# 1936 in film

The following is an overview of 1936 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

## Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1936 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1936 :
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic rentals |
| 1 | The Great Ziegfeld | MGM | $3,089,000 |
| 2 | San Francisco | MGM | $2,868,000 |
| 3 | The Plainsman | Paramount | $2,278,533 |
| 4 | After the Thin Man | MGM | $1,992,000 |
| 5 | Modern Times | United Artists | $1,800,000 |
| 6 | Anthony Adverse | Warner Bros. | $1,783,000 |
| 7 | Strike Me Pink | United Artists | $1,700,000 |
| 8 | Rose Marie | MGM | $1,695,000 |
| 9 | Swing Time | RKO | $1,624,000 |
| 10 | Libeled Lady | MGM | $1,601,000 |

## Events

* January 9 – Silent screen actor John Gilbert, perhaps best known for his appearances in films such as The Merry Widow and The Big Parade, dies suddenly of a heart attack at his Bel Air home, aged 38.
* February 15 – first Republic serial, Darkest Africa, is released.
* May 29 – Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film, Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.
* September 14 – Film producer Irving Thalberg, often referred by many as the "Boy Wonder of Hollywood", dies from pneumonia at his home in Santa Monica, aged 37.

## Academy Awards

* Best Picture: The Great Ziegfeld – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
* Best Director: Frank Capra – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
* Best Actor: Paul Muni – The Story of Louis Pasteur
* Best Actress: Luise Rainer – The Great Ziegfeld
* Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan – Come and Get It
* Best Supporting Actress: Gale Sondergaard – Anthony Adverse

## Top Ten Money Making Stars

Exhibitors selected the following as the Top Ten Money Making Stars of the Year in Quigley Publishing Company's annual poll.
| Rank | Actor/Actress |
| 1. | Shirley Temple |
| 2. | Clark Gable |
| 3. | Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers |
| 4. | Robert Taylor |
| 5. | Joe E. Brown |
| 6. | Dick Powell |
| 7. | Joan Crawford |
| 8. | Claudette Colbert |
| 9. | Jeanette MacDonald |
| 10. | Gary Cooper |

### Top Western stars

A poll of the top Western stars was also published for the first time.
| Rank | Actor/Actress |
| 1. | Buck Jones |
| 2. | George O'Brien |
| 3. | Gene Autry |
| 4. | William Boyd |
| 5. | Ken Maynard |
| 6. | Dick Foran |
| 7. | John Wayne |
| 8. | Tim McCoy |
| 9. | Hoot Gibson |
| 10. | Buster Crabbe |

## 1936 film releases

United States unless stated.

### January–March

* January 1936
** 16 January
*** Ceiling Zero
*** Strike Me Pink
** 17 January
*** Augustus the Strong (Germany/Poland)
** 20 January
*** The Invisible Ray
** 22 January
*** Collegiate
** 24 January
*** Anything Goes
** 28 January
*** Rose Marie
** 30 January
*** Next Time We Love
* February 1936
** 6 February
*** The Petrified Forest
** 7 February
*** The Milky Way
** 14 February
*** The Bohemian Girl
*** It Had to Happen
** 15 February
*** The Lawless Nineties
** 19 February
*** Girl Friends (U.S.S.R.)
** 20 February
*** Follow the Fleet
*** Things to Come (GB)
** 22 February
*** The Story of Louis Pasteur
** 25 February
*** Modern Times
** 28 February
*** The Prisoner of Shark Island
*** Wife vs. Secretary
** 29 February
*** Mayerling (France)
*** The Walking Dead
* March 1936
** 1 March
*** Sutter's Gold
** 2 March
*** Man of the Frontier
** 6 March
*** Little Lord Fauntleroy
*** Three Godfathers
** 9 March
*** Love Before Breakfast
** 13 March
*** The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
** 18 March
*** These Three
** 20 March
*** Silly Billies
** 22 March
*** The Great Ziegfeld
** 28 March
*** Road Gang
** 30 March
*** Too Many Parents

### April–June

* April 1936
** 4 April
*** Till We Meet Again
** 10 April
*** A Message to Garcia
*** The Moon's Our Home
*** Small Town Girl
** 11 April
*** Desire
*** The Singing Kid
** 16 April
*** Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
** 20 April
*** By the Bluest of Seas (U.S.S.R.)
** 24 April
*** Captain January
** 30 April
*** Thirteen Hours by Air
* May 1936
** 6 May
*** It's Love Again (GB)
** 8 May
*** The Case Against Mrs. Ames
** 11 May
*** Dracula's Daughter
** 17 May
*** Show Boat
** 19 May
*** Love in Exile (GB)
** 20 May
*** Broken Blossoms (GB)
** 26 May
*** Hearts in Bondage
** 28 May
*** Osaka Elegy (Japan)
** 29 May
*** Fury
* June 1936
** 5 June
*** Private Number
** 6 June
*** Bullets or Ballots
** 14 June
*** The Last Outlaw
** 15 June
*** Secret Agent (GB)
** 17 June
*** Poppy
** 20 June
*** Hearts Divided
** 26 June
*** San Francisco

### July–September

* July 1936
** 10 July
*** The Devil-Doll
** 16 July
*** Green Pastures
** 22 July
*** Satan Met a Lady
** 24 July
*** Poor Little Rich Girl
** 28 July
*** The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (GB)
** 29 July
*** Anthony Adverse
* August 1936
** 10 August
*** Where There's a Will (GB)
** 20 August
*** Romeo and Juliet
** 26 August
*** East Meets West (UK)
** 27 August
*** Swing Time
** 28 August
*** The Gorgeous Hussy
*** Militiaman Bruggler (Germany)
*** The Texas Rangers
* September 1936
** 1 September
*** Tudor Rose
** 2 September
*** The General Died at Dawn
** 4 September
*** The Last of the Mohicans
*** The Road to Glory
** 6 September
*** My Man Godfrey
** 9 September
*** Spy of Napoleon (GB)
** 10 September
*** Dusty Ermine (UK)
** 11 September
*** The Man Who Changed His Mind (GB)
** 15 September
*** The Children of Captain Grant
** 23 September
*** Dodsworth
** 25 September
*** Craig's Wife
*** Ramona
** 26 September
*** Cain and Mabel
** 30 September
*** Yiddle with his Fiddle (Poland/U.S.)

### October–December

* October 1936
** 1 October
*** Everything Is Thunder (UK)
** 6 October
*** Allá en el Rancho Grande (Mexico)
** 9 October
*** Libeled Lady
** 15 October
*** The Garden of Allah
*** Sisters of the Gion (Japan)
** 16 October
*** 15 Maiden Lane
*** Daniel Boone
*** Dimples
*** Hopalong Cassidy Returns
** 20 October
*** The Charge of the Light Brigade
** 22 October
*** Crime Over London (GB)
** 27 October
*** César (France)
*** Rebellion
** 30 October
*** Our Relations
* November 1936
** 1 November
*** Legion of Terror
** 6 November
*** Come and Get It
*** Rembrandt (GB)
*** Tarzan Escapes
*** A Woman Rebels
** 12 November
*** Theodora Goes Wild
** 13 November
*** Go West, Young Man
** 16 November
*** Intermezzo (Sweden)
*** Laburnum Grove (GB)
*** The Plainsman
** 20 November
*** Love on the Run
** 25 November
*** Lloyd's of London
*** Pennies from Heaven
** 26 November
*** Men Are Not Gods (GB)
** 27 November
*** Born to Dance
* December 1936
** 1 December
*** The Bold Caballero
** 2 December
*** Sabotage (GB)
** 11 December
*** General Spanky
*** Les bas-fonds (France)
** 12 December
*** Camille
** 20 December
*** Empty Saddles
** 21 December
*** Forget Me Not (UK)
** 24 December
*** The Jungle Princess
** 25 December
*** After the Thin Man
*** Stowaway
** 26 December
*** Gold Diggers of 1937
** 31 December
*** Let's Go With Pancho Villa (Mexico)

## Notable films released in 1936

United States unless stated.

### 0–9

* 13 Hours by Air, directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett and ZaSu Pitts
* 15 Maiden Lane, directed by Allan Dwan, starring Claire Trevor and Cesar Romero

### A

* Accused, directed by Thornton Freeland, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Dolores del Río – (GB)
* Achhoot Kanya (Untouchable Maiden), directed by Franz Osten, starring Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani – (India)
* After the Thin Man, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and James Stewart
* Allá en el Rancho Grande (Out on the Great Ranch), directed by Fernando de Fuentes, starring Tito Guízar and Esther Fernández – (Mexico)
* The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss, directed by Alfred Zeisler, starring Cary Grant and Mary Brian – (GB)
* Anthony Adverse, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland
* Anything Goes, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman and Ida Lupino
* Augustus the Strong (August der Starke), directed by Paul Wegener, starring Michael Bohnen – (Germany/Poland)

### B

* Black Eyes (Cheshmhay-e Siah), directed by Abdolhossein Sepanta – (Iran)
* Blood on Wolf Mountain (Láng shān dié xuě jì), directed by Fei Mu, starring Li Lili – (China)
* The Bohemian Girl, directed by James W. Horne and Charley Rogers, starring Laurel and Hardy
* The Bold Caballero, directed by Wells Root, starring Robert Livingston
* Born to Dance, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Eleanor Powell, James Stewart and Una Merkel
* Broken Blossoms, directed by John Brahm, starring Dolly Haas and Emlyn Williams – (GB)
* Bullets or Ballots, directed by William Keighley, starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell and Humphrey Bogart
* By the Bluest of Seas (U samogo sinego morya), directed by Boris Barnet – (USSR)

### C

* Cain and Mabel, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Marion Davies and Clark Gable
* Camel Through the Eye of a Needle (Velbloud uchem jehly), directed by and starring Hugo Haas – (Czechoslovakia)
* Camille, directed by George Cukor, starring Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor and Lionel Barrymore
* Captain January, directed by David Butler, starring Shirley Temple
* The Case Against Mrs. Ames, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Madeleine Carroll and George Brent
* Ceiling Zero, directed by Howard Hawks, starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien
* César, directed by Marcel Pagnol, starring Raimu – (France)
* The Charge of the Light Brigade, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
* Charlie Chan at the Opera, directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Warner Oland and Boris Karloff
* The Children of Captain Grant (Deti kapitana Granta), directed by Vladimir Vajnshtok – (USSR)
* Circus (Tsirk), directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, starring Lyubov Orlova – (USSR)
* Collegiate, directed by Ralph Murphy, starring Jack Oakie, Frances Langford and Betty Grable
* Come and Get It, directed by Howard Hawks and William Wyler, starring Edward Arnold, Joel McCrea and Walter Brennan
* Craig's Wife, directed by Dorothy Arzner, starring Rosalind Russell and John Boles
* The Crime of Monsieur Lange (Le Crime de Monsieur Lange), directed by Jean Renoir, starring René Lefèvre – (France)
* Crime Over London, directed by Alfred Zeisler, starring Margot Grahame and Paul Cavanagh – (GB)

### D

* Daniel Boone, directed by David Howard, starring George O'Brien
* The Desert Island (Lang tao sha), directed by Wu Yonggang – (China)
* Desire, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper
* Devdas, directed by Pramathesh Barua, starring K. L. Saigal – (India)
* The Devil Doll, directed by Tod Browning, starring Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan
* Dimples, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Shirley Temple and Frank Morgan
* Dodsworth, directed by William Wyler, starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Mary Astor and David Niven
* Dracula's Daughter, directed by Lambert Hillyer, starring Otto Kruger and Gloria Holden
* Dusty Ermine, directed by Bernard Vorhaus, directed by Bernard Vorhaus, starring Anthony Bushell and Jane Baxter – (GB)

### E

* East Meets West, directed by Herbert Mason, starring George Arliss – (GB)
* Empty Saddles, directed by Lesley Selander, starring Buck Jones and Louise Brooks
* Everything Is Thunder, directed by Milton Rosmer, starring Constance Bennett – (GB)

### F

* Follow the Fleet, directed by Mark Sandrich, starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Randolph Scott
* Forget Me Not, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Beniamino Gigli and Joan Gardner – (GB)
* The Four Musketeers (I quattro moschettieri), directed by Carlo Campogalliani – (Italy)
* Fury, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Sylvia Sidney and Spencer Tracy

### G

* The Garden of Allah, directed by Richard Boleslawski, starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer
* The General Died at Dawn, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll
* General Spanky, directed by Fred Newmeyer and Gordon Douglas, starring Spanky McFarland
* Girl Friends (Podrugi), directed by Lev Arnshtam, starring Zoya Fyodorova – (USSR)
* Go West, Young Man, directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Mae West, Warren William and Randolph Scott
* Gold Diggers of 1937, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Dick Powell, Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell
* The Gorgeous Hussy, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Franchot Tone, Melvyn Douglas and James Stewart
* The Great Ziegfeld, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer and Frank Morgan
* Green Pastures, directed by Marc Connelly and William Keighley, starring Rex Ingram and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson

### H

* Hearts Divided, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Marion Davies and Dick Powell
* Hearts in Bondage, directed by Lew Ayres, starring James Dunn, David Manners and Mae Clarke
* Home Guardsman Bruggler (Standschütze Bruggler), directed by Werner Klingler – (Germany)
* Hopalong Cassidy Returns, directed by Nate Watt, starring William Boyd

### I

* Intermezzo, directed by Gustaf Molander, starring Gösta Ekman and Ingrid Bergman – (Sweden)
* The Invisible Ray, directed by Lambert Hillyer, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi
* It Had to Happen, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring George Raft and Rosalind Russell
* It's Love Again, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews and Robert Young – (GB)

### J

* The Jungle Princess, directed by Wilhelm Thiele, starring Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland

### K

* Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (The Emperor of California), directed by and starring Luis Trenker – (Germany)
* Klondike Annie, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Mae West and Victor McLaglen

### L

* Laburnum Grove, directed by Carol Reed, starring Edmund Gwenn and Cedric Hardwicke – (GB)
* The Last of the Mohicans, directed by George B. Seitz, starring Randolph Scott
* The Last Outlaw, directed by Christy Cabanne, starring Harry Carey and Hoot Gibson
* The Lawless Nineties, directed by Joseph Kane, starring John Wayne
* Legion of Terror, directed by Charles C. Coleman, starring Bruce Cabot
* Let's Go With Pancho Villa (Vámonos con Pancho Villa), directed by Fernando de Fuentes – (Mexico)
* Libeled Lady, directed by Jack Conway, starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy
* Limelight, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Anna Neagle – (GB)
* Little Lord Fauntleroy, directed by John Cromwell, starring Freddie Bartholomew and Dolores Costello
* Lloyd's of London, directed by Henry King, starring Freddie Bartholomew, Madeleine Carroll and Tyrone Power
* Love Before Breakfast, directed by Walter Lang, starring Carole Lombard, Preston Foster and Cesar Romero
* Love in Exile, directed by Alfred L. Werker, starring Clive Brook and Helen Vinson – (GB)
* Love on the Run, directed by W. S. Van Dyke. starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone
* The Lower Depths (Les Bas-fonds), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Jean Gabin – (France)

### M

* The Man Who Changed His Mind, directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Boris Karloff – (GB)
* Mayerling, directed by Anatole Litvak starring Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux – (France)
* Men Are Not Gods, directed by Walter Reisch, starring Miriam Hopkins and Gertrude Lawrence – (GB)
* A Message to Garcia, directed by George Marshall, starring Wallace Beery, Barbara Stanwyck and John Boles
* The Milky Way, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Harold Lloyd and Adolphe Menjou
* Modern Times, a Charlie Chaplin film, with Paulette Goddard
* The Moon's Our Home, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Margaret Sullavan, Henry Fonda and Walter Brennan
* Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, directed by Frank Capra, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur
* My Man Godfrey, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring William Powell and Carole Lombard

### N

* Next Time We Love, directed by Edward H. Griffith, starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Ray Milland
* Night Mail, documentary directed by Harry Watt and Basil Wright – (GB)

### O

* The Only Son (Hitori musuko), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan)
* Osaka Elegy (Naniwa erejī), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, starring Isuzu Yamada – (Japan)
* Our Relations, directed by Harry Lachman, starring Laurel and Hardy

### P

* Palm Springs, directed by Aubrey Scotto, starring Frances Langford, Guy Standing and David Niven
* Paradise Road (Ulička v ráji), directed by Martin Frič, starring Hugo Haas – (Czechoslovakia)
* Pennies from Heaven, directed by Norman Z. McLeod, starring Bing Crosby, Madge Evans and Louis Armstrong
* The Petrified Forest, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart
* The Plainsman, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur and Charles Bickford
* Poor Little Rich Girl, directed by Irving Cummings, starring Shirley Temple, Alice Faye and Gloria Stuart
* Poppy, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, starring W. C. Fields
* The Prisoner of Shark Island, directed by John Ford, starring Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart
* Private Number, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Loretta Young, Robert Taylor and Basil Rathbone

### R

* Ramona, directed by Henry King, starring Loretta Young and Don Ameche
* Rebellion, directed by Lynn Shores, starring Tom Keene and Rita Hayworth
* Red River Valley, directed by B. Reeves Eason, starring Gene Autry
* Redes, directed by Fred Zinnemann – (Mexico)
* Reefer Madness, directed by Louis J. Gasnier
* Rembrandt, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Charles Laughton – (GB)
* Road Gang, directed by Louis King, starring Donald Woods
* The Road to Glory, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Fredric March, Warner Baxter and Lionel Barrymore
* Romeo and Juliet, directed by George Cukor, starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore and Basil Rathbone
* Rose Marie, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy

### S

* Sabotage, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Sylvia Sidney and Oskar Homolka – (GB)
* San Francisco, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy
* Satan Met a Lady, directed by William Dieterle, starring Bette Davis and Warren William
* Secret Agent, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Madeleine Carroll, Peter Lorre, John Gielgud and Robert Young – (GB)
* Show Boat, directed by James Whale, starring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones and Paul Robeson
* Silly Billies, directed by Fred Guiol, starring Wheeler & Woolsey
* The Singing Kid, directed by William Keighley, starring Al Jolson
* Sisters of the Gion (Gion no kyōdai), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
* Small Town Girl, directed by William Wellman, starring Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, Lewis Stone and James Stewart
* Son of Mongolia (Syn Mongolii), directed by Ilya Trauberg – (Mongolia)
* Sportszerelem (Love of Sport), directed by László Kardos – (Hungary)
* Spy of Napoleon, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Richard Barthelmess and Dolly Haas – (GB)
* The Story of Louis Pasteur, directed by William Dieterle, starring Paul Muni
* Stowaway, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Shirley Temple, Robert Young and Alice Faye
* Strike Me Pink, directed by Norman Taurog, starring Eddie Cantor and Ethel Merman
* Sutter's Gold, directed by James Cruze, starring Edward Arnold
* Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, directed by George King, starring Tod Slaughter – (GB)
* Swing Time, directed by George Stevens, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

### T

* Tarzan Escapes, directed by Richard Thorpe, starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan
* The Texas Rangers, directed by King Vidor, starring Fred MacMurray, Jack Oakie and Jean Parker
* Theodora Goes Wild, directed by Richard Boleslawski, starring Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas
* These Three, directed by William Wyler, starring Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon and Joel McCrea
* Things to Come, directed by William Cameron Menzies, starring Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson and Cedric Hardwicke – (GB)
* Three Godfathers, directed by Richard Boleslawski, starring Chester Morris, Lewis Stone and Walter Brennan
* Till We Meet Again, directed by Robert Florey, starring Herbert Marshall and Gertrude Michael
* Too Many Parents, directed by Robert F. McGowan, starring Frances Farmer
* The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Fred MacMurray, Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda
* Tudor Rose, directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Cedric Hardwicke, Nova Pilbeam and John Mills – (GB)

### W

* The Walking Dead, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez and Edmund Gwenn
* Where There's a Will, directed by William Beaudine, starring Will Hay and Graham Moffatt – (GB)
* Whom the Gods Love, directed by Basil Dean, starring Stephen Haggard – (GB)
* Wife vs. Secretary, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy and James Stewart
* Windbag the Sailor, directed by William Beaudine, starring Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt – (GB)
* A Woman Rebels, directed by Mark Sandrich, starring Katharine Hepburn and Herbert Marshall

### Y

* Yiddle with his Fiddle (Yidl Mitn Fidl), directed by Joseph Green, starring Molly Picon – (Poland)

## Serials

* Ace Drummond, starring John (Dusty) King
* The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
* The Black Coin
* The Clutching Hand
* Custer's Last Stand
* Darkest Africa, starring Clyde Beatty
* Flash Gordon, starring Buster Crabbe
* The Phantom Rider
* Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island, starring Ray Mala
* Shadow of Chinatown
* Undersea Kingdom, starring Ray Corrigan
* The Vigilantes Are Coming

## Comedy film series

* Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
* Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
* Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
* Buster Keaton (1917–1928)
* Laurel and Hardy (1927–1940)
* Our Gang (1922–1944)
* Harry Langdon (1924–1936)
* Wheeler & Woolsey (1929–1937)
* The Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
* The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

## Animated short film series

* Felix the Cat (1919-1936)
* Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
* Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–1938)
* Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
* Silly Symphonies
** Elmer Elephant
** Three Little Wolves
** Toby Tortoise Returns
** Three Blind Mousketeers
** The Country Cousin
** Mother Pluto
** More Kittens
* Screen Songs (1929–1938)
* Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
* Terrytoons (1930–1964)
* Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
* Scrappy (1931–1941)
* Betty Boop (1932–1939)
* Popeye (1933–1957)
* ComiColor Cartoons (1933-1936)
* Happy Harmonies (1934–1938)
* Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
* Rainbow Parades (1935-1936)
* Meany, Miny, and Moe (1936–1937)

## Births

* January 9 – K Callan, American author and actress
* January 18 – Tim Barlow, English actor (d. 2023)
* January 22 – Nyree Dawn Porter, English actress (d. 2001)
* January 27 – Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)
* January 28 – Alan Alda, American actor
* February 3 – Jeanine Basinger, American film historian
* February 4 – Gary Conway, American actor and screenwriter
* February 11 – Burt Reynolds, American actor (d. 2018)
* February 12
** Joe Don Baker, American character actor
** Paul Shenar, American actor (d. 1989)
* February 14
** Joan O'Brien, American actor, singer
** Andrew Prine, American actor (d. 2022)
* February 17 – Jim Brown, American actor (d. 2023)
* February 29 – Alex Rocco, American actor (d. 2015)
* March 1 – Georgina Spelvin, born Shelley Graham, American pornographic film actress
* March 5 – Dean Stockwell, American actor (d. 2021)
* March 8 – Sue Ane Langdon, American actress
* March 9 – Marty Ingels, American actor, comedian, comedy sketch writer and theatrical agent (d. 2015)
* March 19 – Ursula Andress, Swiss actress
* March 23 – Luisa Mattioli, Italian actress (d. 2021)
* April 9 – Avery Schreiber, American actor and comedian (d. 2002)
* April 12 – Charles Napier, American character actor (d. 2011)
* April 19 – Andy Romano, American actor (d. 2022)
* April 29 - Lane Smith, American actor (d. 2005)
* May 1 – Danièle Huillet, French director (d. 2006)
* May 4 – Eleanor Coppola, American documentary filmmaker, artist, and writer (d. 2024)
* May 9
** Albert Finney, English actor (d. 2019)
** Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician (d. 2023)
* May 12 – Millie Perkins, American former actress
* May 14 – Bobby Darin, American singer, songwriter, actor (d. 1973)
* May 17 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and performance artist (d. 2010)
* May 20 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
* May 23 – Charles Kimbrough, American actor (d. 2023)
* May 27 – Louis Gossett Jr., American actor (d. 2024)
* May 28 – John Wilder, American producer, writer and former actor
* May 30 – Keir Dullea, American actor
* June 3 – Larry McMurtry, American novelist and screenwriter (d. 2021)
* June 4 – Bruce Dern, American actor
* June 8 – James Darren, American actor, director and singer (d. 2024)
* June 19 - Takeshi Aono, Japanese voice actor and narrator (d. 2012)
* June 22 – Kris Kristofferson, American actor, musician and songwriter (d. 2024)
* June 24
** Robert Downey Sr., American actor and director (d. 2021)
** Paul L. Smith, American-Israeli actor and director (d. 2012)
* June 27 – Shirley Anne Field, English actress (d. 2023)
* July 1 – Ron Masak, American actor (d. 2022)
* July 5 – Shirley Knight, American actress (d. 2020)
* July 8 - William Cort, American actor (d. 1993)
* July 9 – Dick Richards, American director, producer and screenwriter
* July 9 - Richard Wilson, Scottish actor, theatre director and broadcaster
* July 24
** Ruth Buzzi, American actress, comedian and singer
** Mark Goddard, American actor (d. 2023)
* July 25 - August Schellenberg, Canadian actor (d. 2013)
* August 5 - John Saxon, American actor (d. 2020)
* August 15 - Pat Priest, American actress
* August 16 - Anita Gillette, American actress
* August 17 – Floyd Westerman, American musician, political activist, and actor (d. 2007)
* August 18 – Robert Redford, American actor and director
* August 20
** Míriam Colón, Puerto Rican actress (d. 2017)
** Philip Voss, British actor (d. 2020)
* August 25 – Hugh Hudson, English director (d. 2023)
* September 7 – Bruce Gray, Canadian actor (d. 2017)
* September 11 - Charles Dierkop, American character actor (d. 2024)
* September 14 - Walter Koenig, American actor and screenwriter
* September 19 - Anna Karen, British-South African actress (d. 2022)
* September 20
** Andrew Davies, Welsh writer
** Pepper Martin, Canadian-American actor (d. 2022)
* September 21 - Burr DeBenning, American character actor (d. 2003)
* September 24 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer, animator, actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
* October 8 - Leonid Kuravlyov, Russian actor (d. 2022)
* October 9 – Brian Blessed, English actor
* October 16
** Peter Bowles, English actor (d. 2022)
** Irina Demick, French actress (d. 2004)
* October 19 - Tony Lo Bianco, Italian-American actor (d. 2024)
* October 23 - Philip Kaufman, American director and screenwriter
* October 24 – David Nelson, American actor, director and producer (d. 2011)
* October 26 - Shelley Morrison, American actress (d. 2019)
* October 28 - Joe Spinell, American character actor (d. 1989)
* November 4 - Jan Tříska, Czech actor (d. 2017)
* November 9 – Teddy Infuhr, American child actor (d. 2007)
* November 19 - Dick Cavett, American television personality, comedian and former talk show host
* November 25 - Matt Clark, American actor
* November 27 – Joel Barcellos, Brazilian actor (d. 2018)
* December 1 - Melissa Jaffer, Australian actress
* December 3
** Mary Alice, American actress (d. 2022)
** Sir Horace Ové, Trinidadian-born British filmmaker (d. 2023)
* December 5 - John Erwin, American voice actor (d. 2024)
* December 6 - David Ossman, American writer and comedian
* December 8 – David Carradine, American actor and martial artist (d. 2009)
* December 10 – Howard Smith, American journalist, director and producer (d. 2014)
* December 13 - Cliff Emmich, American actor (d. 2022)
* December 18 - Gary Gray, American child actor (d. 2006)
* December 22 – Hector Elizondo, American actor
* December 23
** Frederic Forrest, American actor (d. 2023)
** James Stacy, American actor (d. 2016)
* December 25 – Ismail Merchant, Indian film producer (d. 2005)
* December 28 - Rhys McConnochie, New Zealand-born Australian actor
* December 29 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress (d. 2017)

## Deaths

* January 9
** John Gilbert, American actor (b. 1897)
** Frank Rice, American actor (b. 1892)
* January 24 – Harry T. Morey, American actor (b. 1873)
* February 20 – Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)
* February 28 – Justus Hagman, Swedish actor (b. 1859)
* April 6 – Väinö Lehmus, Finnish actor (b. 1886)
* June 7 - Jobyna Howland, American actress (b. 1880)
* June 17 – Henry B. Walthall, American actor (b. 1878)
* July 11 - James Murray, American actor (b. 1901)
* September 14 – Irving Thalberg, American film producer (b. 1899)
* October 10 - William H. Tooker, American actor
* October 17 – Suzanne Bianchetti, French actress (b. 1889)

## Debuts

* Gaby André – Hélène
* Lloyd Bridges – Freshman Love
* Blanchette Brunoy – Counsel for Romance
* Peter Bull – The Secret Voice
* Esma Cannon – The Man Behind the Mask
* Jerome Cowan – Beloved Enemy
* Janine Darcey – La tendre ennemie
* Don DeFore – Reunion
* Gloria DeHaven – Modern Times
* Eddie Dew – The Story of Louis Pasteur
* Frank Faylen – Road Gang
* Judy Garland – Pigskin Parade
* Beatrice Gray – Swing Time
* Ethel May Halls – The Milky Way
* Harry Hayden – I Married a Doctor
* Patricia Hayes – Broken Blossoms
* James Hayter – Sensation
* Van Heflin – A Woman Rebels
* Fay Helm – Fury
* Daisuke Katō – Kōchiyama Sōshun
* Alma Kruger – These Three
* Joan Leslie – Camille
* Kay Linaker – The Murder of Dr. Harrigan
* Hugh Marlowe – Brilliant Marriage
* Tony Martin – Follow the Fleet
* Mira McKinney – Modern Times
* Dennis Morgan – I Conquer the Sea!
* Wayne Morris – China Clipper
* John Payne – Dodsworth
* Anthony Quinn – The Milky Way
* Martha Raye – Rhythm on the Range
* Michael Redgrave – Secret Agent
* Michael Rennie – Secret Agent
* Elizabeth Russell – Forgotten Faces
* Margaret Rutherford – Dusty Ermine
* Kent Smith – The Garden Murder Case
* Madeleine Sologne – Life Belongs to Us
* Gale Sondergaard – Anthony Adverse
* Louise Stanley – Anything Goes
* Nigel Stock – The Man Who Could Work Miracles
* John Sutton – The House of a Thousand Candles
* Max Terhune – Ride Ranger Ride
* Beatrice Varley – Tomorrow We Live
* Marjorie Weaver – China Clipper
* Robert J. Wilke – San Francisco