Events

• Thomas Edison formed the Motion Picture Patents Company, with goals of controlling production and distribution, raising theater admission prices, cooperating with censorship bodies, and preventing film stock from getting into the hands of nonmember producers.
• D. W. Griffith becomes a director at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in New York City. Between 1908 and 1913, Griffith would direct nearly 500 films
• In the Sultan's Power is the first film ever completely made in Los Angeles, California. It was filmed by director Francis Boggs.

Films released in 1908

• The Adventures of Dollie
• After Many Years
• The Assassination of the Duke of Guise
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• Dreams of Toyland
• A L'Ecu d'Or ou la bonne auberge (French film regarded as the first pornographic film)
• The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
• Fantasmagorie by Émile Cohl (the first-ever fully animated film)
• In the Sultan's Power
• Macbeth
• Over The Hill To The Poorhouse
• The Reprieve: An Episode in the Life of Abraham Lincoln
• Rescued from an Eagle's Nest
• Romeo and Juliet
• Stenka Razin
• The Taming of the Shrew
• The Thieving Hand

Births

• January 10 - Paul Henreid - actor, director (d. 1992)
• January 10 - Bernard Lee, actor (d. 1981)
• January 11 - Lionel Stander, actor (d. 1994)
• January 12 - Jean Delannoy, director (d. 2008)
• January 16 - Ethel Merman, actress, singer (d. 1984)
• February 4 - Gwili Andre, actress (d. 1959)
• February 22 - John Mills, actor (d. 2005)
• March 5 - Rex Harrison, actor (d. 1990)
• March 7 - Anna Magnani, actress (d. 1973)
• March 17 - Brigitte Helm, actress (d. 1996)
• March 20 - Michael Redgrave, actor (d. 1985)
• April 2 - Buddy Ebsen, actor, (d. 2003)
• April 5 - Bette Davis, actress (d. 1989)
• April 15 - Lita Grey, actress (d. 1995)
• April 22 - Eddie Albert, actor, (d. 2005)
• April 24 - Marceline Day, actress (d. 2000)
• April 30 - Eve Arden, actress (d. 1990)
• May 6 - Lucien Ballard - cinematographer (d. 1988)
• May 20 - James Stewart, actor (d. 1997)
• May 26 - Robert Morley, actor (d. 1992)
• May 30 - Mel Blanc - voice actor (d. 1989)
• May 31 - Don Ameche, actor (d. 1993)
• June 10 - Robert Cummings, actor (d. 1990)
• July 1 - Peg Entwistle, actress (d. 1932)
• July 12 - Milton Berle, actor (d. 2002)
• July 18 - Lupe Vélez, actress (d. 1944)
• September 13 - Mae Questel, voice actress (d. 1998)
• September 15 - Penny Singleton, actress, (d. 2003)
• October 5 - Joshua Logan, director (d. 1988)
• October 5 - Cecilia de Mille, director (d. 1984)
• October 6 - Carole Lombard, actress (d. 1942)
• November 16 - Burgess Meredith, actor (d. 1997)
• December 11 - Sally Eilers, actress (d. 1978)
• December 18 - Celia Johnson, actress (d. 1982)
• December 20 - Dennis Morgan, actor, singer (d. 1994)
• December 25 - Helen Twelvetrees, actress (d. 1958)
• December 28 - Lew Ayres, actor (d. 1996)
• December 29 - Claire Dodd, actress (d. 1973)

Film Debuts

• D.W. Griffith
• Marion Leonard
• Kathlyn Williams
• Mack Sennett
• Hobart Bosworth
• Earle Williams
• Julia Swayne Gordon

Deaths

• (unknown)