1942 in film

The top ten 1942 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

• January 16 – Actress Carole Lombard is killed in a plane crash west of Las Vegas while returning home to Los Angeles from a War Bond tour.
• June 4 – Mrs. Miniver, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon, opens at Radio City Music Hall in New York, in what will become a record-breaking 10-week run.
• August 8 – Walt Disney's animated film Bambi opens in United Kingdom.
• November 11 – Road to Morocco, starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour, premieres.
• November 26 – The film Casablanca premieres at the Hollywood Theatre in New York City. Released nationally in the United States on January 23, 1943, it becomes one of the top-grossing pictures of 1943 and goes on to win the Best Picture and Best Director awards at the 16th Academy Awards.

• Best Picture: Mrs. Miniver – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Best Director: William Wyler – Mrs. Miniver
• Best Actor: James Cagney – Yankee Doodle Dandy
• Best Actress: Greer Garson – Mrs. Miniver
• Best Supporting Actor: Van Heflin – Johnny Eager
• Best Supporting Actress: Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver
• Special Academy Award: In Which We Serve

U.S.A unless stated

U.S.A unless stated

• Captain Midnight, starring Dave O'Brien, directed by James W. Horne
• Don Winslow of the Navy
• Gang Busters
• Junior G-Men of the Air, starring the Dead End Kids
• King of the Mounties, starring Allan Lane, directed by William Witney
• Overland Mail
• Perils of Nyoka, starring Kay Aldridge & Clayton Moore, directed by William Witney
• Perils of the Royal Mounted, directed by James W. Horne
• The Secret Code, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet
• Spy Smasher, starring Kane Richmond, directed by William Witney
• The Valley of Vanishing Men, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet

• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Scrappy (1931–1941)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
• Donald Duck (1937–1956)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Walter Lantz Cartune (also known as New Universal Cartoons or Cartune Comedies) (1938-1942)
• Goofy (1939–1955)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
• Swing Symphonies (1941–1945)
• The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)

• January 3 – John Thaw, English actor (d. 2002)
• January 8 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress
• January 10 – Walter Hill, American director, producer and screenwriter
• January 19 – Michael Crawford, English actor and singer
• February 1 – Terry Jones, Welsh comedic actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2020)
• February 9 – Ada Lundver, Estonian actress and singer (d. 2011)
• February 21 – Margarethe von Trotta, German director
• March 25 – Richard O'Brien, English actor and writer
• March 27 – Michael York, English actor
• March 28 – Mike Newell, English director and producer
• April 3 – Marsha Mason, American actress
• April 6 – Barry Levinson, American director, producer and screenwriter
• April 23 – Sandra Dee, American actress (d. 2005)
• April 24 – Barbra Streisand, American actress, singer, director and producer
• June 18
  • Roger Ebert, American film critic of the Chicago Sun Times (d. 2013)
  • Paul McCartney, English musician and composer (The Beatles)
• July 1 – Geneviève Bujold, Canadian actress
• July 9 – Richard Roundtree, American actor
• July 13 – Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
• July 24 – Chris Sarandon, American actor
• August 7 – Tobin Bell, actor
• September 29
  • Madeline Kahn, American actress (d. 1999)
  • Ian McShane, English actor
• October 4 – Christopher Stone, American actor (d. 1995)
• October 6 – Britt Ekland, Swedish actress
• October 11 – Amitabh Bachchan, Indian actor
• October 13 – Suzzanna, Indonesian actress (d. 2008)
• October 22 – Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
• October 26
  • Bob Hoskins, English actor and director (d. 2014)
  • Eili Sild, Estonian actress
• October 31 – David Ogden Stiers, American actor (d. 2018)
• November 17 – Martin Scorsese, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor
• November 24 – Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian and actor
• December 4 – Gemma Jones, English actress

• January 16 – Carole Lombard, 33, American actress, To Be or Not to Be, My Man Godfrey, Made for Each Other, Nothing Sacred
• January 31 – Rolf Wenkhaus, 24, German actor, Emil and the Detectives, S.A.-Mann Brand
• April 10 – Carl Schenstrøm, 60, Danish actor, Cocktails, The Last Laugh
• May 29 – John Barrymore, 60, American actor, Grand Hotel, Twentieth Century, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dinner at Eight
• June 4 – Virginia Lee Corbin, 31, American actress, Hands Up!, X Marks the Spot
• July 5 – Karin Swanström, 69, Swedish actress, director, His English Wife, Black Roses
• August 18 – Rafaela Ottiano, 54, Italian-born American actress, Grand Hotel, She Done Him Wrong, The Devil-Doll, Curly Top
• October 20 – May Robson, 84, Australian-born American stage & film actress, Bringing Up Baby, A Star is Born, Lady for a Day, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• October 22 – Olga Svendsen, 59, Danish actress, Kidnapped
• November 5 – George M. Cohan, 64, American actor, songwriter, entertainer, The Phantom President, Broadway Jones, subject of Yankee Doodle Dandy
• November 9 – Edna May Oliver, 59, American stage & film actress, David Copperfield, Drums Along the Mohawk, Little Women, A Tale of Two Cities
• November 12 – Laura Hope Crews, 62, American stage & screen actress, Gone with the Wind, Camille, Angel, The Blue Bird
• November 15 – Sidney Fox, 30, American actress, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Bad Sister, Six Cylinder Love
• December 12 – Helen Westley, 67, American stage & screen actress, Heidi, Roberta, All This, and Heaven Too, Alexander's Ragtime Band

• Richard Attenborough – In Which We Serve
• Betty Hutton – The Fleet's In
• Anne Jeffreys – Billy the Kid Trapped
• Gene Kelly – For Me and My Gal
• Harry Morgan – To the Shores of Tripoli
• Eleanor Parker – The Big Shot
• Simone Signoret – Bolero
• Elizabeth Taylor – There's One Born Every Minute
• Peter Ustinov – One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
• Esther Williams – Andy Hardy's Double Life
• Tweety Bird – A Tale of Two Kitties