1973 in film

Years in film
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020

The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1973 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Events

• April 11 - Kim Jong-il publishes his film treatise On the Art of the Cinema.^[11]
• May 1 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely; she will marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra in 1976.
• July 20 - Martial arts legend Bruce Lee dies before Enter the Dragon is released on July 26.
• November 21 - The sci-fi movie Westworld is the first feature film to use digital image processing.
• December 25 - The Sting is released and goes on to become one of the top grossing films of all time.
• December 26 - The Exorcist reawakens the horror film genre and becomes one of the most popular and controversial films ever released.

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: The Sting - Bill/Phillips-Hill, Zanuck/Brown, Universal

Best Director: George Roy Hill - The Sting

Best Actor: Jack Lemmon - Save the Tiger

Best Actress: Glenda Jackson - A Touch of Class

Best Supporting Actor: John Houseman - The Paper Chase

Best Supporting Actress: Tatum O'Neal - Paper Moon

Best Foreign Language Film: Day for Night (La Nuit américaine), directed by François Truffaut, France

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: The Exorcist

Best Actor: Al Pacino – Serpico

Best Actress: Marsha Mason – Cinderella Liberty

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: American Graffiti

Best Actor: George Segal – A Touch of Class

Best Actress: Glenda Jackson – A Touch of Class

Other

Best Director: William Friedkin – The Exorcist

Best Foreign Language Film: The Pedestrian (Der Fußgänger), W. Germany

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

The Hireling, directed by Alan Bridges, United Kingdom

Scarecrow, directed by Jerry Schatzberg, United States

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder), directed by Satyajit Ray, India

Notable films released in 1973

U.S.A. unless stated

#

• The 14, directed by David Hemmings, starring Jack Wild - (U.K.)

A

• Abhimaan (Pride) - (India)
• Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies, starring Cliff Robertson and Pamela Franklin
• The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob) - (France)
• All Nudity Shall Be Punished (Toda Nudez Será Castigada) - (Brazil)
• The Alpha Caper, starring Henry Fonda and Leonard Nimoy
• Alvin Purple - (Australia)
• Amarcord, directed by Federico Fellini - (Italy)
• American Graffiti, directed by George Lucas, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark, Harrison Ford
• Ana and the Wolves (Ana y los lobos), starring Geraldine Chaplin - (Spain)
• And Now the Screaming Starts!, starring Peter Cushing, Stephanie Beacham, Herbert Lom
• Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder), directed by Satyajit Ray - Golden Bear winner - (India)

B

• The Baby, starring Anjanette Comer and Ruth Roman
• Badlands, directed by Terrence Malick, starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek
• Bang the Drum Slowly, starring Robert De Niro and Michael Moriarty
• Bat Pussy, believed to have been made or released in 1973
• Battle for the Planet of the Apes, starring Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy, John Huston
• Battles Without Honor and Humanity (ingi naki tatakai) - (Japan)
• Baxter!, starring Patricia Neal and Britt Ekland - (U.K.)
• Black Caesar, starring Fred Williamson
• Black Holiday (La Villeggiatura), starring Adolfo Celi - (Italy)
• Blood Brothers (Ci Ma), directed by Chang Cheh - (Hong Kong)
• Blood in the Streets, a.k.a. Revolver, starring Oliver Reed - (Italy/France/West Germany)
• Blood of the Dragon (Zhui ming qiang) - (Hong Kong)
• Blue Blood, starring Oliver Reed, Fiona Lewis and Derek Jacobi- (U.K.)
• Blume in Love, starring George Segal, Susan Anspach, Kris Kristofferson
• Bobby, starring Rishi Kapoor - (India)
• Il Boss, starring Henry Silva and Richard Conte - (Italy)
• Breezy, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring William Holden and Kay Lenz
• A Brief Vacation (Una breve vacanza), directed by Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
• Brother of the Wind

C

• Cahill U.S. Marshal, starring John Wayne and George Kennedy
• Can Dialectics Break Bricks? (La Dialectique Peut-Elle Casser Des Briques?) - (France)
• The Candy Snatchers, starring Tiffany Bolling
• Charley and the Angel, starring Fred MacMurray, Cloris Leachman, Kurt Russell
• Charley Varrick, directed by Don Siegel, starring Walter Matthau, John Vernon, Joe Don Baker, Andy Robinson, Sheree North, Felicia Farr
• Charlotte's Web, an animated film directed by Charles A. Nichols and Iwao Takamoto, with the voices of Debbie Reynolds and Henry Gibson
• Chino, directed by John Sturges, starring Charles Bronson
• Cinderella Liberty, directed by Mark Rydell, starring James Caan and Marsha Mason
• Class of '44, starring Gary Grimes
• Cleopatra Jones, starring Tamara Dobson and Shelley Winters
• Coffy, starring Pam Grier
• Cops and Robbers, starring Joseph Bologna and Cliff Gorman
• The Crazies, directed by George A. Romero
• The Creeping Flesh, starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing - (U.K.)

D

• Dark Places, starring Christopher Lee, Joan Collins, Jane Birkin - (U.K.)
• Day for Night, directed by François Truffaut, starring Jacqueline Bisset, Valentina Cortese, Jean-Pierre Aumont - Academy Award and Bafta winner - (France)
• The Day of the Dolphin, directed by Mike Nichols, starring George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Paul Sorvino
• The Day of the Jackal, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Edward Fox, Michael Lonsdale, Delphine Seyrig - (U.K./France)
• The Death of a Lumberjack (La Mort d'un bûcheron) - (Canada)
• A Delicate Balance, starring Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, Lee Remick, Kate Reid, Betsy Blair
• The Devil in Miss Jones, adult film, directed by Gerard Damiano
• Dillinger, starring Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton, Richard Dreyfuss, Geoffrey Lewis
• A Doll's House, starring Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins - (U.K.)
• The Don Is Dead, starring Anthony Quinn, Robert Forster, Al Lettieri, Ina Balin
• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, starring Kim Darby and Jim Hutton
• Don't Look Now, directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland - (U.K./Italy)

E

• The Earth Is a Sinful Song (Maa on syntinen laulu) - (Finland)
• Electra Glide in Blue, starring Robert Blake
• Emperor of the North Pole, directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Keith Carradine
• England Made Me, starring Peter Finch and Michael York - (U.K.)
• Enter the Dragon, starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly - (Hong Kong/U.S.A.)
• Executive Action, starring Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan
• The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, starring Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow—winner of 5 Golden Globes and 2 Oscars

F

• Fantastic Planet (La Planète Sauvage) - (France/Czechoslovakia)
• Fé, Esperanza y Caridad (Faith, Hope and Charity), starring Katy Jurado - (Mexico)
• The Final Programme, starring Jon Finch, Jenny Runacre and Graham Crowden - (U.K.)
• Five on the Black Hand Side, starring Godfrey Cambridge
• The Friends of Eddie Coyle, directed by Peter Yates, starring Robert Mitchum, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats, Alex Rocco, Peter Boyle
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (a.k.a. The Hideaways), starring Ingrid Bergman

G

• Godspell, starring Victor Garber
• Godzilla vs. Megalon, directed by Jun Fukuda - (Japan)
• La Grande Bouffe (Blow-Out), starring Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret - (France/Italy)

H

• The Hare Census (Prebroyavane na Divite Zaytsi), directed by Eduard Zahariev, starring Itzhak Fintzi, Nikola Todev, Georgi Rusev - (Bulgaria)
• The Harrad Experiment, starring Don Johnson, Tippi Hedren, James Whitmore
• Heavy Traffic, an animated film by Ralph Bakshi
• Hell Up in Harlem, starring Fred Williamson
• High Plains Drifter, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, with Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Geoffrey Lewis
• The Hireling, directed by Alan Bridges, starring Robert Shaw and Sarah Miles - Palme d'Or winner - (U.K.)
• Hitler: The Last Ten Days, starring Alec Guinness - (U.K./Italy)
• The Holy Mountain (La Montaña Sagrada), directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky - (Mexico/U.S.)
• Home Sweet Home (La fête à Jules) - (Belgium)
• The Homecoming, directed by Peter Hall, starring Cyril Cusack, Ian Holm, Vivien Merchant - (U.K.)
• Hot Winds (Garm Hava), directed by M. S. Sathyu - (India)
• The Hourglass Sanatorium (Sanatorium pod klepsydrą), directed by Wojciech Has - (Poland)
• The House in Nightmare Park, directed by Peter Skyes, starring Frankie Howerd and Ray Milland - (U.K.)
• The House on Chelouche Street (Ha-Bayit Berechov Chelouche) - (Israel)
• Hugo the Hippo (Hugó, a víziló) - (Hungary)

I

• The Iceman Cometh, directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan
• Idaho Transfer, directed by Peter Fonda
• Indian Summer, directed by Milen Nikolov, starring Georgi Partsalev, Leda Taseva, Tatyana Lolova - (Bulgaria)
• Interval, starring Merle Oberon
• L' Invitation (The Invitation), directed by Claude Goretta - Academy Award for Best Foreign Film - (France/Switzerland)
• Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (Ivan Vasilyevich menyayet professiyu) - (U.S.S.R.)

J

• Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Norman Jewison, starring Ted Neeley and Yvonne Elliman, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Jeremy, starring Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull, featuring voices of James Franciscus and Juliet Mills

K

• Kanashimi no Belladonna (Belladonna of Sadness), Anime feature film - (Japan)
• Kid Blue, starring Dennis Hopper and Warren Oates

L

• Lady Ice, starring Donald Sutherland and Jennifer O'Neill
• Lady Snowblood (Shurayukihime) - (Japan)
• The Last American Hero, starring Jeff Bridges
• The Last Detail, directed by Hal Ashby, starring Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Otis Young
• The Last of Sheila, written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, starring Raquel Welch, Dyan Cannon, James Mason, James Coburn, Richard Benjamin, Joan Hackett, Ian McShane
• The Laughing Policeman, starring Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Louis Gossett, Jr., Joanna Cassidy, Cathy Lee Crosby
• The Legend of Hell House, starring Pamela Franklin and Gayle Hunnicutt
• The Legend of Paul and Paula (Die Legende von Paul und Paula) - (East Germany)
• Le Magnifique, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jacqueline Bisset - (France)
• Little Tiger of Canton (Guang dong xiao lao hu), starring Jackie Chan - (Hong Kong)
• Live and Let Die, starring Roger Moore (as James Bond), with Jane Seymour and Yaphet Kotto - (U.K.)
• Lolly-Madonna XXX, starring Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges
• The Long Goodbye, directed by Robert Altman, starring Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson, Jim Bouton
• Lost Horizon, starring Peter Finch, John Gielgud, Liv Ullmann, George Kennedy, Olivia Hussey
• Love and Anarchy (d'amore e d'anarchia), directed by Lina Wertmüller - (Italy)
• Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Timothy Bottoms and Maggie Smith
• Luther, a biopic of Martin Luther, starring Stacy Keach - (U.K./U.S.A./Canada)

M

• The Mackintosh Man, starring Paul Newman - (U.K./U.S.A.)
• Magnum Force, directed by Ted Post, starring Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, David Soul, Tim Matheson, Robert Urich
• Malizia (Malicious) - (Italy)
• Manson, a documentary film about Charles Manson
• Massacre in Rome (Rappresaglia), directed by George Pan Cosmatos, starring Richard Burton and Marcello Mastroianni - (Italy)
• Maurie, directed by Daniel Mann, starring Bo Svenson and Bernie Casey
• Mean Streets, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro
• The Mother and the Whore (La Maman et la Putain) - (France)
• My Dear Brother starring Tarık Akan, Halit Akçatepe and Kahraman Kıral - (Turkey)
• My Name is Nobody (Il mio nome è Nessuno), starring Terence Hill and Henry Fonda - (Italy)

N

• The Neptune Factor, starring Ben Gazzara, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine
• The No Mercy Man, starring Sid Haig and Ron Thompson
• Night Flight from Moscow, starring Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde - (France/Italy/Germany)
• Night Watch, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey - (U.K.)
• The Night Strangler, TV movie starring Darren McGavin
• The Nutcracker (Schelkunchik) - (U.S.S.R.)

O

• Oklahoma Crude, directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Faye Dunaway and George C. Scott
• O Lucky Man!, directed by Lindsay Anderson, starring Malcolm McDowell, Ralph Richardson, Rachel Roberts - (U.K.)
• The Olsen Gang Goes Crazy (Olsen-banden går amok) - (Denmark)

P

• The Paper Chase, starring Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman
• Paper Moon, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn
• Paperback Hero, starring Keir Dullea and Elizabeth Ashley - (Canada)
• Papillon, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman
• Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, with music by Dylan
• The Pedestrian (Der Fußgänger), directed by Maximilian Schell, starring Peggy Ashcroft - Golden Globe for best foreign film - (West Germany/Switzerland/Israel)
• Property Is No Longer a Theft (La proprietà non è più un furto), starring Ugo Tognazzi - (Italy)
• The Pyx, starring Christopher Plummer and Karen Black- (Canada)

R

• El Retorno de Walpurgis (a.k.a. The Curse of the Devil) - (Spain/Mexico)
• Robin Hood, animated film with voices of Roger Miller, Phil Harris, Andy Devine, Peter Ustinov, Terry-Thomas

S

• Save the Tiger, directed by John G. Avildsen, starring Jack Lemmon
• Scarecrow, directed by Jerry Schatzberg, starring Gene Hackman and Al Pacino - Palme d'Or winner
• Scenes from a Marriage (Scener ur ett äktenskap), directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson - (Sweden)
• Scorpio, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Paul Scofield, Gayle Hunnicutt
• Scream Blacula Scream, starring William H. Marshall and Pam Grier
• Serpico, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Al Pacino
• The Seven Madmen (Los siete locos), directed by Leopoldo Torre Nilsson - (Argentina)
• The Seven-Ups, starring Roy Scheider
• Shamus, starring Burt Reynolds, Dyan Cannon, John P. Ryan
• Showdown, starring Dean Martin and Rock Hudson
• Sinbad and the Caliph of Baghdad
• Sisters, directed by Brian De Palma
• Slaughter's Big Rip-Off, starring Jim Brown, Brock Peters, Ed McMahon
• Sleeper, directed by and starring Woody Allen, with Diane Keaton
• Slither, starring James Caan, Sally Kellerman, Peter Boyle
• The Society of the Spectacle (La Société du Spectacle) - (France)
• Son of Zorro
• Soul Hustler, directed by Bert Topper, starring Fabian Forte, Nai Bonet, Tony Russel, Casey Kasem
• Soylent Green, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Edward G. Robinson
• The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena) - (Spain)
• Stateline Motel, starring Eli Wallach, Ursula Andress, Fabio Testi, Eli Wallach - Canada/Italy
• Steelyard Blues, starring Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda
• Steptoe and Son Ride Again, starred Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett - (U.K.)
• The Sting, directed by George Roy Hill, starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Eileen Brennan, Charles Durning, Ray Walston - winner of 7 Academy Awards
• The Stone Killer, starring Charles Bronson
• Superdad, starring Bob Crane, Barbara Rush, Kurt Russell
• Sweet Kill, starring Tab Hunter

T

• The Tenderness of Wolves (Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe) - (West Germany)
• Theatre of Blood, starring Vincent Price
• That´ll Be the Day, starring David Essex, Rosemary Leach, Ringo Starr - (U.K.)
• Themroc, starring Michel Piccoli - (France)
• There's No Smoke Without Fire (Il n'y a pas de fumée sans feu), starring Annie Girardot - (France)
• The Thief Who Came to Dinner, starring Ryan O'Neal, Jacqueline Bisset, Warren Oates
• The Three-Day Reign (Samil cheonha) - (South Korea)
• The Three Musketeers, directed by Richard Lester, starring Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Raquel Welch - (U.K./U.S.)
• Three Nuts for Cinderella (Tři oříšky pro Popelku) - (Czechoslovakia/East Germany)
• A Touch of Class, starring George Segal and Glenda Jackson - (U.K.)
• Tom Sawyer, starring Johnny Whitaker and Jodie Foster
• Touki Bouki (Journey of the Hyena) - (Senegal)
• The Train Robbers, starring John Wayne and Ann-Margret
• Tsugaru Folk Song (Tsugaru Jongarabushi) - (Japan)
• Turkish Delight (Turks Fruit), directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Rutger Hauer - (Netherlands)
• Two Men in Town (Deux hommes dans la ville), starring Jean Gabin and Alain Delon - (France)
• Two People, directed by Robert Wise, starring Peter Fonda and Lindsay Wagner

U

• Ultimul cartuş (The Last Bullet) - (Romania)

V

• The Vault of Horror, starring Glynis Johns, Terry-Thomas, Curd Jürgens - (U.K.)
• Voices, starring David Hemmings and Gayle Hunnicutt - (U.K.)

W

• Walking Tall, starring Joe Don Baker
• The Way We Were, directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford
• We Want the Colonels (Vogliamo i colonnelli), starring Ugo Tognazzi - (Italy)
• Wedding in Blood (Les Noces rouges), directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Stéphane Audran and Michel Piccoli - (France)
• Westworld, directed by Michael Crichton, starring Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin
• White Lightning, starring Burt Reynolds
• Wicked, Wicked, starring David Bailey, Edd Byrnes, Tiffany Bolling
• The Wicker Man, directed by Robin Hardy, starring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento - (U.K.)
• The World's Greatest Athlete, starring Jan-Michael Vincent and John Amos

Z

• Zanjeer (Shackles) - (India)
• Ziddi(Action)- (Pakistan)

1973 film releases

U.S.A. unless stated

January–March

• February 1973
  • 7 February
    • Last Tango in Paris
  • 14 February
    • The World's Greatest Athlete
• March 1973
  • 1 March
    • Charlotte's Web
  • 16 March
    • The Crazies
  • 17 March
    • Godzilla vs. Megalon (Japan)
  • 23 March
    • Charley and the Angel

April–June

• April 1973
  • 19 April
    • Soylent Green
• May 1973
  • 9 May
    • Paper Moon
• June 1973
  • 20 June
    • One Little Indian
  • 27 June
    • Live and Let Die

July–September

• July 1973
• Sssssss
• August 1973
  • 11 August
    • American Graffiti

October–December

• October 1973
• The Wicker Man
  • 16 October
    • Don't Look Now
  • 19 October
    • The Way We Were
• November 1973
  • 8 November
    • Robin Hood
  • 21 November
    • Westworld
• December 1973
  • 14 December
    • Superdad
  • 16 December
    • Papillon
  • 25 December
    • The Sting
    • Magnum Force
  • 26 December
    • The Exorcist

Births

• January 31 - Portia de Rossi, Australian-Canadian actress
• February 12 - Tara Strong, Canadian-American voice actor
• March 18 - Luci Christian, American voice actress
• March 20 - Jane March, English actress and model
• April 10 - Guillaume Canet, French actor
• April 14 - Adrien Brody, American actor
• April 22 - Christopher Sabat, American voice actor
• April 30 - Antonino Isordia, Mexican director
• May 5 - Tina Yothers, American actress
• May 10 - Tora Sudiro, Indonesian actor
• June 15 - Neil Patrick Harris, American actor
• June 16 - Eddie Cibrian, American actor
• June 21 - Juliette Lewis, American actress
• July 26 - Kate Beckinsale, English actress
• August 6 - Vera Farmiga, American actress
• August 8 - Jessica Calvello, American voice actress
• August 24 - Dave Chappelle, American actor
• September 12 - Paul Walker, American actor and producer (died 2013)
• September 26 - Julienne Davis, American actress and model
• October 3
  • Neve Campbell, Canadian actress
  • Richard Ian Cox, Welsh-Canadian voice actor
• October 26 - Seth MacFarlane, American actor, voice actor, animator, screenwriter, comedian, television producer, director and singer
• November 1 - Aishwarya Rai, Indian actress
• November 26 - Peter Facinelli, American actor
• November 27 - Sharlto Copley, South African actor
• December 14 - Jan Uuspõld, Estonian actor

Deaths

• January 19 - Max Adrian, 69, Northern Irish actor, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, The Terrornauts
• January 24 - J. Carrol Naish, 77, American actor, Sahara, A Medal for Benny
• January 26 - Edward G. Robinson, 79, Romanian actor, Double Indemnity, The Stranger
• February 13 - David Bauer, 55, American actor, Torture Garden, Patton
• February 15
  • Tim Holt, 54, American actor, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Magnificent Ambersons
  • Wally Cox, 48, American actor, Morituri, The Bedford Incident
• February 22 - Katina Paxinou, 72, Greek actress, Rocco and His Brothers, For Whom the Bell Tolls
• February 24 - Art Smith, 73, American actor, In a Lonely Place, Body and Soul
• February 28 - Cecil Kellaway, 82, South African actor, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Postman Always Rings Twice
• March 5 - Rupert Crosse, 45, American actor, The Reivers, Shadows
• March 10 - Robert Siodmak, 72, German director, The Killers, The Spiral Staircase
• March 16 - Carl Benton Reid, 79, The Little Foxes, The Trap
• March 23 - Ken Maynard, 77, American actor, Mystery Mountain, Tombstone Canyon
• March 26 - Noël Coward, 73, prolific English actor, playwright and songwriter, Easy Virtue, In Which We Serve
• April 11 - Ted de Corsia, 69, American actor, The Killing, The Enforcer
• May 11 - Lex Barker, 54, American actor, La Dolce Vita, Apache Gold
• May 29 - P. Ramlee, 44, Malaysian actor, playwright, director, composer and singer
• June 10 - William Inge, 60, American playwright and screenwriter, Splendor in the Grass, Picnic
• June 18 - Roger Delgado, 55, English actor, The Terror of the Tongs, Hot Enough for June
• June 23 - Fay Holden, 79, British actress, Love Finds Andy Hardy, Samson and Delilah
• June 25 - Lars Tvinde, 86, Norwegian actor
• July 2
  • Betty Grable, 56, American actress, How to Marry a Millionaire, I Wake Up Screaming
  • George Macready, 73, American actor, Gilda, Paths of Glory
• July 6 - Joe E. Brown, 80, American actor, Some Like It Hot, Show Boat
• July 7 - Veronica Lake, 50, American actress, Sullivan's Travels, This Gun for Hire
• July 11 - Robert Ryan, 63, American actor, The Wild Bunch, Bad Day at Black Rock
• July 12 - Lon Chaney, Jr., 67, American actor, High Noon, The Defiant Ones, The Wolf Man
• July 18 - Jack Hawkins, 62, British actor, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia
• July 20 - Bruce Lee, 32, American actor, Enter the Dragon, Way of the Dragon
• July 30 - Guy Middleton, 66, British actor, Oh! What a Lovely War
• August 2 - Jean-Pierre Melville, 55, French director, Le Samouraï, Bob le flambeur
• August 10 - Douglas Kennedy, 57, American actor, Dark Passage, The Amazing Transparent Man
• August 11 - Peggie Castle, 45, American actress, 99 River Street, I, the Jury
• August 22 - Louise Huff, 77, American actress, Disraeli, Great Expectations
• August 31 - John Ford, 79, American director, Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath
• September 13 - Betty Field, 60, American actress, Picnic, Birdman of Alcatraz
• September 21 - Diana Sands, 39, American actress, A Raisin in the Sun, The Landlord
• September 26 - Anna Magnani, 65, Italian actress, Rome, Open City, Mamma Roma
• September 28 - Norma Crane, 44, All in a Night's Work, They Call Me Mister Tibbs!
• October 6 - Sidney Blackmer, 78, American actor, High Society, Rosemary's Baby
• October 16 - Gene Krupa, 64, American musician, actor, Raging Bull, Rounders
• October 25 - Cleo Moore, 48, American actress, One Girl's Confession, Over-Exposed
• November 23
  • Claire Dodd, 64, American actress, Roberta, In the Navy
  • Constance Talmadge, 75, American actress, The Duchess of Buffalo, Dulcy
  • Sessue Hayakawa, 84, Japanese actor, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Swiss Family Robinson
• November 25 - Laurence Harvey, 45, Lithuanian actor, The Manchurian Candidate, The Alamo
• December 20 - Bobby Darin, 37, American actor, Captain Newman, M.D., If a Man Answers
• December 26 - William Haines, 73, American actor, Show People, West Point

Debuts

• John Candy - Class of '44
• Bernadette Peters - Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
• Victor Garber - Godspell

Notes

References