1955 in film explained
The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.__TOC__
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
See also: List of 1955 box office number-one films in the United States. The top-grossing hits of 1955 in the United States.
Highest-grossing films of 1955| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic rentals |
|---|
| 1 | Cinerama Holiday | Cinerama Releasing | $10,000,000[1] |
|---|
| 2 | Mister Roberts | Warner Bros. | $8,500,000 |
|---|
| 3 | Battle Cry | $8,100,000 |
|---|
| 4 | Oklahoma! | | $7,100,000 |
|---|
| 5 | Guys and Dolls | MGM | $6,801,000[2] |
|---|
| 6 | Lady and the Tramp | Buena Vista | $6,500,000 |
|---|
| 7 | Picnic | | $6,300,000 |
|---|
| 8 | Not as a Stranger | United Artists | $6,200,000 |
|---|
| 9 | Strategic Air Command
The Seven Year Itch
The Sea Chase | Paramount
20th Century Fox
Warner Bros. | $6,000,000 |
|---|
| 10 | I'll Cry Tomorrow | MGM | $5,873,000 | |
|---|
Top-grossing films by country
The highest-grossing 1955 films from countries outside of North America.
Events
- January 7 – U.K. release of the Halas and Batchelor film animation of George Orwell's Animal Farm (completed April 1954), the first full-length British-made animated feature on general theatrical release.[3] [4]
- February 24 - 12th Golden Globe Awards announced: On The Waterfront, Marlon Brando, & Judy Garland win
- March 18 – The film adaptation of Evan Hunter's novel Blackboard Jungle previews in New York City, featuring the single "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets over the opening credits, the first use of a rock and roll song in a major film. Teenagers jump from their seats to dance to it.
- June 1 – Premiere of Billy Wilder's film of The Seven Year Itch featuring an iconic scene of Marilyn Monroe standing on a New York City Subway grating as her white dress is blown above her knees.[5]
- June 16 – Lady and the Tramp, the Walt Disney company's 15th animated film, premieres in Chicago, the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen process. Peggy Lee co-writes and sings the songs.
- June 27 – The last Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released.
- July 18 – Disneyland opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
- September 30 – American actor James Dean dies in an automobile collision near Cholame, California, age 24. On October 27, the film Rebel Without a Cause, in which he stars, is released.
- October 11 – Theatrical release in the United States of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical film Oklahoma!, the first feature photographed in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
- November 3 – The musical film Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, is premiered in New York City.
- November 22 – The death of Shemp Howard requires use of a Fake Shemp to complete The Three Stooges films which he has commenced.
- December – United Artists quit the Motion Picture Association of America over the decision to deny The Man With the Golden Arm a Production Code seal.
- December 7 – The film Picnic starring William Holden and Kim Novak is released.
Awards
1955 film releases
January–March
- January 1955
- January 1
- January 26
- January 29
- January 31
- February 1955
- March 1955
April–June
- April 1955
- April 1
- April 9
- April 10
- April 13
- April 20
- April 24
- May 1955
- May 6
- May 11
- May 25
- May 30
- June 1955
- June 1
- June 3
- June 4
- June 10
- June 15
- June 17
- June 22
- June 23
- Date unknown
July–September
- July 1955
- July 7
- July 13
- July 22
- July 30
- Dates Unknown
- August 1955
- August 3
- August 5
- August 14
- August 17
- August 25
- August 26
- September 1955
- September 22
- September 30
October–December
- October 1955
- October 7
- October 11
- October 19
- October 29
- November 1955
- November 3
- November 7
- November 23
- December 1955
- December 7
- December 12
- December 13
- December 15
- December 22
- December 25
- Date unknown
Top ten money making stars
| Rank | Actor/Actress |
|---|
| 1. | James Stewart |
| 2. | Grace Kelly |
| 3. | John Wayne |
| 4. | William Holden |
| 5. | Gary Cooper |
| 6. | Marilyn Monroe |
| 7. (tie) | Dean Martin
Jerry Lewis |
| 8. | Marlon Brando |
| 9. | Humphrey Bogart |
| 10. | Clark Gable | |
Notable films released in 1955
United States unless stated
A
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, featuring an appearance by Mack Sennett
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
- Above Us the Waves, starring John Mills – (GB)
- The Adventures of Quentin Durward, starring Robert Taylor, Kay Kendall
- Ain't Misbehavin', starring Piper Laurie, Rory Calhoun, Mamie Van Doren
- All That Heaven Allows, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson
- The Americano, starring Glenn Ford
- Le Amiche (The Girlfriend), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni – (Italy)
- Anděl na horách (Angel in the Mountains) – (Czechoslovakia)
- Apache Ambush, starring Richard Jaeckel
- Artists and Models, starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Dorothy Malone, Shirley MacLaine
- Azaad, starring Dilip Kumar – (India)
B
- Bad Day at Black Rock, directed by John Sturges, starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan
- Battle Cry, starring Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, Anne Francis
- The Beast with a Million Eyes
- Bedevilled, starring Anne Baxter and Steve Forrest
- The Big Combo, starring Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace
- The Big Knife, starring Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters
- Blackboard Jungle, starring Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Sidney Poitier, Vic Morrow, Richard Kiley
- Blood Alley, starring John Wayne and Lauren Bacall
- A Bullet for Joey, starring Edward G. Robinson and George Raft
C
- Captain Lightfoot, starring Rock Hudson
- Carrington V.C., starring David Niven – (GB)
- Cast a Dark Shadow, starring Dirk Bogarde – (GB)
- Chief Crazy Horse, starring Victor Mature
- Cinerama Holiday
- Ciske de Rat (aka A Child Needs Love) – (Netherlands)
- The Cobweb, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Richard Widmark, Gloria Grahame, Lauren Bacall, Charles Boyer, Lillian Gish
- The Cockleshell Heroes, directed by and starring José Ferrer, with Trevor Howard – (GB)
- The Colditz Story, directed by Guy Hamilton, starring John Mills and Eric Portman – (GB)
- Confession, directed by Ken Hughes, starring Sydney Chaplin – (GB)
- The Constant Husband, starring Rex Harrison, Margaret Leighton, Kay Kendall – (GB)
- Count Three and Pray, starring Van Heflin, Joanne Woodward and Raymond Burr
- The Counterfeit Coin – (Greece)
- The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Gary Cooper, Ralph Bellamy, Rod Steiger, Elizabeth Montgomery
- El Coyote
- Crashout, starring Arthur Kennedy and William Bendix
- The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (Ensayo de un Crimen), directed by Luis Buñuel – (Mexico)
D
- Daddy Long Legs, starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron
- The Dam Busters, starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave, with an early role by Robert Shaw – (GB)
- Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, starring Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen
- Death of a Cyclist (Muerte de un ciclista), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem – (Spain)
- The Deep Blue Sea, starring Vivien Leigh – (GB)
- The Desperate Hours, starring Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March
- Devdas, based on novel with same name, starring Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Suchitra Sen – (India)
- Les Diaboliques (The Devils), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Simone Signoret – (France)
- Dreams (Kvinnodröm), directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Eva Dahlbeck – (Sweden)
E
F
- The Far Horizons, starring Fred MacMurray, Charlton Heston, Donna Reed, Barbara Hale
- The Fast and the Furious, starring John Ireland and Dorothy Malone
- Female on the Beach, starring Joan Crawford, Jeff Chandler, Jan Sterling
- Fire in the Night (Det brenner i natt!) – (Norway)
- Floating Clouds (Ukigumo) – (Japan)
- Footsteps in the Fog, starring Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons – (GB)
- Foxfire, starring Jane Russell
- Francis in the Navy, starring Donald O'Connor and Martha Hyer, with Clint Eastwood in an early role
G
- Galapagos, a documentary by Thor Heyerdahl – (Norway)
- A Generation (Pokolenie), directed by Andrzej Wajda – (Poland)
- The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Ray Milland, Joan Collins, Farley Granger – (U.S.)
- The Girl Rush, starring Rosalind Russell, Fernando Lamas, Gloria DeHaven
- Godzilla Raids Again (Gojira no Gyakushū) – (Japan)
- Good Morning, Miss Dove, starring Jennifer Jones and Robert Stack
- The Good Soldier Schweik, animation directed by Jiří Trnka – (Czechoslovakia)
- Guys and Dolls, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine
H
- Hell on Frisco Bay, starring Alan Ladd and Edward G. Robinson
- Hell's Island, starring John Payne and Mary Murphy
- Heroes of Shipka (Geroite na Shipka) – (Bulgaria/USSR)
- The Hidden One (La Escondida), starring Pedro Armendáriz – (Mexico)
- Hit the Deck, directed by Roy Rowland, starring Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller, Tony Martin, Vic Damone
- House of Bamboo, starring Robert Ryan
- How to Be Very, Very Popular, starring Betty Grable in her final film role
I
- I Am a Camera, starring Julie Harris and Laurence Harvey – (GB)
- I Died a Thousand Times, starring Jack Palance, Shelley Winters, Earl Holliman, Lee Marvin
- I Live in Fear (Ikimono no kiroku), directed by Akira Kurosawa – (Japan)
- I'll Cry Tomorrow, starring Susan Hayward
- Illegal, a film noir starring Edward G. Robinson and Jayne Mansfield
- Interrupted Melody, starring Eleanor Parker and Glenn Ford
- It Came from Beneath the Sea, starring Kenneth Tobey and Faith Domergue, with special effects by Ray Harryhausen
- It Happened on July 20th (Es geschah am 20. Juli), directed by G. W. Pabst, starring Bernhard Wicki – (Austria)
- It's Always Fair Weather, starring Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Michael Kidd, Cyd Charisse
J
K
L
- Lady and the Tramp, an animated Disney musical featuring voice of Peggy Lee
- Lady Godiva of Coventry, starring Maureen O'Hara
- The Ladykillers, directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers – (GB)
- Land of the Pharaohs, starring Joan Collins and Jack Hawkins
- The Last Frontier, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Victor Mature, Robert Preston, Anne Bancroft
- The Last Ten Days (Der letzte Akt), directed by G. W. Pabst – (Austria/West Germany)
- The Left Hand of God, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney
- Little Red Monkey, directed by Ken Hughes – (Britain)
- Lola Montès, directed by Max Ophüls – (France)
- The Long Gray Line, starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara
- Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, starring William Holden and Jennifer Jones
- Love Me or Leave Me, starring Doris Day and James Cagney
- Love Never Dies (El Amor nunca muere) – (Argentina)
- Lucy Gallant (reissued as Oil Town), starring Jane Wyman
M
- Magdana's Donkey, directed by Tengiz Abuladze and Revaz Chkheidze – (Georgia)
- Magic Fire, starring Alan Badel
- Mambo, directed by Robert Rossen, starring Silvana Mangano, Vittorio Gassman, Shelley Winters – (U.S./Italy)
- A Man Alone, directed by and starring Ray Milland, with Mary Murphy
- The Man from Laramie, directed by Anthony Mann, starring James Stewart
- The Man Who Loved Redheads, starring Moira Shearer – (GB)
- The Man with the Golden Arm, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Darren McGavin, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang
- Man with the Gun, starring Robert Mitchum
- Man Without a Star, starring Kirk Douglas and William Campbell
- Marty, directed by Delbert Mann, starring Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Joe Mantell, Frank Sutton, Jerry Paris
- The McConnell Story, starring Alan Ladd and June Allyson
- The Mill of Good Luck (La 'Moara cu noroc') – (Romania)
- Miracle of Marcelino (Marcelino Pan Y Vino) – (Spain)
- Missamma, starring N. T. Rama Rao – (India)
- Mister Roberts, co-directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy, starring Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon
- Moonfleet, starring Stewart Granger and Joan Greenwood
- Mr. & Mrs. '55, starring Guru Dutt and Madhubala – (India)
- Mr. Arkadin, directed by and starring Orson Welles – (France/Spain/Switzerland)
- My Sister Eileen, starring Janet Leigh and Betty Garrett
N
- New York Confidential, starring Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte, Marilyn Maxwell, Anne Bancroft
- Night and Fog, a documentary directed by Alain Resnais – (France)
- The Night My Number Came Up, starring Michael Redgrave – (GB)
- The Night of the Hunter, directed by Charles Laughton, starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Peter Graves
- Not as a Stranger, starring Robert Mitchum, Olivia de Havilland, Frank Sinatra, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Lon Chaney Jr.
O
- Oh, Ibuku (O, My Mother), directed by Ali Joego, debuting Aminah Cendrakasih – (Indonesia)
- Oklahoma! (first film shot in widescreen process known as Todd-AO), starring Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Rod Steiger, Gloria Grahame
- Ordet (The Word), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer – (Denmark)
- Our Best Days (Ayyamna al-Holwa), starring Omar Sharif – (Egypt)
- Out of the Clouds, directed by Basil Dearden, starring Anthony Steel, Robert Beatty – (U.K.)
P
- Passage Home, directed by Roy Ward Baker, starring Anthony Steel, Peter Finch, Diane Cilento – (U.K.)
- Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), directed by Satyajit Ray – (India)
- Pete Kelly's Blues, starring Jack Webb, Janet Leigh, Edmond O'Brien, Peggy Lee
- The Phenix City Story, starring Richard Kiley, John McIntire, John Larch, James Edwards, Edward Andrews
- Picnic, directed by Joshua Logan, starring William Holden, Kim Novak, Cliff Robertson, Rosalind Russell
- Prince of Players, starring Richard Burton
- Princess Yang Kwei-Fei (aka Yôkihi) – (Japan)
- The Prisoner, directed by Peter Glenville, starring Alec Guinness and Jack Hawkins – (GB)
- The Private War of Major Benson, starring Charlton Heston
- The Prodigal, starring Lana Turner
Q
R
- The Racers, starring Kirk Douglas, Gilbert Roland, Bella Darvi
- Radio Stories (Historias de la radio) – (Spain)
- Die Ratten (The Rats), starring Maria Schell and Curd Jürgens – (West Germany) – Golden Bear award
- Rage at Dawn, starring Randolph Scott
- The Rains of Ranchipur, starring Lana Turner and Richard Burton
- Rebel Without a Cause, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring James Dean, Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood
- Red Fish (Los peces rojos), starring Arturo de Córdova – (Spain)
- Richard III, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier, with Ralph Richardson, Claire Bloom, John Gielgud – (GB)
- Rififi (Du rififi chez les hommes), directed by Jules Dassin – (France)
- A Ripple in the Pond (Ena votsalo sti limni) – (Greece)
- Romeo and Juliet (Romeo i Dzhulyetta), starring Yuri Zhdanov and Galina Ulanova – (USSR)
- Roots (Raíces) – (Mexico)
- The Rose Tattoo, starring Anna Magnani and Burt Lancaster
- Run for Cover, starring James Cagney, John Derek, Ernest Borgnine
S
- (Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijōji no kettō) – (Japan)
- Scandal in Sorrento (Pane, amore e...), starring Vittorio De Sica and Sophia Loren – (Italy)
- The Scarlet Coat, starring Cornel Wilde, George Sanders, Anne Francis
- The Sea Chase, starring John Wayne and Lana Turner
- Seagulls Die in the Harbour (Meeuwen sterven in de haven) – (Belgium)
- Seema, starring Nutan – (India)
- Seven Angry Men, starring Raymond Massey
- The Seven Little Foys, starring Bob Hope, featuring James Cagney reprising role of George M. Cohan from Yankee Doodle Dandy
- The Seven Year Itch, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell
- Shree 420, directed by and starring Raj Kapoor, with Nargis – (India)
- The Shrike, directed by and starring José Ferrer
- The Sign of Venus (Il segno di Venere), starring Sophia Loren and Vittorio De Sica – (Italy)
- Simba, starring Dirk Bogarde – (GB)
- Sissi, starring Romy Schneider – (Austria)
- Six Bridges to Cross, starring Tony Curtis
- Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende), directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden)
- Son of Sinbad
- So This Is Paris, starring Tony Curtis and Gloria DeHaven
- The Spoilers, starring Anne Baxter and Jeff Chandler
- Strategic Air Command, starring James Stewart
- Stella, directed by Michael Cacoyannis, starring Melina Mercouri – (Greece)
- Storm Over the Nile, starring Anthony Steel and Laurence Harvey – (U.K.)
- Summertime, directed by David Lean, starring Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi, Darren McGavin – (Britain/U.S.)
- The Swindle (Il bidone), directed by Federico Fellini, starring Broderick Crawford – (Italy)
T
- Taira Clan Saga (Shin Heike Monogatari), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
- Tall Man Riding, starring Randolph Scott and Dorothy Malone
- The Tall Men, starring Clark Gable, Jane Russell, Robert Ryan
- Tarantula, directed by Jack Arnold, starring John Agar, Mara Corday, with Clint Eastwood in a bit part
- The Tender Trap, starring Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne, Celeste Holm
- That Lady, starring Olivia de Havilland – (GB/Spain)
- This Island Earth, directed by Joseph M. Newman, starring Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, Faith Domergue, Russell Johnson
- Three for the Show, starring Betty Grable
- Tight Spot, starring Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Keith, Lorne Greene
- To Catch a Thief, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly
- To Hell and Back, starring Audie Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Charles Drake, David Janssen
- The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues, starring Kent Taylor, Cathy Downs, Michael Whalen
- The Treasure of Pancho Villa, starring Rory Calhoun and Shelley Winters
- Trial, starring Glenn Ford
- The Trouble with Harry, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine
U
V
- The Violent Men, starring Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Keith
- Violent Saturday, starring Victor Mature, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin
- The Virgin Queen, starring Bette Davis, Richard Todd, Joan Collins
W
- We're No Angels, starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray, Basil Rathbone
- White Feather, starring Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Debra Paget
- Wichita, starring Joel McCrea
- The Woman in the Painting (Amici per la pelle) – (Italy)
- Women's Prison, starring Ida Lupino, Jan Sterling, Audrey Totter, Phyllis Thaxter
Y
Serials
Short film series
Cartoon:
- Good Will to Men (MGM Cartoon Series) (Frederick Quimby, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, producers; MGM)
- The Legend of Rockabye Point (Walter Lantz Productions; Universal-International)
- No Hunting (Donald Duck Series) (Walt Disney Productions; RKO Radio)
- Speedy Gonzales (Merrie Melodies Series) (Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc.; Warner Bros.)
One-Reel:
- Gadgets Galore (Warner Varieties Series) (Robert Youngson, producer; Warner Bros.)
- Survival City (Movietone CinemaScope Series) (Edmund Reek, producer; Twentieth Century-Fox)
- 3rd Ave. El (Carson Davidson Productions; Ardee Films)
- Three Kisses (Topper Special Series) (Justin Herman, producer; Paramount)
Two-Reel:
- The Battle of Gettysburg (Dore Schary, producer; MGM)
- The Face of Lincoln (University of Southern California Presentation; Cavalcade Pictures, Inc.)
- On The Twelfth Day...(United Kingdom Series) (Go Pictures, Inc.; George Brest and Associates)
- Switzerland (People and Places Series) (Walt Disney Productions; Buena Vista)
- 24-Hour Alert (Cedric Francis, producer; Warner Bros.)
Births
- January 4 - Sergei Kolesnikov, Soviet-Russian actor (d. 2023)
- January 6 – Rowan Atkinson, English comedian and actor
- January 8 - Harriet Sansom Harris, American actress
- January 9 – J. K. Simmons, American actor
- January 15 - Sam Mercer, American producer (d. 2024)
- January 16 - Steven Weisberg, American editor (d. 2023)
- January 18 – Kevin Costner, American actor, producer and director
- January 19 - Paul Rodriguez, Mexican-American actor and stand-up comedian
- January 20 – Wyatt Knight, American actor (d. 2011)
- January 28 - Lorenzo Caccialanza, American actor
- February 5 - Kenji Ohba, Japanese actor
- February 7 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor (d. 2017)
- February 8 - Ethan Phillips, American actor
- February 9 - Jim J. Bullock, American actor and comedian
- February 14 - James Eckhouse, American actor
- February 15 – Christopher McDonald, American actor
- February 17 - Ellie Haddington, Scottish actress
- February 19 – Jeff Daniels, American actor
- February 21 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor and comedian
- February 28 – Gilbert Gottfried, American stand-up comedian, actor and voice actor (d. 2022)
- March 2 - William Hope, Canadian actor
- March 3 – Riina Hein, Estonian actress, director, producer and screenwriter
- March 6
- March 9 – Ornella Muti, Italian actress
- March 13 - Glenne Headley, American actress (d. 2017)
- March 16 - Kuh Ledesma, Filipino actress and singer
- March 17
- March 19 – Bruce Willis, American actor
- March 22 – Lena Olin, Swedish actress
- March 28 - Reba McEntire, American country singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer
- March 29
- April 3 - Tomas Arana, American actor
- April 4 - Casey Biggs, American actor
- April 5 - Akira Toriyama, Japanese manga artist (d. 2024)
- April 6 – Michael Rooker, American actor
- April 8 - Kane Hodder, American actor and stuntman
- April 23 – Judy Davis, Australian actress
- April 24 – Michael O'Keefe, American actor
- April 29
- April 30 – Zlatko Topčić, Bosnian screenwriter
- May 1 - Eric Goldberg, American animator, voice actor, director and producer
- May 5 - Lisa Jane Persky, American actress
- May 8 - Raoul Trujillo, American actor
- May 9 - Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (d. 1991)
- May 10 - Larry "Flash" Jenkins, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2019)
- May 13 - María Cecilia Botero, Colombian actress and television presenter
- May 15 - Lee Horsley, American actor
- May 16 – Debra Winger, American actress
- May 17
- May 18 – Chow Yun-fat, Hong Kong actor
- May 23 - Kristin Rudrüd, American actress
- May 27 - Richard Schiff, American actor and director
- May 31
- June 2 – Dana Carvey, American actor and comedian
- June 6 - Cheryl Smith, American actress and musician (d. 2002)
- June 7 – William Forsythe, American actor
- June 8
- June 14 - Paul O'Grady, English comedian, broadcaster, actor and writer (d. 2023)
- June 15
- June 16 – Laurie Metcalf, American actress
- June 25 - Michael McShane, American actor, singer and improvisational comedian
- June 26 - Gedde Watanabe, American actor and comedian
- June 27 – Isabelle Adjani, French actress
- July 2 - Andrew Divoff, American actor and producer
- July 3
- July 8 - Lena Endre, Swedish actress
- July 9
- July 13 - Lance E. Nichols, American actor
- July 21 – Béla Tarr, Hungarian director
- July 22 – Willem Dafoe, American actor
- July 25 - Iman, Somali-American model and actress
- July 27 - Roger Guenveur Smith, American actor, director and writer
- July 28
- August 3 – Corey Burton, American voice actor
- August 4 – Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, director and screenwriter
- August 7 – Wayne Knight, American actor and comedian
- August 13 - Paul Greengrass, British director, producer and screenwriter
- August 19 – Peter Gallagher, American actor
- August 20 - Jay Acovone, American actor
- August 22 - Gordon Liu, Chinese actor and martial artist
- August 24 - Kevin Dunn, American actor
- August 27 – Diana Scarwid, American actress
- September 9 - Edward Hibbert, American-born British actor
- September 10 - Giannina Facio, Costa Rican actress
- September 12 - Peter Scolari, American actor (d. 2021)
- September 17 - Charles Martinet, American actor and voice actor
- September 20
- September 21 - Rick Aiello, American actor (d. 2021)
- September 26 - Mark Nelson, American actor and director
- October 17 - Sam Bottoms, American actor and producer (d. 2008)
- October 20 – Thomas Newman, American composer
- October 21 - Catherine Hardwicke, American director and screenwriter
- October 22 - Bill Condon, American director and screenwriter
- October 27 - Michael Shamus Wiles, American character actor
- November 5 - Nestor Serrano, American actor
- November 9
- November 10
- Roland Emmerich, German director, screenwriter and producer
- Clare Higgins, English actress
- November 13 – Whoopi Goldberg, American actress and comedian
- November 15 - Jun Kunimura, Japanese actor
- November 23 - Peter Douglas, American actor and producer
- November 25 - Bruce Hopkins, New Zealand actor
- November 27 - Bill Nye, American television presenter
- November 30
- December 2 – Dennis Christopher, American actor
- December 3
- December 6 - Steven Wright, American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and film producer
- December 8 - Kevin McNulty, Canadian actor
- December 9 - Hiroyuki Watanabe, Japanese actor (d. 2022)
- December 11 - Donna Bullock, American actress
- December 16 - Xander Berkeley, American actor
- December 17 - Richard Young, American character actor, filmmaker and screenwriter
- December 21 – Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
- December 24
Deaths
- February 11 – Ona Munson, 51, American actress, Five Star Final, Gone with the Wind
- February 12
- April 7 – Theda Bara, 69, American silent film actress, A Fool There Was, Cleopatra
- April 25 – Constance Collier, 77, British actress, Stage Door, Rope
- May 4 – Robert Kent, 46, American actor, Blonde Comet, The Phantom Rider
- May 13 – Betty Ann Davies, 44, British actress, My Old Duchess, The Man in Black
- May 22 - Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, 63, American actor, Possessed, Idiot's Delight
- June 11 – Walter Hampden, 75, American actor, Sabrina, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- July 31 – Robert Francis, 25, American actor, The Caine Mutiny, The Long Gray Line, airplane accident
- August 5 – Carmen Miranda, 46, Brazilian singer and actress, Copacabana, The Gang's All Here
- August 6 – Janet Beecher, 70, American actress, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, The Mark of Zorro
- August 10 – Jane Murfin, 70, American screenwriter, What Price Hollywood?, The Women
- August 12 – Lynne Carver, 38, American actress, Everybody Sing, Young Dr. Kildare
- September 20 –
- September 30 – James Dean, 24, American actor, Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden, automobile accident
- October 1 – Charles Christie, 73, Canadian pioneer film studio owner
- October 9 – Alice Joyce, 65, American actress, The Green Goddess, White Man
- October 19 – John Hodiak, 41, American actor, Lifeboat, A Bell for Adano, heart attack
- October 20 – Frank Darien, 79, American actor, The Grapes of Wrath, Under Fiesta Stars
- November 9 – Tom Powers, 65, American actor, Double Indemnity, The Blue Dahlia
- November 14 – Robert E. Sherwood, 59, American screenwriter, The Best Years of Our Lives, Rebecca
- November 15 – Lloyd Bacon, 65, American director, The Oklahoma Kid, Knute Rockne, All American
- November 22 – Shemp Howard, 60, American actor, comedian of The Three Stooges, The Bank Dick, Pittsburgh
- November 27 – William Nigh, 74, American director, Mr. Wong, Detective, The Gay Cavalier
- December 5 – Paul Harvey, 73, American actor, April in Paris, Calamity Jane
- December 24 – Nana Bryant, 67, American actress, Public Enemies, Bathing Beauty
Film Debuts
External links
Notes and References
- Book: Finler, Joel Waldo . 2003 . The Hollywood Story . Wallflower Press . 978-1-903364-66-6 . 358–359.
- .
- Book: Brian. McFarlane. The Encyclopedia of British Film. London. Methuen; BFI. 2003. 9780413773012. 48. registration.
- Book: Leab, Daniel J.. Orwell Subverted. Pennsylvania State Press. 2007. xiii-xiv. 978-0-271-02979-5.
- Filmed on location September 1954. Web site: The Seven Year Itch (1955) . 2012-05-20 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20010430215445/https://rottentomatoes.com/movie-1018644/ . 2001-04-30 .
