New York's Times Square became a news centre
The Emmy TV awards were postponed and the Latin Grammy awards cancelled, Broadway theatres were dark and cable TV channels shut down.
Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland were shut down - along with all the Disney shops in the US.
And Hollywood has shut its studios and is re-thinking its release schedule.
The openings of two upcoming movies - thriller Big Trouble, and Sidewalks Of New York - have been postponed.
Bomb blast
Big Trouble centres on a suitcase bomb that ends up on an aeroplane.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Collateral Damage - due for release on 5 October - may also be postponed, as it tells the story of a skyscraper hit by a bomb blast.
Production of Men In Black 2 has been suspended and the animated feature The Ice Age is also on hold.
The studios Fox, Universal, Sony, Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros and Dreamworks all closed on Tuesday - though shooting for Dreamworks' The Tuxedo continued on location.
Barbara Brogliatti, a spokeswoman for Warner Bros said: "Out of respect for the tragedy we're closing the studio.
"It's not out of fear."
Disney's brief closure of its theme parks - which it calls "the happiest place on earth" - is seen as highly symbolic.
A Disney spokeswoman said that its employees had been given the option to go home, though some remained at the company's headquarters.
The two Disney theme parks re-opened on Wednesday morning.
'High security'
A Madonna concert, scheduled for Tuesday night at the Los Angeles 20,000-capacity Staples Centre, was also cancelled.
"We're in lock-down mode and on high security," said Lee Zeidman, senior vice president of operations for the venue - but he added that Madonna's shows on Thursday and Friday would still go ahead.
Other venues in Los Angeles including the Hollywood Bowl, the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion were also closed.
Emergency services
Regular programmes were cancelled on all the major US television networks, and NBC said that it had stopped production for a week on its popular late night programmes hosted by Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno.
Warner Bros New York-based TV production Third Watch, which is based on the New York emergency services, has also stopped work.
Equipment used by the production was being made available to the city's emergency workers.
Cable TV networks that dropped their usual schedules included Food, QVC, HGTV and ESPN.
In Hollywood it was reported very few people were visiting popular tourist spots like the Walk of Fame and Mann's Chinese Theatre.
In Las Vegas many landmark attractions - including the Eiffel and Stratosphere towers - shut down and some of the big cabaret shows were dark, though gambling continued and casinos remained opened.
The American music royalty society BMI also cancelled an award dinner due to be held in London on Wednesday night.