This is an overview of 1922 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

The top ten films released in 1922 by U.S. gross are as follows:

• June 11 – United States première of Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North, the first commercially successful feature length documentary film.
• November 26 – The Toll of the Sea, starring Anna May Wong and Kenneth Harlan, debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so but it was not widely distributed).

United States unless stated

• Charlie Chaplin (1914–1923)
• Buster Keaton (1917–1941)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)

• Felix the Cat (1919–1936)
• Koko the Clown (1919–1963)
• Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1934)

• January 2 – Jason Evers, actor (died 2005)
• January 3 – Bill Travers, British actor, screenwriter and director (died 1994)
• January 10 – Hannelore Schroth, actress (died 1987)
• January 13 – Albert Lamorisse, director (died 1970)
• January 16 – Irene Vernon, actress (died 1998)
• January 17 – Betty White, American actress (died 2021)
• January 19 – Guy Madison, actor (died 1996)
• January 20 – Ray Anthony, bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor
• January 21
  • Telly Savalas, actor (died 1994)
  • Paul Scofield, actor (died 2008)
• January 31 – Joanne Dru, actress (died 1996)
• February 4 –
  • William Edward Phipps, American actor and producer (died 2018)
  • Qin Yi, Chinese actress (died 2022)
• February 6 – Patrick Macnee, actor (died 2015)
• February 7 – Hattie Jacques, actress (died 1980)
• February 8 – Audrey Meadows, actress (died 1996)
• February 9 – Kathryn Grayson, singer, actress (died 2010)
• February 24 – Steven Hill, actor (died 2016)
• February 26 – Margaret Leighton, actress (died 1976)
• March 5 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian film director (died 1975)
• March 8 – Cyd Charisse, actress, dancer (died 2008)
• March 20 – Carl Reiner, comic actor, director and screenwriter (died 2020)
• March 21 – Russ Meyer, director, producer (died 2004)
• March 31
  • Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (died 1999)
  • Patrick Magee, Northern Irish actor (died 1982)
• April 3 – Doris Day, actress, singer (died 2019)^[18]
• April 4 - Elmer Bernstein, American composer and conductor (died 2004)
• April 5 – Gale Storm, singer, actress (died 2009)
• April 7 – Margia Dean, American beauty queen and actress (died 2023)
• April 15 – Michael Ansara, American stage, screen, and voice actor (died 2013)
• April 18 – Barbara Hale, American actress (died 2017)^[19]
• April 24 – J. D. Cannon, American actor (died 2005)
• April 26 – Mike Kellin, American actor (died 1983)
• April 27 – Jack Klugman, American actor (died 2012)
• May 2 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (died 2007)
• May 7
  • Rolands Kalniņš, Latvian director, screenwriter and producer (died 2022)
  • Darren McGavin, American actor (died 2006)
• May 10 – Nancy Walker, American actress (died 1992)
• May 13 - Truus Dekker, Dutch actress (died 2022)
• May 17 - Wei Wei, Chinese actress (died 2023)
• May 18 - Bill Macy, American actor (died 2019)
• May 25 - Syd Heylen, Australian character actor and comedian (died 2007)
• May 27 – Christopher Lee, English actor (died 2015)^[20]
• May 31 – Denholm Elliott, English actor (died 1992)
• June 1
  • Joan Caulfield, American actress (died 1991)
  • Joan Copeland, American actress (died 2022)
• June 9 – George Axelrod, American scriptwriter and director (died 2003)
• June 10
  • Judy Garland, American singer, actress (died 1969)^[21]
  • Bill Kerr, British-Australian actor and comedian (died 2014)
• June 16 – Frances Rafferty, American actress (died 2004)
• June 22 – Mona Lisa, Filipina actress (died 2019)
• June 26 – Eleanor Parker, American actress (died 2013)
• June 28 - Erik Bauersfeld, American voice actor (died 2016)
• July 6 – William Schallert, American actor (died 2016)
• July 21 – Demeter Bitenc, Slovenian actor (died 2018)
• July 26
  • Blake Edwards, American director (died 2010)
  • Jason Robards, American actor (died 2000)
• July 27
  • Adolfo Celi, Italian film actor and director (died 1986)
  • Norman Lear, American writer and producer (died 2023)
• August 1
  • Arthur Hill, Canadian actor (died 2006)
  • Paul Lambert, American actor (died 1997)
• August 8 – Rory Calhoun, American actor (died 1999)
• August 22 – Micheline Presle, French actress (died 2024)
• August 25 - Gloria Dea, American actress and musician (died 2023)
• September 1
  • Vittorio Gassman, Italian actor, director (died 2000)
  • Yvonne De Carlo, American actress (died 2007)
• September 6 – Elizabeth Lawrence, American actress (died 2000)
• September 8
  • Sid Caesar, American comedian, actor (died 2014)
  • Annabel Maule, British actress
• September 10 – Barbara Chilcott, Canadian actress (died 2022)
• September 14 – Michel Auclair, European actor (died 1988)
• September 15 – Jackie Cooper, American actor, director (died 2011)
• September 16
  • Guy Hamilton, English director (died 2016)
  • Janis Paige, American actress
• September 23 – Louise Latham, American actress (died 2018)
• September 24 – Bert I. Gordon, American filmmaker and visual effects artist (died 2023)
• September 29 – Lizabeth Scott, American actress (died 2015)
• October 5 – Woodrow Parfrey, American actor (died 1984)
• October 7 – Martha Stewart, American actress (died 2021)
• October 8 – Eileen Essell, English actress (died 2015)
• October 20 – John Anderson, American actor (died 1992)
• October 23 – Coleen Gray, American actress (died 2015)
• October 27 – Ruby Dee, American actress (died 2014)
• October 31 – Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (died 2005)
• November 9 – Dorothy Dandridge, American actress, singer (died 1965)
• November 12 – Kim Hunter, actress (died 2002)
• November 13
  • Madeleine Sherwood, actress (died 2016)
  • Oskar Werner, actor (died 1984)
• November 14 – Veronica Lake, American actress (died 1973)
• November 15 – Francesco Rosi, film director (died 2015)
• November 16 – Royal Dano, American actor (died 1994)
• November 22 – Lynne Roberts, American actress (died 1978)
• November 26 – Adam Williams, American actor (died 2005)
• November 27 - Jacqueline White, American former actress
• November 29 – Laurie Main, Australian actor (died 2012)
• December 2
  • Don Fellows, American actor (died 2007)
  • Leo Gordon, American actor and screenplay writer (died 2000)
• December 3 - Len Lesser, American character actor (died 2011)
• December 4 – Gérard Philipe, French actor (died 1959)
• December 9 – Redd Foxx, American comedian and actor (died 1991)
• December 11 – Dilip Kumar, Indian actor (died 2021)
• December 21 – Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, voice artist, humanitarian and inventor (died 2005)
• December 22 – Ruth Roman, actress (died 1999)
• December 24 – Ava Gardner, American actress (died 1990)
• December 26 – Alfred Dennis, American actor (died 2016)
• December 28
  • Ivan Desny, Swiss actor (died 2002)
  • Stan Lee, American comic-book writer, producer and actor (died 2018)

• February 1 – William Desmond Taylor, film director, victim of an unsolved and widely publicised murder which provoked a great scandal. (born 1872)
• February 4 – Florence Deshon, American actress (born 1893)
• March 4 – Bert Williams, American actor and singer (born 1874)
• May 21 – Sidney Ainsworth, actor (born 1872)
• May 26 – Walter Jones, American actor (b.1874)
• June 6 – Lillian Russell, stage and screen actress (born 1860/61)
• June 15 – Howard Crampton, actor (born 1865)
• July 5 – Bobby Connelly, child star (born 1909)
• September 23 – W. Chrystie Miller, veteran stage & screen actor (born 1843)
• November 30 – René Cresté, actor and director (born 1881)

• Clara Bow – Beyond the Rainbow
• Betty Bronson – Anna Ascends
• Lon Chaney Jr. – The Trap
• Ann Doran – Robin Hood
• Louise Dresser – The Glory of Clementina
• James Gleason – Polly of the Follies
• William Haines – Brothers Under the Skin
• Edward Everett Horton – Too Much Business
• Hazel Keener – Penrod
• Walter Kingsford – Sherlock Holmes
• Gene Lockhart – Smilin' Through
• Anita Louise – Down to the Sea in Ships
• Jeanne Loury – Triplepatte
• Garry Marsh – Long Odds
• George O'Brien – White Hands
• William Powell – Sherlock Holmes
• David Sharpe – Sherlock Holmes
• Anne Shirley – The Hidden Woman
• Warren William – The Town That Forgot God
• Roland Young – Sherlock Holmes