1919 in film

The top six 1919 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

• February 5 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith launch United Artists.
• March – Oscar Micheaux premieres The Homesteader, the first feature-length race film, starring pioneering African American actress Evelyn Preer, becoming the first African American to produce and direct a motion picture.
• May 13 – D. W. Griffith's first film to be released by United Artists, Broken Blossoms, has its premiere in New York City.
• August 29 – The Miracle Man displayed Lon Chaney's talent for make-up and made him famous as a character actor.
• September 1 – United Artists release their first film, His Majesty, the American starring Douglas Fairbanks.
• September 18 – Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin opens rebuilt as a permanent cinema with the première of Ernst Lubitsch's Madame Dubarry.^[4][5]
• September 25 – Dalagang Bukid (The Country Maiden), the first Filipino feature-length film made in the Philippines, released.^[6]
• October 24 – The Capitol Theatre in New York City becomes one of the largest cinemas in the world with 4,000 seats.
• November 16 – Constance Talmadge becomes a star with the release of A Virtuous Vamp.^[7]
• November 23 – Cecil B. DeMille's Male and Female is released and grosses $1,256,226.59, establishing Gloria Swanson as a worldwide star.
• Harold Lloyd begins holding test screenings of his films and modifying them based on audience feedback, a technique which continues in use.
• Tri-Ergon sound-on-film technology is developed by three German inventors, Josef Engl, Hans Vogt (engineer), and Joseph Massole; however, the era of sound films is over 6 years away.

Only the films of the series released in 1919 are collected.

• January 1 – Sheila Mercier, British actress (died 2019)
• January 5 – Douglas Henderson, American actor (died 1978)
• January 7 – Huang Feng, Hong Kong film director (died 2019)
• January 10 – Amzie Strickland, American character actress (died 2006)
• January 11 – Mort Mills, American actor (died 1993)
• January 13 – Robert Stack, American actor (died 2003)
• January 14 – Joe Seneca, American actor and singer (died 1996)
• January 21 – Jinx Falkenburg, American model, actress (died 2003)
• January 23 – Ernie Kovacs, American comedian, actor (died 1962)
• January 24 – Coleman Francis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1973)
• February 4 – Janet Waldo, American actress (died 2016)
• February 5
  • Red Buttons, American actor (died 2006)
  • Tim Holt, American actor (died 1973)
• February 11 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (died 1995)
• February 12 – Forrest Tucker, American actor (died 1986)
• February 18 – Jack Palance, American actor (died 2006)
• March 2 – Jennifer Jones, American actress and mental-health advocate (died 2009)
• March 12 – Frank Campanella, American actor (died 2006)
• March 15 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (died 2002)
• March 25 – Jeanne Cagney, American actress (died 1984)
• March 26 – Strother Martin, American actor (died 1980)
• March 29 – Eileen Heckart, American actress (died 2001)
• April 2 – Maxwell Reed, Northern Irish actor (died 1974)
• April 6 – Caren Marsh Doll, American former actress
• April 12 – Ivor Barry, Welsh actor (died 2006)
• April 13 – Howard Keel, American actor (died 2004)
• April 18 – Vondell Darr, American child actress (died 2012)
• April 18 – Virginia O'Brien, American actress (died 2001)
• May 1 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish actor (died 2005)
• May 8 – Lex Barker, American actor (died 1973)
• May 22 – Raoul Retzer, Austrian actor (died 1974)
• May 23 – Betty Garrett, American actress (died 2011)
• June 11 – Richard Todd, Irish actor (died 2009)
• June 12 – Uta Hagen, German actress (died 2004)
• June 14
  • Gene Barry, American actor and singer (died 2009)
  • June Spencer, British actress (died 2024)
  • Sam Wanamaker, American actor and director (died 1993)
• June 17 – Patrick Cranshaw, American character actor (died 2005)
• June 19 – Pauline Kael, American film critic (died 2001)
• June 24 – Al Molinaro, American actor (died 2015)
• June 29 – Slim Pickens, American actor (died 1983)
• July 7 – Jon Pertwee, British actor (died 1996)
• July 8 - Eileen Bennett, British actress (died 2025)
• July 12 – Vera Ralston, Czech figure skater, actress (died 2003)
• July 14 – Lino Ventura, Italian-born actor and philanthropist (died 1987)
• July 19 – Patricia Medina, American actress (died 2012)
• July 26 – Virginia Gilmore, American actress (died 1986)
• August 2 – Nehemiah Persoff, American actor (died 2022)
• August 7 – Bertha Moss, Argentine-Mexican actress (died 2008)
• August 8 – Dino De Laurentiis, Italian producer (died 2010)
• August 16 – Lorna Thayer, American actress (died 2005)^[21]
• August 22 – Alma Beltran, Mexican-American actress (died 2007)
• September 2 – Marge Champion, American dancer and actress (died 2020)
• September 6 – John Mitchum, American actor (died 2001)
• September 7 – Howard Morris, American actor, comedian and director (died 2005)
• September 9 – Jacques Marin, French actor (died 2001)
• September 17 – Helmut Ashley, Austrian cinematographer and director (died 2021)
• September 18 – Diana Lewis, American actress (died 1997)
• September 21 – Nigel Stock, British actor (died 1986)
• September 24 – Rick Vallin, Russian-born actor (died 1977)
• October 5 – Donald Pleasence, British actor (died 1995)
• October 8 – Gabriel Dell, American actor (died 1988)
• October 18 – Orlando Drummond, Brazilian actor, voice artist and comedian (died 2021)
• October 20 – Lia Origoni, Italian actress and singer (died 2022)
• October 25 – Rico Alaniz, Mexican-American actor (died 2015)
• October 28 – Ezz El-Dine Zulficar, Egyptian director and producer (died 1963)
• November 2 – Warren Stevens, American actor (died 2012)
• November 3 – Bert Freed, American actor (died 1994)
• November 4
  • Shirley Mitchell, American actress (died 2013)
  • Martin Balsam, American actor (died 1996)
• November 7 – Aline Towne, American actress (died 1996)
• November 13 – Mary Beth Hughes, American actress (died 1995)
• November 15 – Nova Pilbeam, British actress (died 2015)
• November 19
  • Lynn Merrick, American actress (died 2007)
  • Alan Young, British actor (died 2016)
• November 20 – Phyllis Thaxter, American actress (died 2012)
• November 21 – Steve Brodie, American actor (died 1992)
• November 24 – David Kossoff, British actor (died 2005)
• December 5 – Guido Gorgatti, Italian-born Argentine actor (died 2023)
• December 7 – Lis Løwert, Danish actress (died 2009)
• December 11 – Marie Windsor, American actress (died 2000)
• December 12 – Adriana Benetti, Italian actress (died 2016)
• December 18 – Lynn Bari, American actress (died 1989)
• December 21
  • Ove Sprogøe, Danish actor (died 2004)
  • Doug Young, American voice actor (died 2018)

• January 14 – Shelley Hull, 34, American stage & film actor, husband of Josephine Hull, brother of Henry Hull
• January 31 – Nat Goodwin, 59, veteran stage star & silent film actor
• February 3 – Mary Moore, 29, Irish actress, sister of Joe, Matt, Owen and Tom Moore, A Million a Minute
• February 17 – Vera Kholodnaya, 25, Russian silent film actress, A Corpse Living, The Woman Who Invented Love, Her Sister's Rival, Song of Triumphant Love
• April 9 – Sidney Drew, 55, American stage & film actor A Florida Enchantment
• May 3 – Daniel Gilfether, 70, American actor of stage & screen
• May 21 – Lamar Johnstone, 34, American silent film actor
• August 27 – Clifford Bruce, 34, American silent film actor
• November 24 – William Stowell, 34, American silent film star

• Ernie Adams – A Regular Girl
• Vilma Bánky – Im letzten Augenblick
• Renée Björling – The Downy Girl
• Jeanne Carpenter – Daddy-Long-Legs
• Ronald Colman – The Toilers
• Bebe Daniels – Male and Female
• Miss DuPont – Lombardi, Ltd.
• Ruth Dwyer – The Lurking Peril
• Mary Forbes – Women Who Win
• Gladys George – Red Hot Dollars
• Ella Gombaszögi – Átok Vára
• Sascha Gura – The Dance of Death
• Boris Karloff – The Lightning Raider
• Roscoe Karns – Poor Relations
• Fritz Lang (director) – Halbblut
• Laura La Plante – The Great Gamble
• Helen Lowell – The Virtuous Model
• Sybill Morel – Opium
• Jack Perrin – Toton
• Lydia Potechina – Anita Jo
• Annie Rosar – Der Mord an der Bajadere
• Christian Rub – The Belle of New York
• Estelle Taylor – A Broadway Saint
• Guinn "Big Boy" Williams – Almost a Husband
• Claire Windsor – The Pest
• Carl-Gunnar WingÃ¥rd – The Downy Girl
• Anna May Wong – The Red Lantern

• List of American films of 1919