1969 in film

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The year 1969 in film involved some significant events, with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid dominating the U.S. box office and becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time and Midnight Cowboy, a film rated X, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture.

## Events

* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980. From 1969 to 1979, the festival is non-competitive.
* Al Pacino's film debut (*Me, Natalie*)
* Elvis Presley's film career ends with the release of *Change of Habit*.
* On August 9, Sharon Tate, the 26-year-old actress, model and Roman Polanski's wife, is murdered by Charles Manson's followers
* On June 22, Judy Garland dies at age 47 of a drug overdose in London.

## Action films released in 1969

1. Goyokin
2. Hitokiri
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman

## Actor's debuts

* Bob Balaban – *Midnight Cowboy*
* Sam Elliott – *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*
* Farrah Fawcett – *Love Is a Funny Thing*
* Melanie Griffith – *Smith!*
* Ian McKellen – *Thank You All Very Much*
* Al Pacino – *Me, Natalie*
* Arnold Schwarzenegger – *Hercules in New York*
* M. Emmet Walsh – *Midnight Cowboy*

## Awards

Academy Awards:

* Best Picture: *Midnight Cowboy* - Hellman-Schlesinger, United Artists
* Best Director: John Schlesinger, *Midnight Cowboy*
* Best Actor: John Wayne – *True Grit*
* Best Actress: Maggie Smith – *The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie*
* Best Supporting Actor: Gig Young, *They Shoot Horses, Don't They?*
* Best Supporting Actress: Goldie Hawn, *Cactus Flower*
* Best Foreign Language Film: *Z*, directed by Costa-Gavras, Algeria

* Best Picture: *Anne of the Thousand Days*
* Best Actor: John Wayne – *True Grit*
* Best Actress: Geneviève Bujold – *Anne of the Thousand Days*

Musical or comedy:
* Best Picture: *The Secret of Santa Vittoria*
* Best Actor: Peter O'Toole – *Goodbye, Mr. Chips*
* Best Actress: Patty Duke – *Me, Natalie*

Other
Best Director: Charles Jarrott – *Anne of the Thousand Days*
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

*If....*, directed by Lindsay Anderson, United Kingdom
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival): Not awarded

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

*Rani Radovi* (*Early Works*), directed by Želimir Žilnik, Yugoslavia
## Births

* January 1 – Mr. Lawrence, American voice actor, comedian, writer, storyboard artist, animator and director
* January 14 – Jason Bateman, American actor
* January 17 – James Waterston, American actor
* February 8
	+ Brian Krause, American actor
	+ Mary McCormack, American actress
* February 11 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress
* March 1 – Javier Bardem, Spanish actor
* April 2 – Ajay Devgan, Indian actor
* April 6 – Paul Rudd, American actor
* April 23 – Byron Thames, American actor
* April 25 – Renée Zellweger, American actress
* May 14 – Cate Blanchett, Australian actress
* May 25 – Anne Heche, American actress
* June 1 – Teri Polo, American actress
* June 28 – Tichina Arnold, American actress
* July 21 – Godfrey, American actor, comedian
* July 24 – Jennifer Lopez, American actress, singer
* August 4 – Vlad Ivanov, Romanian actor
* August 18
	+ Christian Slater, American actor
	+ Edward Norton, American actor
* August 28 – Jack Black, American actor, comedian, musician
* September 25 – Catherine Zeta-Jones, Welsh actress
* September 29 – Erika Eleniak, American actress
* October 15 – Dominic West, English actor
* October 19 – Trey Parker, American actor, creator of *South Park*
* November 4 – Matthew McConaughey, American actor
* November 13 - Gerard Butler, Scottish actor
* December 21 – Julie Delpy, French actress

## Deaths

* January 1 – Barton MacLane, 66, American actor, *The Maltese Falcon*, *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre*
* January 3 – Howard McNear, 63, American actor, *Anatomy of a Murder*, *Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea*
* January 4 – Violet and Daisy Hilton, 60, English conjoined twins, actresses, appeared in film *Freaks*
* January 8 – Leslie Goodwins, 69, English director, *The Mummy's Curse*, *Mexican Spitfire*
* February 2 – Boris Karloff, 81, English actor, *Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!*, *Frankenstein*
* February 5 – Thelma Ritter, 66, American actress, *Rear Window*, *All About Eve*
* February 9 – Gabby Hayes, 83, American actor, *The Man from Utah*, *In Old Oklahoma*
* February 11 – James Lanphier, 48, American actor, *The Pink Panther*, *The Party*
* February 27 – John Boles, 73, American actor, *Frankenstein*, *Stella Dallas*
* March 18 – Barbara Bates, 43, American actress, *The Caddy*, *All About Eve*
* April 23 – Krzysztof Komeda, 37, Polish composer, *Rosemary's Baby*, *The Fearless Vampire Killers*
* May 24 – Mitzi Green, 48, American actress, *Lost in Alaska*, *Skippy*
* March 25 – Alan Mowbray, 72, British actor, *Terror by Night*, *My Darling Clementine*
* May 27 – Jeffrey Hunter, 42, American actor, *The Searchers*, *King of Kings*
* June 2 – Leo Gorcey, 51, American actor, *Ghost Chasers*, *Spook Busters*
* June 8 – Robert Taylor, 57, American actor, *Quo Vadis*, *Ivanhoe*
* June 10 – Frank Lawton, 64, English actor, *A Night to Remember*, *The Devil-Doll*
* June 13 – Martita Hunt, 70, English actress, *Becket*, *Great Expectations*
* June 19 – Natalie Talmadge, 73, American silent screen actress, *Our Hospitality*, *Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages*
* June 20 – Rudolf Schwarzkogler, 29, Austrian experimental filmmaker, *Satisfaction*
* June 22 – Judy Garland, 47, American actress, *The Wizard of Oz*, *Meet Me in St. Louis*
* July 5 – Leo McCarey, 72, American director, *An Affair to Remember*, *Going My Way*
* July 7 - Erskine Sanford, 83, American actor, *Citizen Kane*, *The Magnificent Ambersons*
* July 8 – Gladys Swarthout, 68, American singer, *Romance in the Dark*, *Give Us This Night*
* August 1 – Donald Keith, 65, American actor, *The Plastic Age*, *Parisian Love*
* August 9 – Sharon Tate, 26, American actress, *The Fearless Vampire Killers*, *Valley of the Dolls*
* August 14 – Sigrid Gurie, 58, American actress, *Algiers*, *The Adventures of Marco Polo*
* August 15 – William Goetz, 66, American producer, studio executive, *Sayonara*, *Les Misérables*
* August 26 – Martin Miller, 69, Czech actor, *55 Days at Peking*, *The Pink Panther*
* October 12 – Sonja Henie, 57, Norwegian actress, former Olympic ice skater, *Sun Valley Serenade*, *One in a Million*
* October 15 – Rod La Rocque, 70, American actor, *Meet John Doe*, *The Shadow Strikes*
* November 5 – Lloyd Corrigan, 69, American actor, *Son of Paleface*, *The Thin Man Goes Home*
* December 16 – Luis Enrique Vergara, 47, Mexican filmmaker, *House of Evil*, *Isle of the Snake People*
* December 22 – Ilse Steppat, 52, German actress, *On Her Majesty's Secret Service*

## References

1. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
2. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Midnight Cowboy*". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
3. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Easy Rider*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
4. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Hello, Dolly!*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
5. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
6. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Paint Your Wagon*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
7. ↑ "Box Office Information for *True Grit*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
8. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Cactus Flower*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
9. ↑ "Goodbye, Columbus, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
10. ↑ "Box Office Information for *On Her Majesty's Secret Service*". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
11. ↑ "Winning, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
12. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Z*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
13. ↑ "Box Office Information for *The Sterile Cuckoo*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
14. ↑ "The Stewardesses, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
15. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Run, Angel, Run!*". Worldwide Box Office. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
16. ↑ "Box Office Information for *They Shoot Horses, Don't They?*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
17. ↑ "Big Rental Films of 1970", *Variety*, 6 January 1971 pg 11.
18. ↑ "Box Office Information for *The Wild Bunch*". Worldwide Box Office. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
19. ↑ "Sweet Charity, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
20. ↑ "The Undefeated, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
21. ↑ "Where Eagles Dare, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
22. ↑ "Box Office Information for *Alice's Restaurant*". The Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
23. ↑ "ABC's 5 Years of Film Production Profits & Losses", *Variety*, 31 May 1973 pg 3.
24. ↑ Box Office Information for *Topaz*. *The Numbers*. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
25. ↑ "Big Rental Films of 1969", *Variety*, 7 January 1970 p 15.
26. ↑ Box Office Information for *If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium*. The Numbers. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
27. ↑ Box Office Information for *Once Upon a Time in the West*. The Numbers. Retrieved September 12, 2013.

## Further reading

* *1969: The Year Everything Changed* by Rob Kirkpatrick. Skyhorse Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-1-60239-366-0.

Template:1969 films