1976 in film

The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.

Events

January – Paramount Pictures sets up a separate motion picture division and names David V. Picker as president.
March 22 – Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film. In one of the most lucrative business decisions in film history, Lucas declines his directing fee of $500,000 in exchange for complete ownership of merchandising and sequel rights.
April 1 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show is officially re-released as a midnight movie at the Waverly Theater (Now the IFC Center) in Greenwich Village in New York City, starting through the run and still being shown in there all around the world.
April 9 – Alfred Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot, is released.
August 11 – John Wayne appears in his final film, The Shootist.
August 26 – Alan Ladd Jr. is promoted from head of worldwide production to president of 20th Century Fox's film division.
November 15 – Michael Eisner is brought in as president and CEO of Paramount Pictures.
November 21 – Rocky, the first in the film series opens. It becomes the highest-grossing film released in the year and goes on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
December 5 – Bound for Glory debuts and is the first motion picture in which inventor/operator Garrett Brown used his new Steadicam for filming moving scenes, although its use had already been seen in Marathon Man and Rocky which were filmed later but released earlier.
December 17 - King Kong opens to the year's highest opening weekend gross and overall box office success.

Awards

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"

! rowspan="2" style="width:20px;"| Category/Organization !! colspan="2" style="width:250px;"| 34th Golden Globe Awards January 29, 1977 !! rowspan="2" style="width:250px;"| 30th BAFTA Awards March 24, 1977 !! rowspan="2" style="width:250px;"| 49th Academy Awards March 28, 1977

! width=200| Drama !! style="width:200px;"| Musical or Comedy

| Best Film || Rocky || A Star Is Born || One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest || Rocky

| Best Director || colspan="2" | Sidney Lumet Network || Miloš Forman One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest || John G. Avildsen Rocky

| Best Actor || Peter Finch Network || Kris Kristofferson A Star Is Born || Jack Nicholson One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest || Peter Finch Network

| Best Actress || Faye Dunaway Network || Barbra Streisand A Star Is Born || Louise Fletcher One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest || Faye Dunaway Network

| Best Supporting Actor || colspan="2" | Laurence Olivier Marathon Man || Brad Dourif One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest || Jason Robards All the President's Men

| Best Supporting Actress || colspan="2" | Katharine Ross Voyage of the Damned || Jodie Foster Taxi Driver and Bugsy Malone || Beatrice Straight Network

| Best Screenplay, Adapted || colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Paddy Chayefsky Network || rowspan="2" | Alan Parker Bugsy Malone || William Goldman All the President's Men

| Best Screenplay, Original || Paddy Chayefsky Network

| Best Original Score || colspan="2" | Kenneth Ascher and Paul Williams A Star Is Born || Bernard Herrmann Taxi Driver || Jerry Goldsmith The Omen Leonard Rosenman Bound for Glory

| Best Original Song || colspan="2" | "Evergreen" A Star Is Born || N/A || "Evergreen" A Star Is Born

| Best Foreign Language Film || colspan="2" | Face to Face || N/A || Black and White in Color

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

:Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese, United States

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

:Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, directed by Robert Altman, United States

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1976 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"

|+ Highest-grossing films of 1976

! Rank!! Title !! Distributor !! Domestic rentals

! style="text-align:center;"| 1

| Rocky

| United Artists

| $55,900,000

! style="text-align:center;"| 2

| A Star Is Born

| Warner Bros.

| $37,100,000

! style="text-align:center;"| 5

| All the President's Men

| Warner Bros.

| $30,000,000

March 23
Michelle Monaghan, American actress
Keri Russell, American actress
March 25 - Domenick Lombardozzi, American actor
March 26 – Amy Smart, American actress
March 27 - Craig Wayans, American writer, producer and actor
April 1
Troy Baker, American voice actor
David Oyelowo, English actor, producer, director
April 5 – Sterling K. Brown, American actor
April 6 - Candace Cameron Bure, American actress, producer, author, and talk show panelist
April 13
Glenn Howerton, American actor, writer, producer
Jonathan Brandis, American actor (d. 2003)
April 15 – Susan Ward, American actress and model
April 16 – Lukas Haas, American actor
April 17 – Maïwenn, French actress and filmmaker
April 18 – Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
April 20 – Joey Lawrence, American actor
April 23 – Gabriel Damon, American actor
April 26
Elisabet Reinsalu, Estonian actress
Thurop Van Orman, American cartoonist, animator, voice actor, producer and director
April 27 – Sally Hawkins, English actress
May 1
Darius McCrary, American actor, rapper, singer and producer
Violante Placido, Italian actress and singer
May 5
Dieter Brummer, Australian actor (d. 2021)
Sage Stallone, American actor (d. 2012)
May 14 - Martine McCutcheon, English actress and singer
May 22 – Külli Teetamm, Estonian actress
May 25
Erinn Hayes, American actress and comedian
Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
Ethan Suplee, American film and television actor
J. Michael Tatum, American voice actor
May 28 - Liam O'Brien, American voice actor, writer and director
May 29 – Yûsuke Iseya, Japanese actor
May 30 – Omri Katz, American retired actor
May 31 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
June 4 - Damion Poitier, American actor and stuntman
June 6 - Jonathan Nolan, British-American screenwriter, producer and director
June 8 - Eion Bailey, American actor
June 10 - Simon Fenton, English actor
June 17 - Scott Adkins, British actor, producer and martial artist
June 19 - Ryan Hurst, American actor
June 21 – Dan Scanlon, American animator, storyboard artist, director and screenwriter
June 28 - Lorraine Stanley, English actress
June 29
Omar Doom, American actor, musician and artist
Bret McKenzie, New Zealand musician, comedian and actor
July 1 - Thomas Sadoski, American actor
July 3 - Andrea Barber, American actress and comedian
July 5
Jamie Elman, Canadian-American actor
Liberty Phoenix, American former actress
July 6 - Bashir Salahuddin, American actor, writer and comedian
July 7 - Hamish Linklater, American actor
July 9 – Fred Savage, American actor
July 12 - Anna Friel, English actress
July 15
Gabriel Iglesias, American stand-up comedian and actor
Diane Kruger, German actress
July 17 - Dagmara Dominczyk, Polish-American actress
July 18 – Elsa Pataky, Spanish-Australian actress
July 19
Benedict Cumberbatch, English actor
Vinessa Shaw, American actress and model
July 24 - Grégory Gadebois, French actor
July 31 – Mela Lee, American voice actress
August 2 – Sam Worthington, Australian actor
August 8 - Nigél Thatch, American actor
August 9 – Audrey Tautou, French actress
August 23 - Scott Caan, American actor, director and writer
August 25 – Alexander Skarsgard, Swedish actor
August 26 – Byron Lawson, Canadian actor
August 27 – Sarah Chalke, Canadian actress, model and voice artist
August 30 - Lillo Brancato, American actor
September 3 – Vivek Oberoi, Indian actor
September 5 – Carice van Houten, Dutch actress and singer
September 6
Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, American actress
Robin Atkin Downes, English actor and voice actor
Naomie Harris, English actress
September 7 - Oliver Hudson, American actor
September 9
Emma de Caunes, French actress
Lúcia Moniz, Portuguese singer and actress
September 13 - Colin Trevorrow, American filmmaker
September 20
Jon Bernthal, American actor
Enuka Okuma, Canadian actress
September 22 - Sala Baker, New Zealand actress and stuntman
September 24 - Matthew Gravelle, Welsh actor
September 26 – Kersti Heinloo, Estonian actress
October 3 – Seann William Scott, American actor, comedian and producer
October 4 – Alicia Silverstone, American actress
October 6 - Brett Gelman, American actor and comedian
October 9
Sam Riegel, American voice actor, director and writer
Nick Swardson, American actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter and producer
October 11 - Emily Deschanel, American actress
October 14 - Chang Chen, Taiwanese actor
October 20 – Dan Fogler, American actor, comedian and writer
October 21 – Andrew Scott, Irish actor
October 23 – Ryan Reynolds, Canadian actor and film producer
October 26 - Florence Kasumba, Ugandan-born German actress
October 31 – Piper Perabo, American actress
November 5 - Sebastian Arcelus, American actor
November 7 - Melyssa Ade, Canadian actress
November 24
Coralie Fargeat, French film director and screenwriter
Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Japanese actor
November 28 - Ryan Kwanten, Australian actor and producer
November 29
Chadwick Boseman, American actor and playwright (d. 2020)
Anna Faris, American actress, podcaster and writer
December 1 - Dean O'Gorman, New Zealand actor
December 5 - Amy Acker, American actress
December 7 – Mark Duplass, American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician
December 8 – Dominic Monaghan, English actor
December 23 - Kyle Kinane, American stand-up comedian and actor
December 27 - Aaron Stanford, American actor
December 28 - Joe Manganiello, American actor
December 29
Dome Karukoski, Finnish director
Danny McBride, American actor, comedian and writer
December 31 - Chris Terrio, American screenwriter and director

Deaths

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" border="0"

|- style="background:#dae3e7; text-align:center;"

| Month || Date || Name || Age || Country || Profession || Notable films

|- valign="top"

| rowspan=7 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| January

| style="text-align:center;"| 1 || Walter Janssen || style="text-align:center;"| 88 || style="text-align:center;"| Germany || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 12 || Agatha Christie || style="text-align:center;"| 85 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Writer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 13 || Margaret Leighton || style="text-align:center;"| 53 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 18 || Sonia Dresdel || style="text-align:center;"| 66 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 23 || Paul Dupuis || style="text-align:center;"| 62 || style="text-align:center;"| France || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 23 || Paul Robeson || style="text-align:center;"| 77 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor, Singer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 29 || Michael Gwynn || style="text-align:center;"| 59 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| rowspan=9 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| February

| style="text-align:center;"| 4 || Roger Livesey || style="text-align:center;"| 69 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 11 || Lee J. Cobb || style="text-align:center;"| 64 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 11 || John Twist || style="text-align:center;"| 77 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Screenwriter ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 12 || Sal Mineo || style="text-align:center;"| 37 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 13 || Lily Pons || style="text-align:center;"| 77 || style="text-align:center;"| France || style="text-align:center;"| Singer, Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 13 || John Lounsbery || style="text-align:center;"| 64 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Animator ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 15 || Maria Corda || style="text-align:center;"| 77 || style="text-align:center;"| Hungary || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 16 || Campbell Singer || style="text-align:center;"| 66 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 24 || Peter Madden || style="text-align:center;"| 71 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

||| style="text-align:center;"| 26 || Frieda Inescort || style="text-align:center;"| 75 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| rowspan=6 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| March

| style="text-align:center;"| 3 || Doris Hill || style="text-align:center;"| 70 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 5 || Charles Lederer || style="text-align:center;"| 69 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Screenwriter ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 14 || Busby Berkeley || style="text-align:center;"| 80 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Director, Choreographer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 17 || Luchino Visconti || style="text-align:center;"| 69 || style="text-align:center;"| Italy || style="text-align:center;"| Director, Writer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 20 || Michael Goodliffe || style="text-align:center;"| 61 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 28 || Richard Arlen || style="text-align:center;"| 76 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| rowspan=11 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| April

| style="text-align:center;"| 2 || Ray Teal || style="text-align:center;"| 74 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 4 || George Pastell || style="text-align:center;"| 53 || style="text-align:center;"| Cyprus || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 5 || Howard Hughes || style="text-align:center;"| 70 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Director, Producer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 5 || Robert Lord || style="text-align:center;"| 75 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Screenwriter, Producer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 11 || Liam Dunn || style="text-align:center;"| 59 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 12 || Paul Ford || style="text-align:center;"| 74 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 21 || Léonide Moguy || style="text-align:center;"| 75 || style="text-align:center;"| Russia || style="text-align:center;"| Director, Writer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 25 || Carol Reed || style="text-align:center;"| 69 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Director, Writer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 26 || Neil McCallum || style="text-align:center;"| 46 || style="text-align:center;"| Canada || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 26 || Sid James || style="text-align:center;"| 62 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 29 || Thelma Connell || style="text-align:center;"| 63 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Film Editor ||

| rowspan=4 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| May

| style="text-align:center;"| 3 || David Bruce || style="text-align:center;"| 62 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 7 || Alan Baxter || style="text-align:center;"| 67 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 27 || Hilde Hildebrand || style="text-align:center;"| 78 || style="text-align:center;"| Germany || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 27 || Ruth McDevitt || style="text-align:center;"| 80 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| rowspan=6 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| June

| style="text-align:center;"| 5 || Violet Wilkey || style="text-align:center;"| 73 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 6 || Victor Varconi || style="text-align:center;"| 85 || style="text-align:center;"| Hungary || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 9 || Sybil Thorndike || style="text-align:center;"| 93 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 10 || Adolph Zukor || style="text-align:center;"| 103 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Producer, Studio Executive ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 25 || Johnny Mercer || style="text-align:center;"| 66 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Songwriter ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 28 || Stanley Baker || style="text-align:center;"| 48 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| rowspan=5 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| July

| style="text-align:center;"| 2 || Frances Howard || style="text-align:center;"| 73 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 7 || Norman Foster || style="text-align:center;"| 72 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor, Director ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 12 || James Wong Howe || style="text-align:center;"| 76 || style="text-align:center;"| China || style="text-align:center;"| Cinematographer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 17 || Rina Morelli || style="text-align:center;"| 67 || style="text-align:center;"| Italy || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 28 || Lucie Mannheim || style="text-align:center;"| 77 || style="text-align:center;"| Germany || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| rowspan=7 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| August

| style="text-align:center;"| 2 || Fritz Lang || style="text-align:center;"| 85 || style="text-align:center;"| Germany || style="text-align:center;"| Director, Writer ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 6 || William Mervyn || style="text-align:center;"| 64 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 10 || Ray Corrigan || style="text-align:center;"| 74 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 17 || William Redfield || style="text-align:center;"| 49 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 17 || Murvyn Vye || style="text-align:center;"| 60 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 18 || Luigi Serventi || style="text-align:center;"| 91 || style="text-align:center;"| Italy || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 28 || Alastair Sim || style="text-align:center;"| 75 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| September

| style="text-align:center;"| 10 || Dalton Trumbo || style="text-align:center;"| 70 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Screenwriter ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 30 || Paul Dehn || style="text-align:center;"| 63 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Screenwriter ||

| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| October

| style="text-align:center;"| 5 || Barbara Nichols || style="text-align:center;"| 47 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 14 || Edith Evans || style="text-align:center;"| 88 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| rowspan=5 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| November

| style="text-align:center;"| 3 || Ramsay Hill || style="text-align:center;"| 86 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor, Technical Advisor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 15 || Jean Gabin || style="text-align:center;"| 72 || style="text-align:center;"| France || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 22 || Rupert Davies || style="text-align:center;"| 60 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 28 || Rosalind Russell || style="text-align:center;"| 69 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 29 || Godfrey Cambridge || style="text-align:center;"| 43 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| rowspan=4 style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| December

| style="text-align:center;"| 3 || Mary Nash || style="text-align:center;"| 92 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 8 || Cathy Downs || style="text-align:center;"| 50 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actress ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 12 || Jack Cassidy || style="text-align:center;"| 49 || style="text-align:center;"| US || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

| style="text-align:center;"| 20 || Walter Fitzgerald || style="text-align:center;"| 80 || style="text-align:center;"| UK || style="text-align:center;"| Actor ||

Events

Awards

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

Deaths

Film debuts

References