1959 in film

The top ten 1959 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

• January 23 – Republic Pictures releases its last production, Plunderers of Painted Flats.[4]
• January 29 – Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty premieres, their most expensive film to date and the first animated film to be shot in Super Technirama 70. It initially ends up losing money for the studio due to its high production costs. However, it would eventually gain a cult following and is now considered one of Disney's great classics.
• April 30 – François Truffaut's The 400 Blows opens the 1959 Cannes Film Festival bringing international attention to the French New Wave.
• June 4 – The Three Stooges release their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters.
• June 7 – A contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions is signed specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over a seven-year period.[5] This contract made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut, and the return of film rights after 30 years.
• July 1 - Herbert J. Yates, founder of Republic Pictures, sells his controlling stake in the company.
• July – Les Cousins, another film of the French New Wave, wins the Golden Bear at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival.
• July 22 – Joseph E. Levine promotes the release of Hercules in the United States starring Steve Reeves which popularizes the sword and sandals genre.
• August 4 – The Big Fisherman is the first film released in Super Panavision 70.
• September 30 – The film of Mise Éire, made by George Morrison for Gael Linn, is premiered to close the Cork Film Festival, the first feature-length Irish language film.
• October 7 – Rock Hudson, who is later voted top in the Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll for the year, appears in Pillow Talk alongside Doris Day for the first time.
• October 14 – Legendary Australian-born actor Errol Flynn dies of a heart attack in Vancouver, Canada at the age of 50.
• November 18 – William Wyler's film Ben-Hur, the most expensive film of all time with a budget of $15,175,000, premieres at Loew's State Theater in New York City. It went on to win a record 11 Academy Awards.
• December 2 – The battle of the smellies starts with the release of the documentary Behind the Great Wall in AromaRama, with scents pumped into the theater during the film.

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro), directed by Marcel Camus, France

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Il Generale della Rovere (General della Rovere), directed by Roberto Rossellini, Italy / France

La grande guerra (The Great War), directed by Mario Monicelli, Italy / France

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Les Cousins (The Cousins), directed by Claude Chabrol, France

United States unless stated

• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
• Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

• January 5 – Clancy Brown, American actor and voice actor
• January 17 – Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese former actress and singer
• January 22 – Linda Blair, American actress
• February 2 – Laine Mägi, Estonian actress and dancer
• February 4 – Pamelyn Ferdin, American actress
• February 22 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
• March 5 – Darío Grandinetti, Argentinian actor
• March 6 – Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian
• March 7 – Donna Murphy, American actress and singer
• March 8 – Aidan Quinn, Irish-American actor
• March 15 – Renny Harlin, Finnish director and producer
• March 18
  • Luc Besson, French director and producer
  • Irene Cara, American actress and singer
• March 22 – Matthew Modine, American actor
• March 23 – Catherine Keener, American actress
• April 3 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor
• April 15 – Emma Thompson, English actress
• April 17 – Sean Bean, English actor
• April 20 – Clint Howard, American actor
• May 16 – Mare Winningham, American actress
• May 29 – Rupert Everett, English actor
• June 11 – Hugh Laurie, English actor
• June 22 – Wayne Federman, American actor and comedian
• June 30 – Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor
• July 26 – Kevin Spacey, American actor
• July 29 – Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
• August 10 – Rosanna Arquette, American actress
• August 14 – Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
• August 29 – Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
• September 14 – Haviland Morris, American actress
• September 23 – Jason Alexander, American actor
• October 21 – Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
• November 14 – Paul McGann, English actor
• November 19 – Allison Janney, American actress
• November 20 – Sean Young, American actress
• November 28 – Judd Nelson, American actor
• December 13 – Johnny Whitaker, American actor
• December 29 – Patricia Clarkson, American actress
• December 31 – Val Kilmer, American actor

• January 21
  • Cecil B. DeMille, 77, American director and producer, The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Show on Earth
  • Carl Switzer, 31, American singer and actor, Our Gang
• February 1 – Madame Sul-Te-Wan, 85, American actress, King of the Zombies, In Old Chicago
• February 4 – Una O'Connor, 78, Irish actress, Witness for the Prosecution, The Adventures of Robin Hood
• February 5 – Gwili Andre, 51, Danish actress, Secrets of the French Police, No Other Woman
• February 20 – George Archainbaud, 68, French director, Thirteen Women, Girls of the Big House
• February 22 – Helen Parrish, 34, American actress, Too Many Blondes, X Marks the Spot
• March 2 – Eric Blore, 71, British actor, Top Hat, The Lady Eve, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
• March 3 – Lou Costello, 52, American comedian and actor, half of Abbott and Costello comedy team, Africa Screams, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
• March 26 – Raymond Chandler, 70, American author and screenwriter, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity
• March 27 – Grant Withers, 54, American actor, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache
• April 12 – James Gleason, 76, American actor, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Bishop's Wife
• April 17 – Cecil Cunningham, 70, American actress, The Awful Truth, Monkey Business
• April 18 – Irving Cummings, 70, American director, Louisiana Purchase, The Dolly Sisters
• May 3 – Troy Sanders, 57, American score arranger and composer, White Christmas, Going My Way
• June 2 – Lyda Borelli, 75, Italian actress, Malombra, The Moth
• June 4 – Charles Vidor, 58, Hungarian director, Gilda, Love Me or Leave Me
• June 16 – George Reeves, 45, American actor, Gone with the Wind, So Proudly We Hail!
• June 18 – Ethel Barrymore, 79, American actress, Portrait of Jennie, The Spiral Staircase
• August 6 – Preston Sturges, 60, American writer, director, Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve
• September 6
  • Edmund Gwenn, 81, British actor, Miracle on 34th Street, Mister 880
  • Kay Kendall, 32, British actress, Genevieve, Les Girls
• September 11 – Paul Douglas, 52, American actor, A Letter to Three Wives, It Happens Every Spring
• September 13 – Adrian, 56, American costume designer, The Wizard of Oz, The Women
• September 14 – Wayne Morris, 45, American actor, Kid Galahad, Paths of Glory
• September 25 – Helen Broderick, 68, American actress, Top Hat, Swing Time
• September 30 – Taylor Holmes, 81, American actor, Kiss of Death, Sleeping Beauty
• October 3 – William Bishop, 41, American actor, Harriet Craig, Top Gun
• October 7 – Mario Lanza, 38, American singer and actor, The Great Caruso, Winged Victory
• October 14 – Errol Flynn, 50, Australian actor, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood
• October 21 – Olive Blakeney, 60, American actress, Leave It to Blanche, Don't Get Me Wrong
• October 23 – Gerda Lundequist, 88, Swedish actress, Gosta Berlings Saga
• October 30 – Noel Francis, 53, American actress, Blonde Crazy, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
• November 7 – Victor McLaglen, 72, British actor, The Quiet Man, Gunga Din
• November 20 – Sylvia Lopez, 26, French actress, Hercules Unchained, Son of the Red Corsair
• November 21 – Max Baer, 50, American boxer and actor, The Prizefighter and the Lady, The Harder They Fall
• November 25 – Gérard Philipe, 36, French actor, Fan-Fan the Tulip, Beauties of the Night
• December 22 – Gilda Gray, 58, American actress, Aloma of the South Seas, Cabaret
• December 24 – Edmund Goulding, 68, American director, Grand Hotel, The Razor's Edge

• Seymour Cassel – Shadows
• James Coburn – Ride Lonesome
• Mia Farrow – John Paul Jones
• Don Francks – Ivy League killers (The Fast Ones)
• George Hamilton – Crime and Punishment U.S.A.
• Richard Harris – Shake Hands with the Devil
• Shirley Knight – Five Gates to Hell
• Martin Landau – Pork Chop Hill
• Millie Perkins – The Diary of Anne Frank
• Michael J. Pollard – It Happened to Jane
• Jason Robards – The Journey
• Martin Scorsese – Vesuvius VI
• George C. Scott – The Hanging Tree
• Steven Spielberg – The Last Gunfight
• Stella Stevens – Say One for Me
• Billy Dee Williams – The Last Angry Man