Events

• Mack Sennett, who had previously worked as an actor and comedy director with D. W. Griffith, formed a new company, Keystone Studios, that played an important role in developing slapstick comedy. Sennett's company became home to the Keystone Kops, English actor Charlie Chaplin, and others.
• October 31 - The Musketeers of Pig Alley, directed by D.W. Griffith, debuts as the first gangster film.

Movies released

Movies released in 1912 include:

• Oliver Twist: The first American feature film to last over an hour.
• Keystone Comedy
• Saved From the Titanic
• In Nacht und Eis

Births

• January 8 - José Ferrer, actor (d. 1992)
• February 19 - Saul Chaplin, film composer (d. 1997)
• February 21 - Arline Judge , actress (d. 1974)
• February 26 - Dane Clark , actor (d. 1998)
• March 22 - Karl Malden, actor
• April 8 - Sonja Henie, Olympic ice-skater, actress (d. 1969)
• April 18 - Wendy Barrie , actress (d. 1978)
• May 9 - Pedro Armendáriz , actor (d. 1963)
• May 18 - Perry Como, singer, actor (d. 2001)
• May 23 - Marius Goring, actor (d. 1998)
• May 23 - John Payne (I) , actor (d. 1989)
• May 29 - Iris Adrian, actress (d. 1994)
• June 26 - Jay Silverheels, actor (Tonto) (d. 1980)
• July 4 - Viviane Romance, actress (d. 1991)
• July 5 - Ilona Massey , actress (d. 1974)
• August 2 - Ann Dvorak, actress (d. 1979)
• August 15 - Wendy Hiller, actress (d. 2003)
• August 23 - Gene Kelly, actor (d. 1996)
• August 29 - Barry Sullivan , actor (d. 1974)
• September 5 - Kristina Söderbaum, actress (d. 2001)
• September 21 - Chuck Jones, animator (d. 2002)
• September 23 - Martha Scott, actress (d. 2003)
• October 31 - Dale Evans, actress (d. 2001)
• November 21 - Eleanor Powell, dancer, actress (d. 1982)
• November 24 - Garson Kanin, writer (d. 1999)
• December 11 - Carlo Ponti, producer

Deaths