Editing 1959 in television

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{{Year nav topic5|1959|television|radio|film|music}}<!--no space 1959-->

The year '''1959 in television''' involved some significant events. Below is a list of [[television]]-related events during 1959.

__TOC__

==Events==
*January 15 – [[Tyne Tees Television]], the Independent Television ([[ITV (TV channel)|ITV]]) franchise for [[North East England]], begins broadcasting.
*February 1 – The earliest known [[First interracial kiss on television|interracial kiss on television]] occurs during a live performance of the play ''[[Hot Summer Night (play)|Hot Summer Night]]'', broadcast on the British [[ABC Weekend TV|ABC]] program ''[[Armchair Theatre]]'' on the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] network. The kiss is between [[Andrée Melly]] and [[Lloyd Reckord]], the latter of whom would be featured in another early televised interracial kiss three years later in the play ''[[You in Your Small Corner]]''.
*February 1 – [[TV Asahi|Nihon Educational Television]] begins operating to the Kanto region of Japan, operating as a for-profit educational television station for its first year.
*March 1 &ndash; [[Fuji Television]] commences its regular operations in Japan.<ref>[[Fuji Television#History of Fuji TV]] Retrieved January 13, 2017.</ref>
*April 6 – [[WKYC|KYW-TV]] in Cleveland, Ohio (later WKYC) becomes the first station to use the ''[[Eyewitness News]]'' name.<ref>{{Cite web|title=L.A. station celebrates 50 years of 'Eyewitness News'|url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2019/03/12/eyewitness-news-kabc-50/?og=1|access-date=2021-10-23|website=NewscastStudio|language=en-US}}</ref>
*May 24 – Television Ecuatoriana, the first [[television station]] in [[Ecuador]], starts a regular broadcasting service in [[Quito]] and [[Guayaquil]].{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}
*May 28 – Initiation of Lebanon's first television station, [[Télé Liban]].
*July 13–17 – ''[[The Hate That Hate Produced]]'', a documentary on [[Black nationalism]] in the United States, airs on [[WNET|WNTA-TV]].
*July 24 – The [[Kitchen Debate]] occurs in [[Moscow]], recorded on color [[videotape]].
*August 21 – The Catholic University of Chile begins broadcasting a partial service over Channel 2, the first TV station in Santiago, Chile.
*October 16 – OBXY-TV, predecessor of [[Panamericana Television]], [[Peru]], starts the first regular official broadcasting service in [[Lima]].<ref>[[Panamericana Televisión#History]] Retrieved January 13, 2017.</ref>
*October 22 – ''[[Take a Good Look (TV series)|Take a Good Look]]'', an innovative comedy series created by [[Ernie Kovacs]], premieres on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] in the United States.
*October 27 – [[Anglia Television]], the ITV franchise for [[Eastern England]], begins broadcasting.
*October 31 – [[Ulster Television]], the ITV franchise for [[Northern Ireland]], begins broadcasting.<ref 
name="utvmedia.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.utvmedia.com/pages/About-UTV/History |title=History |publisher=UTV Media |access-date=7 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518060946/http://www.utvmedia.com/pages/about-utv/history |archive-date=18 May 2013 }}</ref>
*October 31 – [[Western Nigeria Television]] (later known as [[Nigerian Television Authority]]) is launched in Nigeria, making it the first country to introduce television in Africa.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Television broadcasting in Africa: Pioneering milestones|doi=10.1109/HISTELCON.2010.5735315 |s2cid=21817115 |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5735315|title=2010 Second Region 8 IEEE Conference on the History of Communications |year=2010 |last1=Nwulu |first1=Nnamdi I. |last2=Adekanbi |first2=Adeyemi |last3=Oranugo |first3=Tochukwu |last4=Adewale |first4=Yemi |pages=1–6 |isbn=978-1-4244-7450-9 }}.</ref>
*November 22 – ''[[Sandmännchen]]'', a children's bedtime [[stop motion]] series, premieres on [[East Germany|East German]] television channel [[Deutscher Fernsehfunk]]. The series will continue airing on Rundfunk Berlin–Brandenburg into the 2000s, making it the longest-running animated television series in history with the [[List of animated television series by episode count|greatest episode count for a single series]].
*November 29 – The [[Grammy Awards]] are first televised as part of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Sunday Showcase]]''.
*December 26 – [[BNT 1]], a member of [[Bulgarian National Television]], the first [[television station]] in [[Bulgaria]], starts a regular official broadcasting service in [[Sofia]].<ref>[[:bg:БНТ|1]] (Bulgarian language) Retrieved January 6, 2017</ref>

==Programs/programmes==
*''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'' (1955–1962)
*''[[American Bandstand]]'' (1952–1989)
*''[[Armchair Theatre]]'' (UK) (1956–1968)
*''[[As the World Turns]]'' (1956–2010)
*''[[Blue Peter]]'' (UK) (1958–present)
*''[[Bozo the Clown]]'' (1949–2001)
*''[[Candid Camera]]'' (1948–present)
*''[[Captain Kangaroo]]'' (1955–1984)
*''[[Cheyenne (television)|Cheyenne]]'' (1955–1962)
*''[[Come Dancing]]'' (UK) (1949–1995)
*''[[Dixon of Dock Green]]'' (UK) (1955–1976)
*''[[Face the Nation]]'' (1954–present)
*''[[General Motors Theatre|General Motors Presents]]'' (Can) (1953–1956, 1958–1961)
*''[[Gillette Cavalcade of Sports]]'' (1946–1960)
*''[[Grandstand (BBC)|Grandstand]]'' (UK) (1958–2007)
*''[[Gunsmoke]]'' (1955–1975)
*''[[Hallmark Hall of Fame]]'' (1951–present)
*''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]'' (1956–1962)
*''[[Have Gun – Will Travel]]'' (1957–1963)
*''[[Howdy Doody]]'' (1947–1960)
*''[[I Love Lucy]]'' (1951–1960)
*''[[Ozark Jubilee|Jubilee USA]]'' (1955–1960)
*''[[KPIX Dance Party]]'' (1959–1963)
*''[[Leave It to Beaver]]'' (1957–1963)
*''[[Love of Life]]'' (1951–1980)
*''[[Man with a Camera]]'' (1959–1960)
*''[[Meet the Press]]'' (1947–present)
*''[[Men into Space|Men Into Space]]'' (1959–1960)
*''[[Opportunity Knocks (UK TV series)|Opportunity Knocks]]'' (UK) (1956–1978)
*''[[Panorama (TV series)|Panorama]]'' (UK) (1953–present)
*''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'' (1957–1966)
*''[[Peter Gunn]]'' (1958–1961)
*''[[Search for Tomorrow]]'' (1951–1986)
*''[[Take a Good Look (TV series)|Take a Good Look]]'' (1959–1961)
*''[[The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet]]'' (1952–1966)
*''[[The Army Game]]'' (UK) (1957–1961)
*''[[The Bell Telephone Hour]]'' (1959–1968)
*''[[The Brighter Day]]'' (1954–1962)
*''[[The Donna Reed Show]]'' (1958–1966)
*''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' (1948–1971)
*''[[The Edge of Night]]'' (1956–1984)
*''[[The Ford Show|The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford]]'' (1956–1961)
*''[[The Gale Storm Show, Oh! Susanna]]'' (1956–1960)
*''[[The Good Old Days (UK TV series)|The Good Old Days]]'' (UK) (1953–1983)
*''[[Guiding Light|The Guiding Light]]'' (1952–2009)
*''[[Huckleberry Hound|The Huckleberry Hound Show]]'' (1958–1962)
*''[[The Jack Benny Program]]'' (1950–1965)
*''[[The Lawrence Welk Show]]'' (1955–1982)
*''[[The Milton Berle Show]]'' (1954–1967)
*''[[The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom]]'' (1957–1960)
*''[[The Price is Right (1956)|The Price Is Right]]'' (1956–1965)
*''[[The Real McCoys]]'' (1957–1963)
*''[[The Secret Storm]]'' (1954–1974)
*''[[The Sky at Night]]'' (UK) (1957–present)
*''[[The Steve Allen Show]]'' (1956–1960)
*''[[The Texan (TV series)|The Texan]]'' (1958–1960)
*''[[This Man Dawson]]'' (1959–1960)
*''[[Today (NBC program)|The Today Show]]'' (1952–present)
*''[[The Tonight Show]]'' (1954–present)
*''[[The Voice of Firestone]]'' (1949–1963)
*''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' (UK) (1955–2003)
*''[[This Is Your Life (American franchise)|This Is Your Life]]'' (US) (1952–1961)
*''[[Truth or Consequences]]'' (1950–1988)
*''[[Walt Disney anthology series|Walt Disney Presents]]'' (1958–1961)
*''[[Wanted Dead or Alive (TV series)|Wanted Dead or Alive]]'' (1958–1961)
*''[[Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse]]'' (1958–1960)
*''[[What the Papers Say]]'' (UK) (1956–2008)
*''[[What's My Line (1950)|What's My Line]]'' (1950–1967)
*''[[Zoo Quest]]'' (UK) (1954–1964)

===Debuts===

*January 9 – ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'', [[CBS]] (1959–[[1966 in television|1966]])
*January 12 – ''[[The Bell Telephone Hour]]'' on [[NBC]] (1959–1968)
*February 4 – ''[[Face to Face (British TV series)|Face to Face]]'' on [[BBC Television]] (1959–1962)
*February 12 – ''[[As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (TV series)|As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me]]'' on West Germany's [[ARD (broadcaster)|ARD]] (1959)
*February 16 – ''[[Emergency (1959 TV series)|Emergency]]'' (1959) (Australia), one of the earliest Australian dramatic TV series
*April 4 
** ''[[Charlesworth (TV series)|Charlesworth]]'' on [[BBC Television]] (1959) 
** ''[[Shell Presents]]'' (1959–1960) (Sydney and Melbourne Australia), Australian dramatic anthology series
*May 2 – ''[[Markham (TV series)|Markham]]'', featuring [[Ray Milland]], on CBS (1959–1960)
*June 1 – ''[[Juke Box Jury]]'' on BBC Television (1959–1967, 1979, 1989–1990)
*September 11 – ''[[The Troubleshooters (1959 TV series)|The Troubleshooters]]'' on NBC (1959–1960)
*September 12 – ''[[Bonanza]]'' on NBC, the first weekly television series broadcast completely in color (1959–1973)
*September 12 – ''[[The Man and the Challenge]]'' on NBC (1959–1960)
*September 15 – ''[[Laramie (TV series)|Laramie]]'' on NBC (1959–1963)
*September 20 – ''[[NBC Sunday Showcase]]'' on NBC (1959–1960)
*September 21 – ''[[Love and Marriage (1959 TV series)|Love and Marriage]]'' on NBC (1959–1960)
*September 30 – ''[[Men into Space|Men Into Space]]'' on CBS (1959–1960)
*October 2 – [[Rod Serling]]'s ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' debuts on CBS (1959–1964)
*October 4 
**''[[Dennis the Menace (1959 TV series)|Dennis the Menace]]'' on CBS (1959–1963)
**''[[The Rebel (American TV series)|The Rebel]]'' on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] (1959–1961)
*October 5 – ''[[Bourbon Street Beat]]'' on ABC (1959–1960)
*October 7 – ''[[Hawaiian Eye]]'' on ABC (1959–1963)
*October 15 - ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'' on ABC (1959–1963)
*November 19 - ''[[The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends|Rocky & His Friends]]'' on ABC (1959–61)
*Unknown date
**''[[Adelaide Tonight]]'' – 1959–1973 ([[Adelaide]], [[Australia]])
**''[[Bandwagon (Australian TV series)|Bandwagon]]'' (1959–1960) ([[Melbourne]], Australia, on HSV-7)
**''[[The Bert Newton Show]]'' (1959–1960) (Melbourne, Australia, on GTV-9)
**''[[The Bobby Limb Show]]'' (1959–1964) (Australia) (title changed in 1961 to ''The Mobil-Limb Show'')
**''[[Club Seven (Australian TV series)|Club Seven]]'' (1959–1961) (Melbourne, Australia)
**''[[The Quick Draw McGraw Show]]'' in [[Broadcast syndication|syndication]] (1959–1962)
**''[[Tales of the Riverbank]]'' (1959–1963).                                      
**''[[This Man Dawson]]'' in syndication (1959–1960)

===Ending this year===
{| class="wikitable"
! Date 
! Show 
! Debut
|-
| January 13 
| ''[[Confession (American TV series)|Confession]]'' 
| rowspan="4"| 1958
|-
| January 23
| ''[[Our Mutual Friend (1958 TV serial)|Our Mutual Friend]]'' 
|-
| January 26 
| ''[[Quatermass and the Pit]]'' 
|-
| April 9 
| ''[[Behind Closed Doors (1958 TV series)|Behind Closed Doors]]''
|-
| April 24 
| ''[[Your Hit Parade]]''
| 1950
|-
| June 22 
| ''[[The Restless Gun]]'' 
| 1957
|-
| rowspan="3"| June 25
| ''[[Dragnet (drama)|Dragnet]]'' 
| 1951
|-
| ''[[Mickey Mouse Club]]'' 
| 1955
|- 
| ''[[State Trooper (TV series)|State Trooper]]''
| 1956
|-
| September 28
| ''[[Polka Go-Round]]'' 
| 1958
|-
| Unknown
| ''[[This Is Alice]]'' 
| 1958
|}

==Births==
{| class="wikitable"
! Date || Name || Notability 
|-
| January 5
| [[Clancy Brown]]
| Actor (''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'', ''[[Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.]]'')
|-
| January 21
| [[Bob Boden]] 
| American producer
|-
| January 22
| [[Linda Blair]] 
| American actress
|-
| rowspan="2"| January 27
| [[Cris Collinsworth]] 
| American sports broadcaster
|-
| [[Keith Olbermann]] 
| American sports and political commentator 
|-
| rowspan="2"| January 31
| [[Anthony LaPaglia]]
| Australian actor (''[[Without a Trace]]'')
|-
| [[Kelly Lynch]]
| Actress
|-
| February 3
| [[Fredric Lehne]]
| Actor (''[[Mancuso, F.B.I.]]'')
|-
| February 11
| [[Bradley Cole]]
| Actor (''[[Guiding Light]]'')
|-
| February 12
| [[Larry Nance]]
| [[NBA]] basketball player
|-
| February 15
| [[Joseph R. Gannascoli]]
| American actor
|-
| February 18
| [[Jayne Atkinson]]
| English-American actress (''[[24 (TV series)|24]]'')
|-
| February 22 
| [[Kyle MacLachlan]]
| Actor (''[[Twin Peaks]]'', ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'')
|-
| February 24
| [[Beth Broderick]]
| Actress (''[[The 5 Mrs. Buchanans]]'', ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'')
|-
| February 26
| [[Rolando Blackman]]
| [[NBA]] basketball player
|-
| March 5
| [[Talia Balsam]]
| Actress
|-
| March 6 
| [[Tom Arnold (actor)|Tom Arnold]]
| Actor and comedian (''[[The Best Damn Sports Show Period]]'')
|-
| March 7 
| [[Donna Murphy]]
| Actress and singer
|-
| rowspan="2"|March 8
| [[Lester Holt]]
| Journalist and news anchor
|-
| [[Aidan Quinn]]
| Actor
|-
| rowspan="2" | March 9
| [[Tom Amandes]]
| Actor (''[[Everwood]]'')
|-
| [[Kato Kaelin]]
| Actor and TV personality<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moy |first=Kristina |date=2024-04-11 |title=Where is Kato Kaelin now? Here's what we know |url=https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/where-is-kato-kaelin-now-a-look-at-where-the-o-j-simpson-witness-is-today |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=FOX 13 Seattle |language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
| March 14
| [[Tamara Tunie]]
| Actress (''[[As the World Turns]]'', ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]'')
|-
| March 16
| [[Flavor Flav]]
| Rapper
|-
|March 20
|[[Sting (wrestler)|Sting]]
|Pro wrestler<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-02 |title=sting |url=https://www.thesportster.com/tag/sting/ |access-date=2024-11-08 |website=TheSportster |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| March 22
| [[Stephen Lambert (media executive)|Stephen Lambert]]
| English television producer
|-
| rowspan="2"|April 3 
| [[David Hyde Pierce]]
| Actor (''[[Frasier]]'', ''[[The Powers That Be (TV series)|The Powers That Be]]'')
|-
| [[Amy Morton]]
| Actress
|-
| April 4
| [[Phil Morris (actor)|Phil Morris]]
| Actor (''[[Smallville]]'', ''[[The Secret Saturdays]]'', ''[[Legion of Super Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super Heroes]]'')
|-
| rowspan="2"|April 15
| [[Emma Thompson]]
| English actress
|-
| [[Thomas F. Wilson]]
| Actor (''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', ''[[Tales of Arcadia]]'', ''[[Back to the Future (TV series)|Back to the Future]]'')
|-
| April 17 
| [[Sean Bean]]
| English actor (''[[Sharpe (TV series)|Sharpe]]'', ''[[Game of Thrones]]'')
|-
| April 22
| [[Ryan Stiles]]
| Actor (''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (American TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'')
|-
| April 23
| [[Dan Frischman]]
| Actor (''[[Head of the Class]]'')
|-
| April 24 
| [[Paula Yates]]
| English television presenter (died 2000)
|-
| May 3 
| [[Ben Elton]]
| English comedian and writer (''[[Blackadder]]'')
|-
| May 5
| [[Brian Williams]]
| Journalist
|-
| May 7 
| [[Michael E. Knight]]
| Actor (''[[All My Children]]'')
|-
| May 10
| [[Victoria Rowell]]
| Actress (''[[The Young and the Restless]]'', ''[[Diagnosis: Murder]]'')
|-
| May 13
| [[Jerry Butler (actor)|Jerry Butler]]
| American actor
|-
| May 17
| [[Jim Nantz]]
| American sportscaster
|-
| May 20
| [[Bronson Pinchot]]
| Actor ([[Balki Bartokomous]] on ''[[Perfect Strangers (TV series)|Perfect Strangers]]'')
|-
| May 29 
| [[Rupert Everett]]
| English actor
|-
| June 1
| [[Eli Gabay]]
| Actor
|-
| June 2
| [[Kevin Newman (journalist)|Kevin Newman]]
| Journalist
|-
| June 6
| [[Neal H. Moritz]]
| Film producer
|-
| June 7
| [[Mike Pence]]
| Politician
|-
| June 10
| [[Tim Van Patten]]
| Director
|-
| June 11 
| [[Hugh Laurie]]
| English actor (''[[Jeeves and Wooster]]'', ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'')
|-
| June 12
| [[Marty Griffin (journalist)|Marty Griffin]]
| Journalist
|-
| June 15
| [[Eileen Davidson]]
| Actress (''[[Days of Our Lives]]'', ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'', ''[[The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills]]'')
|-
| June 21
| [[Tom Chambers (basketball)|Tom Chambers]]
| [[NBA]] basketball player
|-
| June 24
| [[Dan Gilroy]]
| Screenwriter
|-
| June 26
| [[Mark McKinney]]
| Actor and comedian (''[[The Kids in the Hall (TV series)|The Kids in the Hall]]'', ''[[Superstore (TV series)|Superstore]]'')
|-
| June 27
| [[Janusz Kamiński]]
| Director
|-
| June 30 
| [[Vincent D'Onofrio]]
| Actor (''[[Law & Order: Criminal Intent]]'')
|-
| July 1
| [[Phyllis Cicero]]
| American actress (''[[Barney & Friends]]'') (died 2021)
|-
| July 3
| [[David Shore]]
| Canadian television writer
|-
| July 7
| [[Billy Campbell]]
| Actor (''[[Once and Again]]'', ''[[The 4400]]'', ''[[The Rocketeer (TV series)|The Rocketeer]]'')
|-
| July 8
| [[Robert Knepper]]
| Actor (''[[Prison Break]]'', ''[[Heroes (U.S. TV series)|Heroes]]'')
|-
|July 9
|[[Kevin Nash]]
|Pro wrestler<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-01 |title=Kevin Nash |url=https://www.thesportster.com/tag/kevin-nash/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=TheSportster |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| July 12
| [[Charlie Murphy (actor)|Charlie Murphy]]
| Actor and comedian (died 2017)
|-
| July 16
| [[Bob Joles]]
| Actor (''[[Big City Greens]]'', ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', ''[[Spider-Man (2017 TV series)|Spider-Man]]'')  
|-
| July 24
| [[Shawn Weatherly]]
| Actress
|-
| July 25
| [[Geoffrey Zakarian]]
| American chef, restaurateur, television personality and author
|-
|rowspan="2"| July 26
| [[Kevin Spacey]]
| Actor (''[[Wiseguy (TV series)|Wiseguy]]'', ''[[House of Cards (U.S. TV series)|House of Cards]]'')
|-
| [[Tom McGowan]]
| Actor (''[[Frasier]]'', ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'', ''[[The War at Home (TV series)|The War at Home]]'')
|-
| August 2
| [[Victoria Jackson]]
| Actress (''[[Saturday Night Live]]'')
|-
| August 3
| [[John C. McGinley]]
| Actor (''[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]'', ''[[DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders]]'', ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'')
|-
| August 5
| [[Mark Cendrowski]]
| Director
|-
| August 10
| [[Rosanna Arquette]]
| Actress
|-
| August 13 
| [[Danny Bonaduce]]
| Actor (''[[The Partridge Family]]'')
|-
|rowspan="2"| August 14 
| [[Marcia Gay Harden]]
| Actress (''[[Pollock (film)|Pollock]]'', ''[[Code Black (TV series)|Code Black]]'')
|-
| [[Magic Johnson]]
| [[NBA]] basketball player
|-
| August 17
| [[Derek McGinty]]
| American news anchor
|-
| August 18
| [[June Angela]]
| Actress (''[[The Electric Company]]'')
|-
| August 19
| [[Pamela Fryman]]
| Director
|-
| August 28
| [[Arthur Holden]]
| Actor
|-
| September 5
| [[Rickey Minor]]
| Bass player
|-
| September 11
| [[John Hawkes (actor)|John Hawkes]]
| Actor (''[[Deadwood (TV series)|Deadwood]]'', ''[[Eastbound & Down]]'')
|-
| September 13
| [[Chris Hansen]]
| Television journalist (''[[Dateline NBC]]'')
|-
|rowspan="2"| September 14 
| [[Mary Crosby]]
| Actress (''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'')
|-
| [[Anthony Asbury]]
| Actor
|-
| September 15
| [[Kevin Allen (director)|Kevin Allen]]
| Actor
|-
| September 19
| [[Carolyn McCormick]]
| Actress (''[[Law & Order]]'')
|-
| September 21
| [[Dave Coulier]]
| Actor ([[Joey Gladstone]] on ''[[Full House]]'')
|-
| September 23 
| [[Jason Alexander]]
| Actor (''[[Seinfeld]]'', ''[[Hit the Road (TV series)|Hit the Road]]'', ''[[Duckman]]'')
|-
| September 27
| [[Stephen Caffrey (actor)|Stephen Caffrey]]
| Actor (''[[Tour of Duty (TV series)|Tour of Duty]]'')
|-
| September 28
| [[Steve Hytner]]
| Actor
|-
| September 30
| [[Debrah Farentino]]
| Actress
|-
|rowspan="2"| October 3 
| [[Jack Wagner (actor)|Jack Wagner]]
| Actor (''[[The Bold and the Beautiful]]'')
|-
| [[Greg Proops]]
| Actor
|-
|rowspan="2"| October 7
| [[Simon Cowell]]
| English television personality
|-
| [[Dylan Baker]]
| Actor
|-
| October 8
| [[Nick Bakay]]
| Actor (''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'', ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'')
|-
|rowspan="2"| October 10
| [[Julia Sweeney]]
| Actress (''[[Saturday Night Live]]'')
|-
| [[Bradley Whitford]]
| Actor (''[[The West Wing]]'')
|-
| October 13 
| [[Marie Osmond]]
| Actress and singer (''[[Donny & Marie (1976 TV series)|Donny & Marie]]'')
|-
| October 17
| [[Norm Macdonald]]
| Actor and comedian (''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', ''[[Mike Tyson Mysteries]]'') (died 2021)
|-
|rowspan="2"| October 23 
| [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]
| Music parodist and actor (''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'', ''[[Adventure Time]]'', ''[[Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!]]'')
|-
| [[Nancy Grace]]
| American anchor
|-
| October 26
| [[François Chau]]
| American-Cambodian actor (''[[Lost (2004 TV series)|Lost]]'')
|-
| November 10 
| [[Mackenzie Phillips]]
| Actress (''[[One Day at a Time (1975 TV series)|One Day at a Time]]'')
|-
| November 12
| [[Vincent Irizarry]]
| Soap opera actor
|-
| November 14
| [[Paul Attanasio]]
| American screenwriter
|-
| November 19 
| [[Allison Janney]]
| Actress (''[[The West Wing]]'', ''[[Mom (TV series)|Mom]]'')
|-
| November 26
| [[Jamie Rose]]
| Actress (''[[Falcon Crest]]'')
|-
| November 28 
| [[Judd Nelson]]
| Actor (''[[Suddenly Susan]]'', ''[[Ben 10: Omniverse]]'')
|-
| December 5
| [[Connie Needham]]
| Actress (''[[Eight is Enough]]'')
|-
| December 6
| [[Tom Foreman]]
| Canadian television writer
|-
|rowspan="2"| December 9
| [[Terry Moran]]
| American journalist
|-
| [[Pat Battle]]
| American journalist
|-
|rowspan="2"| December 10
| [[Mark Aguirre]]
| [[NBA]] basketball player
|-
| [[Burke Moses]]
| Actor
|-
| December 13
| [[Johnny Whitaker]]
| Actor (''[[Family Affair]]'')
|-
| December 16 
| [[Alison La Placa]]<ref name="Alison La Placa">{{cite web|title=Alison La Placa|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0478844/|website=[[The Internet Movie Database]]|publisher=IMDb.com, Inc.|access-date=7 April 2015|ref=Alison La Placa}}</ref>
| Actress (''[[Duet (TV series)|Duet]]'', ''[[Open House (1989 TV series)|Open House]]'')
|-
| December 29
| [[Mark Madden]]
| American sports talk show host
|-
| December 30 
| [[Tracey Ullman]]
| Actress, comedian (''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]'')
|-
| December 31 
| [[Val Kilmer]]
| Actor (died 2025)
|}

==Deaths==
* February 3 – [[Beulah Zachary]], American director and producer (''[[Kukla, Fran and Ollie]]'') (born 1911)
* June 16 – [[George Reeves]], American actor (born 1914)

==Television debuts==
*[[Peter Bowles]] – ''[[Dial 999 (TV series)|Dial 999]]''
*[[Veronica Cartwright]] – ''[[Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre]]''
*[[Seymour Cassel]] – ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]''
*[[Robert Duvall]] – ''[[Armstrong Circle Theatre]]''
*[[Julian Glover]] – ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959 film)|A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''
*[[Ron Howard]] – ''[[Playhouse 90]]''
*[[Jill Ireland]] – ''[[The Voodoo Factor]]''
*[[Sally Kellerman]] – ''Playhouse 90''
*[[Telly Savalas]] – ''[[NBC Sunday Showcase]]''
*[[George Takei]] – ''Playhouse 90''

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Years in TV by country|1959}}
{{Years in television}}

[[Category:1959 in television| ]]