American author
May 24 Doug Jones American actor
Kristin Scott Thomas British actress
May 31 Chris Elliott American actor, comedian (Saturday Night Live, Get a Life)
June 2 Shaun Wallace British game show contestant
June 4 Bradley Walsh British actor, game show host
June 5 Leslie Hendrix American actress (All My Children, Law & Order)
June 7 Bill Prady American television writer, producer
June 11 Mehmet Oz American television host
June 12 Linda Church American weathercaster
June 17 Thomas Haden Church American actor (Wings)
June 18 Christopher Lloyd American producer
June 21 Kevin Harlan Television and radio sports announcer
June 22 Catherine Disher Actress
June 25 Eve Gordon American actress
June 30 Michael Katleman American director
July 5 Bruce Lanoil Puppeteer
July 7 Ralph Sampson NBA basketball player
July 8 Valarie Pettiford American actress (Half & Half)
July 10 Jeff Bergman American voice actor (The Looney Tunes Show)
July 11 Caroline Quentin English actress (Men Behaving Badly)
July 14 Jane Lynch American actress (Glee)
July 15 Willie Aames American actor (Eight is Enough, Charles in Charge)
July 16 Leila Kenzle American actress (Mad About You)
July 17 Nancy Giles American actress (China Beach), commentator (CBS News Sunday Morning)
Mark Burnett British television producer
July 18 Anne-Marie Johnson American actress
July 20 John Leguizamo Actor
July 21 Matt Mulhern American actor (Major Dad)
July 30 Daniel McDonald American actor (died 2007)
Richard Linklater American screenwriter
August 1 Chuck D Rapper
August 6 Grant Aleksander American actor (Guiding Light)
Leland Orser American actor
August 7 David Duchovny American actor (The X-Files)
August 10 Antonio Banderas Spanish actor, director (Interview with the Vampire, Shrek)
August 16 Timothy Hutton American actor, producer (Ordinary People, Leverage)
August 17 Lisa Coleman American musician
Sean Penn American actor
Johnny Wright American music manager
August 26 Branford Marsalis American bandleader
August 28 Emma Samms British actress (General Hospital, Dynasty)
Jodi Carlisle American actress (The Wild Thornberrys)
September 1 Damon Wayans American actor, comedian (In Living Color, My Wife and Kids, Lethal Weapon)
September 4 Janice Huff Chief meteorologist
September 7 Christopher Villiers Actor
September 9 Hugh Grant English actor
September 10 Colin Firth English actor
September 11 Anne Ramsay American actress (Mad About You)
September 12 Robert John Burke American actor
Gregg Fienberg American producer
September 14 Radames Pera American actor (Kung Fu)
Callum Keith Rennie British-Canadian actor
Melissa Leo American actress (All My Children, The Young Riders)
September 15 Lisa Vanderpump American actress
September 16 Jayne Brook American actress (Chicago Hope)
September 17 Kevin Clash Puppeteer (Sesame Street)
Steve Scully American journalist (C-SPAN)
September 21 David James Elliott Canadian actor (JAG)
Mary Mara American actress (Law & Order, ER, Nash Bridges) (died 2022)
September 22 Scott Baio American actor (Happy Days, Charles in Charge, Diagnosis: Murder)
September 27 Christopher Cousins American actor
Jean-Marc Barr French American actor
María Celeste Arrarás Puerto Rican television host
September 30 Vincent Waller American writer
October 1 Elizabeth Dennehy American actress
Joshua Wurman American scientist
October 2 Terence Winter American writer
October 4 Loren Lester American actor (Batman: The Animated Series, Defenders of the Earth, W.I.T.C.H.)
October 5 Daniel Baldwin American actor
October 8 Kerry Ehrin American writer
October 9 Jane Robelot American host
October 10 John Beasley American composer
October 13 Ari Fleischer American political commentator and former White House Press Secretary (Fox News)
Richard Sammel Actor
October 18 Alex Ferrer Cuban-American judge
Jean-Claude Van Damme Belgian actor
October 21 Byron Pitts American journalist
Paul Rugg Television writer and actor (Animaniacs, Freakazoid!, The 7D, Dave the Barbarian, Pig Goat Banana Cricket, Earth to Ned)
October 24 BD Wong American actor (Oz, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
Ian Baker-Finch American golfer
October 25 Tom Eplin American actor (Another World, As the World Turns)
October 28 Mark Derwin American actor (The Young and the Restless)
November 4 Kathy Griffin American actress (Suddenly Susan, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List)
November 5 Bryan Lourd American talent agent
Tilda Swinton British actress
November 6 Michael Cerveris American actor
Lance Kerwin American actor (d. 2023)
November 7 José Díaz-Balart American anchorman
November 8 Michael Nyqvist Swedish actor (Millennium) (d. 2017)
November 10 Dan Hawkins American sportscaster
November 11 Stanley Tucci American actor
Peter Parros American actor
November 13 Neil Flynn American actor (Scrubs, The Middle)
November 14 David Tattersall British cinematographer
November 17 RuPaul American actor
Frank Spotnitz American writer
Jonathan Ross Actor
November 18 Elizabeth Perkins American actress
November 23 Robin Roberts American newscaster
November 25 Arthur Smith Canadian television producer
November 27 Paulina García Chilean actress
November 29 Jackie Hoffman American actress
November 30 Rich Fields American announcer
Jason Katims American television writer
December 3 Julianne Moore American actress
Daryl Hannah American actress
December 9 Jeff "Swampy" Marsh American voice actor and producer (Phineas and Ferb)
December 10 Kenneth Branagh British actor
December 14 Don Franklin American actor (The Young Riders, seaQuest DSV, Seven Days)
December 19 Mike Lookinland American actor (The Brady Bunch)
December 25 Ron Bottitta British actor (Lost)
December 27 Harry Goaz American actor (Twin Peaks)
December 28 Jeff Martin American writer

Television debuts

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Jack Paar's Water Closet Joke". Censorship & Scandals. TV ACRES. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  2. ^ TVNZ 1#History Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  3. ^ Hill, Jane. "Remembering Nan Winton". About the BBC. BBC. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  4. ^ NRK1 Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  5. ^ Khrushchev, Nikita (2004). Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev. University Park: Pennsylvania State University. pp. 891–2. ISBN 9780271029351.
  6. ^ "Great Debate Scheduled For Tonight". Oakland Tribune. September 26, 1960. p. 1.
  7. ^ "Nixon, Kennedy Meet Face to Face on TV". Los Angeles Times. September 27, 1960. p. 1.
  8. ^ "The History of Televised Presidential Debates". Museum of Broadcast Communications.
  9. ^ Lang, Kurt; Lang, Gladys Engel (2002). Television and Politics. U.S.A. Transaction Publishers. pp. 108–111.
  10. ^ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.