1956 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 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029

The following is an overview of 1956 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

Events

• February 5 - First showing of documentary films by the Free Cinema movement, at the National Film Theatre, London.
• February 16 - Carousel is the first film released that was shot in CinemaScope 55.
• February 23 - Arthur B. Krim and Robert Benjamin acquire Mary Pickford's interest in United Artists for $3 million giving them full ownership of UA.
• February - Warner Bros. sells much of its pre-1950 library to Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.); after a series of mergers the films return to WB 40 years later.
• February - Darryl F. Zanuck announces his resignation as head of production of 20th Century Fox after 20 years as the studio head. He is later replaced by Buddy Adler.^[1]
• April 18 - Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III and becomes Princess consort of Monaco and stops acting. Her last feature film, High Society, is released in July.
• May 30 - United Artists release Trapeze which becomes their highest-grosser until surpassed by Around the World in 80 Days the following year.
• July - Harry and Albert Warner sell their stock in Warner Bros.. Jack Warner retains his and becomes president.
• July 25 - The comedy partnership between Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ends. Their last film together, Hollywood or Bust, is released later in the year.
• August 4 - The last film serial, Blazing the Overland Trail from Columbia Pictures, is released.
• October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas. It was the most expensive film of all time with a cost of $13 million and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 7th on the list of all time moneymakers (when adjusted for inflation). It was director Cecil B. DeMille's last film.
• October 17 - Mike Todd's Around the World in 80 Days is released and goes on to become United Artists' highest-grossing film.
• November 15 - Elvis Presley's first film, Love Me Tender, opens.
• November 28
  • And God Created Woman opens in France making Brigitte Bardot an international star.
  • It is announced that production head Dore Schary will leave MGM at the end of the year.^[2]
• December 14 - Dance with Me, Henry is the last film featuring the comedy duo Abbott and Costello.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Around the World in 80 Days - Todd, United Artists

Best Director: George Stevens - Giant

Best Actor: Yul Brynner - The King and I

Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia

Best Supporting Actor: Anthony Quinn - Lust for Life

Best Supporting Actress: Dorothy Malone - Written on the Wind

Best Foreign Language Film: La strada, directed by Federico Fellini, Italy

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Around the World in 80 Days

Best Actor: Kirk Douglas - Lust for Life

Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: The King and I

Best Actor: Cantinflas - Around the World in 80 Days

Best Actress: Deborah Kerr - The King and I

Other

Best Director: Elia Kazan - Baby Doll

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture: Earl Holliman - The Rainmaker

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture: Eileen Heckart - The Bad Seed

Best Foreign Film: Before Sundown, West Germany

Best Foreign Film: A Girl in Black, Greece

Best Foreign Film: Richard III, United Kingdom

Best Foreign Film: Roses on the Arm, Japan

Best Foreign Film: War and Peace, Italy

Best Foreign Film: The White Reindeer, Finland

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

The Silent World (Le monde du silence), directed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle, France

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival): Not awarded

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Invitation to the Dance, directed by Gene Kelly, United States

Top ten money making stars

1956 film releases

Notable films released in 1956

U.S.A. unless stated

#

• 7th Cavalry, starring Randolph Scott and Barbara Hale
• 23 Paces to Baker Street, starring Van Johnson and Vera Miles
• 1984, directed by Michael Anderson, starring Edmond O'Brien and Michael Redgrave - (GB)

A

• Accused of Murder, starring Vera Ralston
• Alexander the Great, starring Richard Burton
• Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves (Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum) - (India)
• The Ambassador's Daughter, starring Olivia de Havilland, Myrna Loy, John Forsythe
• Anastasia, starring Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brynner
• And God Created Woman, directed by Roger Vadim, starring Brigitte Bardot - (France)
• Aparajito (The Unvanquished), directed by Satyajit Ray - (India)
• Around the World in 80 Days, directed by Michael Anderson, starring David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine - Academy Award for Best Picture
• At Gunpoint, starring Fred MacMurray, Walter Brennan, Dorothy Malone
• Attack, a.k.a. Attack!, directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin
• Autumn Leaves, starring Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson
• Away All Boats, starring Jeff Chandler

B

• Baby Doll, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Eli Wallach
• Back from Eternity, starring Robert Ryan, Anita Ekberg, Rod Steiger
• Backlash, starring Richard Widmark and Donna Reed
• The Bad Seed, starring Nancy Kelly and Patty McCormack
• Bandido, starring Robert Mitchum
• The Battle of the River Plate, a.k.a. Pursuit of the Graf Spee, written and directed by Powell and Pressburger, starring John Gregson and Peter Finch - (GB)
• Before Sundown (Vor Sonnenuntergang) - (West Germany)
• Behind the Headlines, starring Paul Carpenter and Hazel Court
• The Benny Goodman Story, starring Steve Allen and Donna Reed
• The Best Things in Life Are Free, starring Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, Sheree North
• Between Heaven and Hell, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Robert Wagner and Buddy Ebsen
• Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Dana Andrews and Joan Fontaine
• Bhowani Junction, starring Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger - (GB/U.S.A.)
• Bigger Than Life, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau
• The Birds and the Bees, starring George Gobel and Mitzi Gaynor
• The Black Tent, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, starring Donald Sinden, Anthony Steel, Anna Maria Sandri & Andre Morell - (U.K.)
• Bob le flambeur (Bob the Gambler), directed by Jean-Pierre Melville - (France)
• The Bold and the Brave, starring Wendell Corey and Mickey Rooney
• The Boss, starring John Payne and Doe Avedon
• The Bottom of the Bottle, directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Van Johnson, Joseph Cotten, Ruth Roman
• The Brave One, directed by Irving Rapper
• The Burmese Harp (Biruma no tategoto), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
• The Burning Hills, starring Natalie Wood and Tab Hunter
• Bus Stop, starring Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray

C

• C.I.D., starring Dev Anand - (India)
• Calabuch (a.k.a. The Rocket from Calabuch), directed by Luis García Berlanga, starring Edmund Gwenn and Valentina Cortese - (Spain)
• Calle Mayor (Main Street), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem, starring Betsy Blair - (Spain)
• Carnival Night (Karnavalnaya noch) - (USSR)
• Carousel, directed by Henry King, starring Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae
• The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn, comedy short starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Dick Emery - (GB)
• The Catered Affair, starring Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds
• Checkpoint (1956 film), directed by Ralph Thomas, starring Anthony Steel, Odile Versois, Stanley Baker & James Robertson Justice - (U.K.)
• Child of Sorrow (Anak dalita) - (Philippines)
• Chori Chori, starring Nargis and Raj Kapoor - (India)
• Comanche, starring Dana Andrews and Linda Cristal
• Come Next Spring, starring Ann Sheridan and Steve Cochran
• Congo Crossing, starring Virginia Mayo and Peter Lorre
• The Conqueror, directed by Dick Powell, starring John Wayne (as Genghis Khan)
• The Court Jester, starring Danny Kaye
• Crazed Fruit (Kurutta kajitsu), directed by Kō Nakahira - (Japan)
• Crime Against Joe, starring Julie London
• Crime in the Streets, directed by Don Siegel, starring James Whitmore and John Cassavetes
• A Cry in the Night, starring Edmond O'Brien, Natalie Wood, Raymond Burr

D

• D-Day the Sixth of June, starring Robert Taylor
• Dakota Incident, starring Dale Robertson
• Dance with Me, Henry, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Death in the Garden (La mort en ce jardin), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Simone Signoret and Charles Vanel - (France)
• Death of a Scoundrel, starring George Sanders and Zsa Zsa Gabor
• Diane, starring Lana Turner in her final MGM film after nearly 20 years with the studio
• Donatella, directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Elsa Martinelli - (Italy)
• Don't Look Back, My Son (Ne okreći se sine) - (Yugoslavia)
• The Dragon (O Drakos) - (Greece)

E

• Early Spring (Soshun), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
• Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, starring Hugh Marlowe
• The Eddy Duchin Story, starring Tyrone Power and Kim Novak
• Elena and Her Men, starring Ingrid Bergman - (France/Italy)

F

• The Fastest Gun Alive, starring Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford
• The First Texan, starring Joel McCrea
• The First Traveling Saleslady, starring Ginger Rogers, Barry Nelson, Carol Channing
• Forbidden Planet, starring Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis
• Forever, Darling, starring Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, James Mason
• Friendly Persuasion, directed by William Wyler, starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins
• Funtoosh (Funny Man), starring Dev Anand - (India)

G

• Gaby, starring Leslie Caron
• Gervaise, directed by René Clément, starring Maria Schell - (France)
• Giant, directed by George Stevens, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean in his final film
• The Girl Can't Help It, starring Tom Ewell and Jayne Mansfield in her first starring role
• The Girl He Left Behind, starring Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood
• A Girl in Black, directed by Michael Cacoyannis - winner of Golden Globe - (Greece)
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters! directed by Terry Morse and Ishirō Honda, starring Raymond Burr and Takashi Shimura - (Japan/U.S.A.)
• Good-bye, My Lady, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Brandon deWilde, Walter Brennan, Phil Harris
• Great Day in the Morning, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Robert Stack and Virginia Mayo
• The Great Locomotive Chase, starring Fess Parker and Jeffrey Hunter
• The Great Man, directed by and starring José Ferrer, with Julie London, Keenan Wynn, Ed Wynn
• The Green Man, starring Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry-Thomas - (GB)
• Gun the Man Down, starring James Arness and Angie Dickinson in her film debut
• Gunslinger, directed by Roger Corman, starring John Ireland and Beverly Garland

H

• The Harder They Fall, starring Humphrey Bogart in his final film
• The Harvest Month (Elokuu) - (Finland)
• Helen of Troy, starring Rossana Podestà, Stanley Baker
• High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly in her final film
• Hilda Crane, starring Jean Simmons
• Hold Back the Night, starring John Payne
• Hollywood or Bust, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, with Anita Ekberg, in the final Martin and Lewis film
• Hot Blood, starring Jane Russell and Cornel Wilde
• The Houston Story, starring Barbara Hale and Gene Barry
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Quinn - (France/Italy)

I

• Ich suche Dich (I Seek You), starring O. W. Fischer and Anouk Aimée - (West Germany)
• The Indian Fighter, starring Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers, directed by Don Siegel, starring Kevin McCarthy
• Invitation to the Dance, directed by and starring Gene Kelly
• It Conquered the World, directed by Roger Corman, starring Peter Graves and Beverly Garland

J

• Jagte Raho (Stay Awake), starring Raj Kapoor - (India)
• Johnny Concho, starring Frank Sinatra
• Jubal, starring Glenn Ford, Rod Steiger, Ernest Borgnine, Felicia Farr, Charles Bronson
• Judgement of Coyote
• Julie, starring Doris Day and Louis Jourdan

K

• Kanal, directed by Andrzej Wajda - (Poland)
• The Killer Is Loose, directed by Budd Boetticher, starring Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey
• The Killers, a short film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky - (U.S.S.R.)
• The Killing, directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Marie Windsor, Vince Edwards
• The King and Four Queens, starring Clark Gable
• The King and I, starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner
• A Kiss Before Dying, starring Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward

L

• The Last Hunt, directed by Richard Brooks, starring Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger
• The Last Wagon, starring Richard Widmark
• The Leech (Shabab emraa) - (Egypt)
• The Lieutenant Wore Skirts, directed by Frank Tashlin, starring Tom Ewell and Sheree North
• Lisbon, directed by and starring Ray Milland, with Maureen O'Hara and Claude Rains
• The Lone Ranger, starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels
• The Long Arm, starring Jack Hawkins - (GB)
• Love Me Tender, starring Elvis Presley in his film debut
• Lust for Life, starring Kirk Douglas (as Vincent van Gogh) and Anthony Quinn

M

• A Man Escaped (Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut), directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
• The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, starring Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Fredric March, Keenan Wynn, Lee J. Cobb
• Man on the Tracks (Człowiek na torze) - (Poland)
• The Man Who Knew Too Much, directed by Alfred Hitchcock (a remake of his own 1934 British film), starring James Stewart and Doris Day
• The Man Who Never Was, starring Clifton Webb and Gloria Grahame - (GB)
• Meet Me in Las Vegas, starring Cyd Charisse
• Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta) - (Hungary)
• Michel Strogoff
• Miracle in the Rain, starring Jane Wyman
• Moby Dick, directed by John Huston, starring Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn
• Mukh O Mukhosh (The Face and the Mask) - (East Pakistan)

N

• Naked Gun starring Mara Corday and Willard Parker
• Nagareru (Flowing), directed by Mikio Naruse - (Japan)
• Never Say Goodbye, starring Rock Hudson, David Janssen, Cornell Borchers
• New Delhi - (India)

O

• Old Khottabych (Starik Khottabych) - (U.S.S.R.)
• On the Threshold of Space, starring Guy Madison
• The Opposite Sex, starring June Allyson, Leslie Nielson, Joan Collins
• Othello, starring Sergei Bondarchuk - (U.S.S.R.)
• Over-Exposed, starring Cleo Moore

P-Q

• Pardners, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• Patterns, starring Van Heflin and Ed Begley
• Pillars of the Sky, starring Jeff Chandler and Dorothy Malone
• Please Murder Me, starring Angela Lansbury and Raymond Burr
• Poor but Handsome (Poveri ma belli) - (Italy)
• The Power and the Prize, starring Robert Taylor, Burl Ives, Mary Astor, Cedric Hardwicke, Elisabeth Müller
• Private's Progress, a Boulting Brothers film starring Ian Carmichael and Richard Attenborough - (GB)
• Professor Hannibal (Hannibál tanár úr), directed by Zoltán Fábri (Hungary)
• The Proud and Profane, starring William Holden and Deborah Kerr
• The Proud Ones, starring Robert Ryan and Virginia Mayo
• Qivitoq - (Denmark)

R

• The Rack, starring Paul Newman, Edmond O'Brien, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis
• The Railroad Man (Il Ferroviere), directed by and starring Pietro Germi - (Italy)
• The Rainmaker, starring Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn
• Ransom!, starring Glenn Ford and Donna Reed
• Reach for the Sky, a biopic of Douglas Bader starring Kenneth More - (GB)
• The Red Balloon (Le Ballon rouge) - (France)
• The Road of Life (El camino de la vida) - (Mexico)
• Rock Around the Clock, featuring Bill Haley and His Comets
• Rodan, directed by Ishirō Honda - (Japan)
• The Roof (Il Tetto), directed by Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
• Run for the Sun, starring Richard Widmark, Trevor Howard, Jane Greer

S

• Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, starring Toshiro Mifune - (Japan)
• The Searchers, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Ken Curtis, Natalie Wood
• Serenade, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Mario Lanza and Joan Fontaine
• Seven Men from Now, directed by Budd Boetticher, starring Randolph Scott and Lee Marvin
• Seven Wonders of the World, a documentary film directed by Tay Garnett and others
• Seven Years in Tibet - (GB)
• The She-Creature, starring Marla English
• The Silent World, a marine documentary by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle - (France)
• Sira` Fi al-Mina (a.k.a. Dark Water), directed by Youssef Chahine, starring Omar Sharif - (Egypt)
• Slightly Scarlet, starring John Payne and Rhonda Fleming
• The Solid Gold Cadillac, starring Judy Holliday
• Somebody Up There Likes Me, starring Paul Newman
• The Spanish Gardener, starring Dirk Bogarde - (GB)
• The Square Jungle, starring Tony Curtis and Patricia Crowley
• Star in the Dust, starring John Agar and Mamie Van Doren
• Stars in Your Eyes - (GB)
• Storm Center, starring Bette Davis and Kim Hunter
• Street of Shame (Akasen chitai), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi - (Japan)

T-V

• Tea and Sympathy, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Deborah Kerr and John Kerr
• The Teahouse of the August Moon, starring Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford
• The Ten Commandments, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Yvonne De Carlo, Edward G. Robinson
• There's Always Tomorrow, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett
• Three Brave Men, starring Ray Milland
• Time Table, directed by and starring Mark Stevens, with Felicia Farr
• Toward the Unknown, starring William Holden and Virginia Leith
• A Town Like Alice, starring Virginia McKenna and Peter Finch - (GB)
• Trapeze, directed by Carol Reed, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida
• Tribute to a Bad Man, directed by Robert Wise, starring James Cagney, Irene Papas, Stephen McNally, Don Dubbins, Vic Morrow
• The Twelve Months (Dvenadtsat mesyatsev) - (USSR)
• Uncle Hyacynth (Mi tío Jacinto) - (Spain)
• Valley of Peace (Dolina miru) - (Yugoslavia)
• I Vampiri (The Vampire) - (Italy)

W

• War and Peace, directed by King Vidor, starring Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Anita Ekberg
• What a Woman!, starring Sophia Loren, Charles Boyer and Marcello Mastroianni - (Italy)
• While the City Sleeps, starring Dana Andrews, Ida Lupino, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Vincent Price
• Who Done It?, starring Benny Hill - (GB)
• A Woman's Devotion, starring Ralph Meeker and Janice Rule
• Written on the Wind, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone
• The Wrong Man, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Henry Fonda and Vera Miles

X-Z

• X the Unknown, starring Dean Jagger and Leo McKern - (GB)
• Yield to the Night, starring Diana Dors - (GB)
• You Can't Run Away from It, directed by Dick Powell, starring June Allyson and Jack Lemmon
• Zarak, starring Victor Mature - (GB)

Serials

• Blazing the Overland Trail, starring Lee Roberts and Dennis Moore
• Perils of the Wilderness

Short film series

• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• Droopy (1943–1958)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
• Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)

Ending this year

• Donald Duck (1934-1956)
• Chip 'n' Dale (1943-1956)

Births

• January 3 - Mel Gibson, American Irish actor and director
• January 7 - David Caruso, actor
• January 9
  • Imelda Staunton, actress
  • Kimberly Beck, actress
• January 21
  • Geena Davis, actress
  • Robby Benson, actor
• January 25 - Dinah Manoff, actress and director
• January 27 - Mimi Rogers, actress
• February 3 - Nathan Lane, actor
• February 17 - Richard Karn, actor
• February 19 - Kathleen Beller, actress
• March 1 - Tim Daly, actor
• March 7 - Bryan Cranston, actor and director
• March 11 - Rob Paulsen, voice actor
• March 12 - Lesley Manville, English Actress
• March 13 - Dana Delany, actress
• April 12 - Andy García, Cuban-American actor
• April 18 - Eric Roberts, American actor
• April 30 - Lars von Trier, Danish director
• May 9 - Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
• May 10 - Jonathan Roberts, American screenwriter, producer and author
• May 12 - Kimiko Yo, Japanese actress
• June 4 - Keith David, actor
• July 1 - Alan Ruck, actor
• July 9 - Tom Hanks, actor and director
• July 11 - Sela Ward, actress
• July 31 - Michael Biehn, actor
• August 12 - Bruce Greenwood, Canadian actor
• August 20 - Joan Allen, actress
• August 21 - Kim Cattrall, English-born Canadian actress
• September 20 - Gary Cole, actor
• September 26 - Linda Hamilton, actress
• October 4 - Christoph Waltz, Austrian-German actor
• October 20 - Danny Boyle, English director and producer
• October 21 - Carrie Fisher, American actress (d. 2016)
• October 26 – Rita Wilson, actress and producer
• November 8 - Richard Curtis, New Zealand-born British director and screenwriter
• November 20 - Bo Derek, actress and model

Deaths

• January 9 - Marion Leonard, 74, American early silent actress, The Prussian Spy, The Gibson Goddess
• January 12 - Norman Kerry, 61, American actor, The Phantom of the Opera, The Unknown
• January 19 - Charles Dingle, 68, American actor, Call Me Madam, State of the Union
• January 23 - Alexander Korda, 62, Hungarian film director, the founder of London Films, That Hamilton Woman, The Private Life of Henry VIII
• February 2
  • Bob Burns, 65, American actor, Waikiki Wedding, Belle of the Yukon
  • Charley Grapewin, 86, American actor, The Wizard of Oz, The Grapes of Wrath
• February 26 - Elsie Janis, 66, American actress and screenwriter, A Regular Girl, Women in War
• March 17 - Fred Allen, 61, American actor, It's in the Bag!, O. Henry's Full House
• March 25 - Robert Newton, 50, English actor, Oliver Twist, Odd Man Out
• April 15 - Kathleen Howard, 71, Canadian-American opera singer and actress, It's a Gift, Ball of Fire
• April 21 - Charles MacArthur, 60, American screenwriter and playwright, Wuthering Heights, His Girl Friday
• April 26 - Edward Arnold, 66, American actor, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Diamond Jim
• May 12 - Louis Calhern, 61, American actor, Duck Soup, Notorious, The Asphalt Jungle, High Society
• June 2 - Jean Hersholt, 69, Danish-American actor, Heidi
• June 6 - Margaret Wycherly, 74, English-American actress, White Heat, Sergeant York
• June 30 - Thorleif Lund, 76, Norwegian actor, Skibsrotten, Republikaneren
• July 8 - Mona Mårtenson, 54, Swedish actress, Pippi Longstocking, The Saga of Gosta Berling
• July 16 - Olof Winnerstrand, 80, Swedish actor, Torment, A Lesson in Love
• August 16 - Bela Lugosi, 73, Hungarian-born American actor, Dracula, White Zombie, The Black Cat
• August 23 - Kenji Mizoguchi, 58, Japanese director, The Life of Oharu, A Geisha
• October 2 - George Bancroft, 74, American actor, Stagecoach, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
• October 9 - Marie Doro, 74, American actress, Oliver Twist, Sally Bishop
• October 17 - Anne Crawford, 35, British actress, Knights of the Round Table, Night Beat
• November 6 - Paul Kelly, 57, American actor, Juvenile Court, Adventure in Sahara
• November 10 - Victor Young, 56, American composer, Around the World in 80 Days, For Whom the Bell Tolls
• November 26 - Tommy Dorsey, 56, American musician, The Fabulous Dorseys, DuBarry Was a Lady, Ship Ahoy
• November 30 - Viggo Wiehe, 81, Danish actor, Doctor Nicholson and the Blue Diamond, Røverne fra Rold
• December 12 - E. A. Dupont, 64, German writer, director, Jealousy, The Scarf
• December 26 - Holmes Herbert, 74, British actor, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Invisible Man

Film Debuts

• Jean-Paul Belmondo - Molière
• Michael Caine - Panic in the Parlor
• James Garner - Toward the Unknown
• Glenda Jackson - The Extra Day
• Robert Loggia - Somebody Up There Likes Me
• Robert Morse - The Proud and Profane
• Leslie Nielsen - Ransom!
• Elvis Presley - Love Me Tender
• John Schlesinger - Sunday in the Park
• Maggie Smith - Child in the House
• Rip Torn - Baby Doll
• Cicely Tyson - Carib Gold
• Robert Vaughn - The Ten Commandments
• John Vernon - 1984
• Tuesday Weld - Rock, Rock, Rock

Notes

References