1974 in film

Last updated November 07, 2025

The year 1974 in film involved some significant events. Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) celebrated their 50th anniversaries.

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1974 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1974
Rank	Title	Distributor(s)	Domestic rentals
1	The Towering Inferno	20th Century Fox / Warner Bros.	$50,000,000^[1]
2	Blazing Saddles	Warner Bros.	$45,200,000^[1]
3	Young Frankenstein	20th Century Fox	$38,800,000^[1]
4	Earthquake	Universal	$36,300,000^[1]
5	The Trial of Billy Jack	Warner Bros.	$31,100,000^[2]
6	The Godfather Part II	Paramount	$30,700,000^[1]
7	Airport 1975	Universal Pictures	$25,800,000^[1]
8	The Longest Yard	Paramount	$23,000,000^[1]
9	Death Wish	Paramount	$22,000,000^[3]
10	The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams	Sunn Classic	$21,895,000^[4]

Events

February 7 – Blazing Saddles is released in the United States.
May 28 - Joseph E. Levine, the founder of Embassy Pictures, resigns as president.
June 20 – Chinatown , directed by Roman Polanski and featured Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston, is released to worldwide critical acclaim.
September 23 – Barry Diller announced as chairman and chief executive office of Paramount Pictures.
November 1 – Technicolor ceases its legendary dye-transfer printing process.
November 8 – Frank Yablans announces his resignation as president of Paramount Pictures with effect from January 5, 1975.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with big fanfare, including That's Entertainment! , a retrospective documentary celebrating its prestigious musicals (e.g. The Wizard of Oz , Singin' in the Rain , Meet Me in St. Louis , Gigi , An American in Paris , Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ).
October–December – Three "disaster films" are released in three consecutive months: Airport 1975 , Earthquake , and The Towering Inferno respectively. All were box office successes.
December 30 – Gordon Stulberg resigns as president of 20th Century Fox.
Kevin Costner made his film debut in Sizzle Beach, U.S.A. , although the film was not released until 1986.

Awards

Category/Organization	32nd Golden Globe Awards January 25, 1975		28th BAFTA Awards February 18, 1975	47th Academy Awards April 8, 1975
Category/Organization	Drama	Comedy or Musical	28th BAFTA Awards February 18, 1975	47th Academy Awards April 8, 1975
Best Film	Chinatown	The Longest Yard	Lacombe, Lucien	The Godfather Part II
Best Director	Roman Polanski Chinatown			Francis Ford Coppola The Godfather Part II
Best Actor	Jack Nicholson Chinatown	Art Carney Harry and Tonto	Jack Nicholson The Last Detail / Chinatown	Art Carney Harry and Tonto
Best Actress	Gena Rowlands A Woman Under the Influence	Raquel Welch The Three Musketeers	Joanne Woodward Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams	Ellen Burstyn Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Best Supporting Actor	Fred Astaire The Towering Inferno		John Gielgud Murder on the Orient Express	Robert De Niro The Godfather Part II
Best Supporting Actress	Karen Black The Great Gatsby		Ingrid Bergman Murder on the Orient Express
Best Screenplay, Adapted	Chinatown Robert Towne		Chinatown / The Last Detail Robert Towne	The Godfather Part II Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo
Best Screenplay, Original	Chinatown Robert Towne		Chinatown / The Last Detail Robert Towne	Chinatown Robert Towne
Best Original Score	Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe The Little Prince		Richard Rodney Bennett Murder on the Orient Express	Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola The Godfather Part II Nelson Riddle The Great Gatsby
Best Original Song	"I Feel Love" Benji		N/A	"We May Never Love Like This Again" The Towering Inferno
Best Foreign Language Film	Scenes from a Marriage		N/A	Amarcord

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

The Conversation , directed by Francis Ford Coppola, United States

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz , directed by Ted Kotcheff, Canada

1974 films

By genre/medium

Births

January 1 – Jennifer Podemski, Canadian actress
January 5
- Daisy Bates, English actress
- Jessica Chaffin, American actress, comedian and writer
January 10
- Jemaine Clement, New Zealand actor, musician, comedian, singer, director and writer
- Kelly Marcel, English screenwriter, director and former actress
- Mehdi Nebbou, French actor
- Hrithik Roshan, Indian actor
January 14 - Kevin Durand, Canadian actor
January 16 - Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Vietnamese–American actor
January 18 - Maulik Pancholy, American actor
January 19 - Natassia Malthe, Norwegian actress and model
January 21 - Vincent Laresca, American actor
January 24 – Ed Helms, American actor and comedian
January 28
- Ty Olsson, Canadian actor
- Melody Perkins, American actress
January 30
- Christian Bale, English actor^[5]
- Olivia Colman, English actress^[5]
February 2 - Oz Perkins, American actor, screenwriter and director
February 4 – Urmila Matondkar, Indian actress
February 5 - Tofiga Fepulea'i, New Zealand actor and comedian
February 8
- Seth Green, American actor, voice artist, comedian, producer, writer and director
- Susan May Pratt, American actress
February 9
- Erra Fazira, Malaysian actress
- Amber Valletta, American model and actress
February 10
- Elizabeth Banks, American actress, director, writer and producer
- María Botto, Argentine-Spanish actress
- Tanoai Reed, American stuntman and actor
February 11 - Isaiah Mustafa, American actor
February 12 - Lisa Brenner, American actress
February 15
- Miranda July (née Grossinger), American filmmaker, performance artist and fiction writer
- Gina Lynn, American former pornographic actress
February 16 – Mahershala Ali, American actor and rapper
February 17
- David Lipper, Canadian actor
- Jerry O'Connell, American actor
February 18 – Nadine Labaki, Lebanese actress, director and activist
February 25 – Divya Bharti, Indian actress (d. 1993)
March 5
- Kevin Connolly, American actor and director
- Matt Lucas, English actor, comedian, writer and television presenter
- Eva Mendes, American actress
March 7
- Jenna Fischer, American actress
- Tobias Menzies, English actor
March 8
- Cesar Velasco Broca, Spanish actor and cult filmmaker
- Danny Corkill, American former child actor
- Fardeen Khan, Indian actor
March 14 - Etan Cohen, Israeli-American screenwriter and director
March 15 - Renoly Santiago, Puerto Rican actor, singer and writer
March 21
- Rhys Darby, New Zealand actor, comedian and voice actor
- Joseph Mawle, English actor
March 23 - Randall Park, American actor, comedian and writer
March 24 – Alyson Hannigan, American actress
March 25 - Laz Alonso, American actor
March 31
- Adrian Holmes, Canadian actor
- Victoria Smurfit, Irish actress
April 2 - Harold Hunter, American professional skateboarder and actor (d. 2006)
April 10 - Omar Metwally, American actor
April 11 - David Banner, American rapper and actor
April 12 - Marley Shelton, American actress
April 15
- Fay Masterson, English actress
- Danny Pino, American actor
April 16 - Valarie Rae Miller, American actress and television host
April 18 - Edgar Wright, English filmmaker
April 21
- John Hasler, English actor and voice actor
- Tony Kgoroge, South African actor
April 23 - Barry Watson, American actor
April 24 – Jennifer Paz, Filipino actress
April 26 – Ivana Miličević, American actress
April 28 – Penélope Cruz, Spanish actress
May 2 - Matt Berry, English actor, voice actor, comedian, writer and musician
May 3 - Joseph Kosinski, American filmmaker
May 7 – Breckin Meyer, American actor, voice actor, writer and producer
May 10 - Craig Hall, New Zealand actor
May 11 – Benoît Magimel, French actor
May 14 - Carla Jimenez, American actress
May 15 – Russell Hornsby, American actor
May 21
- Fairuza Balk, American actress
- Juliet Cowan, Northern Irish actress
May 22 – Sean Gunn, American actor
May 23 - Jewel, American singer-songwriter and actress
May 24 - Dash Mihok, American actor and director
May 25 - Maria Fernanda Cândido, Brazilian actress and television presenter
May 28 - Romain Duris, French actor
June 2 - Leah Cairns, Canadian actress
June 6 - Danny Strong, American actor, writer, director and producer
June 11 - Lenny Jacobson, American actor
June 12
- Jared Bush, American screenwriter, producer and director
- Jason Mewes, American actor, comedian, film producer and podcaster
June 13 - Brande Roderick, American model and actress
June 16 - Joseph May, British-born Canadian-American actor
June 20 – Lenin M. Sivam, Sri Lankan-Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
June 23 – Joel Edgerton, Australian actor
June 25
- Jeff Cohen, American former child actor
- Karisma Kapoor, Indian actress
June 28 - Kirsty Mitchell, Scottish actress
July 1 - Jonathan Roumie, American actor
July 3 - Corey Reynolds, American actor
July 4 - Mick Wingert, American voice actor
July 8 – Tami Erin, American actress
July 10 - Imelda May, Irish actress and singer
July 14 - Maxine Peake, English actress
July 16 - Robinne Lee, American actress
July 20 - Simon Rex, American actor, rapper and comedian
July 22
- Donald Faison, American actor, comedian and voice actor
- Franka Potente, German actress
- Johnny Strong, American actor, musician and singer-songwriter
July 23 - Stephanie March, American actress
July 27
- Amy Hathaway, American former actress
- Takehiro Hira, Japanese actor
July 28 - Hannah Waddingham, English actress, singer and television presenter
July 29 - Josh Radnor, American actor and filmmaker
July 30 – Hilary Swank, American actress
July 31
- Emilia Fox, English actress and presenter
- Asher Keddie, Australian actress
August 2 - Angie Cepeda, Colombian actress
August 5 – Kajol, Indian actress
August 7 – Michael Shannon, American actor
August 8 - Enzo Cilenti, English actor
August 10 - Craig Kirkwood, American former actor
August 11 - Chris Messina, American actor, director, writer and producer
August 14 - Tomer Sisley, Israeli-French actor and comedian
August 15 – Natasha Henstridge, Canadian actress and model
August 20
- Amy Adams, American actress
- Misha Collins, American actor
August 21 - Paul Chowdhry, British comedian and actor
August 23 – Ray Park, Scottish actor and stuntman
August 31 - Marc Webb, American music video director and filmmaker
September 1 - Burn Gorman, English actor and musician
September 4 - Nona Gaye, American singer and retired actress
September 5 - Romina Yan, Argentine actress, screenwriter and singer (d. 2010)
September 6
- Sarah Danielle Madison, American actress (d. 2014)
- Justin Whalin, American former actor
September 7 - Noah Huntley, English actor
September 10 – Ryan Phillippe, American actor
September 11 - Ben Best, American actor, writer, musician and producer (d. 2021)
September 16 - Ed Stoppard, English actor
September 18
- Xzibit, American rapper, actor and broadcaster
- Emily Rutherfurd, American actress
September 19
- Jimmy Fallon, American television host, comedian and actor
- Victoria Silvstedt, Swedish actress and model
September 30 - Ashley Hamilton, American actor, comedian and singer-songwriter
October 1
- Brandon Keener, American actor
- Sherri Saum, American actress
October 2 - Michelle Krusiec, American actress, writer and producer
October 6
- Fernando Chien, Taiwanese actor and stunt performer
- Alexis Georgoulis, Greek actor
- Jeremy Sisto, American actor, producer and writer
October 7 - Numan Acar, Turkish-German actor and producer
October 17
- Matthew Macfadyen, English actor
- Rizwan Manji, Canadian actor
October 20 – Brian Limond, Scottish comedian, actor and writer
October 28
- Michael Dougherty, American director, screenwriter, producer and animator
- Jake Kasdan, American filmmaker and actor
- Joaquin Phoenix, American actor
October 31
- David Dencik, Danish-Swedish actor
- Ruben Fleischer, American director and producer
November 2 - Nelly, American actor, rapper and singer
November 4 – Matthew Rhys, Welsh actor
November 7 - Carl Steven, American child actor (d. 2011)
November 9 - Ryo Kase, Japanese actor
November 10 – Simone Singh, Indian actress
November 11 – Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor
November 12 - Tamala Jones, American actress
November 14
- Fatima Adoum, French actress
- David Moscow, American actor and producer
November 15 - Kathleen Rose Perkins, American actress
November 16 – Chloë Sevigny, American actress
November 21 – Tiit Sukk, Estonian actor
November 24 - Stephen Merchant, English comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter
November 25 - Kenneth Mitchell, Canadian actor (d. 2024)
November 26 - Omar Chaparro, Mexican actor, comedian, television host and singer
November 30 - Hinnerk Schönemann, German actor
December 1 – Érica Rivas, Argentinian actress
December 11 - Lisa Ortiz, American voice actress and voice director
December 15 - P. J. Byrne, American actor
December 17
- Paul Briggs, American animator and voice actor
- Sarah Paulson, American actress
- Giovanni Ribisi, American actor
- Marissa Ribisi, American actress
December 24 - Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor
December 25 - Andrew McNee, Canadian actor
December 27 - Masi Oka, Japanese actor, producer and digital effects artist
December 29 - Mekhi Phifer, American actor

Deaths

Month	Date	Name	Age	Country	Profession	Notable films
January	2	Tex Ritter	68	US	Actor, Singer	Trouble in Texas Where the Buffalo Roam
	3	Gino Cervi	72	Italy	Actor	Becket Black Eagle
	14	Paul Whitsun-Jones	50	UK	Actor	The Moonraker The Masque of the Red Death
	31	Samuel Goldwyn	94	Poland	Producer, Studio Executive	The Best Years of Our Lives Guys and Dolls
	31	Roger Pryor	72	US	Actor	Glamour for Sale The Return of Jimmy Valentine
February	7	Arline Judge	61	US	Actress	The Sin of Harold Diddlebock Pigskin Parade
	11	Anna Q. Nilsson	85	Sweden	Actress	Sunset Boulevard Sorrell and Son
	23	Florence Rice	67	US	Actress	At the Circus Double Wedding
	23	Harry Ruby	79	US	Screenwriter, Composer	Horse Feathers Duck Soup
	27	Orry-Kelly	66	Australia	Costume Designer	An American in Paris Some Like It Hot
	28	Carole Lesley	38	UK	Actress	Woman in a Dressing Gown Three on a Spree
March	3	Barbara Ruick	43	US	Actress, Singer	Carousel The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
	5	Billy De Wolfe	67	US	Actor	Dixie Tea for Two
	7	Alberto Rabagliati	67	Italy	Actor, Singer	The Barefoot Contessa Street Angel
	8	Martha Wentworth	84	US	Actress, Voice Actress	Santa Fe Uprising One Hundred and One Dalmatians
	13	Howard St. John	68	US	Actor	Born Yesterday Li'l Abner
	19	Edward Platt	58	US	Actor	North by Northwest Rebel Without a Cause
	28	Dorothy Fields	68	US	Songwriter	Swing Time Annie Get Your Gun
	28	Françoise Rosay	82	France	Actress	September Affair The Seventh Sin
	29	Seton I. Miller	71	US	Screenwriter	Scarface Here Comes Mr. Jordan
April	2	Douglass Dumbrille	84	Canada	Actor	Mr. Deeds Goes to Town The Ten Commandments
	10	Patricia Collinge	81	Ireland	Actress	Shadow of a Doubt The Nun's Story
	13	Stanley Smith	71	US	Actor	Honey Love Among the Millionaires
	18	Betty Compson	77	US	Actress	The Docks of New York The Miracle Man
	20	Peter Lee Lawrence	30	Germany	Actor	For a Few Dollars More Black Beauty
	24	Bud Abbott	78	US	Actor	Abbott and Costello in Hollywood Little Giant
	30	Agnes Moorehead	73	US	Actress	Citizen Kane The Magnificent Ambersons
May	18	Mary Maguire	55	Australia	Actress	The Outsider Sergeant Murphy
	24	Duke Ellington	75	US	Composer	Paris Blues Anatomy of a Murder
	25	Donald Crisp	91	UK	Actor	How Green Was My Valley National Velvet
June	6	Blanche Yurka	86	US	Actress	A Tale of Two Cities Queen of the Mob
	10	Lewis R. Foster	75	US	Director, Screenwriter	Manhandled Hong Kong
	17	Pamela Britton	51	US	Actress	Anchors Aweigh D.O.A.
	28	Frank Sutton	50	US	Actor	Marty Town Without Pity
July	13	Joe Flynn	48	US	Actor	McHale's Navy The Barefoot Executive
	13	Marthe Vinot	79	France	Actress	Le Mort vivant Le Calvaire
	27	Julián de Meriche	65	Mexico	Actor	The Incredible Invasion
	28	Truman Bradley	69	US	Actor, Narrator	Millionaires in Prison Murder Among Friends
August	13	Ilona Massey	64	Hungary	Actress	Invisible Agent Love Happy
August	16	Maxwell Reed	55	Ireland	Actor	Blackout The Notorious Landlady
September	6	Olga Baclanova	78	Russia	Actress	Freaks The Wolf of Wall Street
	6	Otto Kruger	89	US	Actor	High Noon Magnificent Obsession
	14	Barbara Jo Allen	68	US	Actress	Sleeping Beauty The Sword in the Stone
	14	Warren Hull	71	US	Actor	Star Reporter Mandrake the Magician
	18	Edna Best	74	UK	Actress	The Man Who Knew Too Much The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
	21	Jacqueline Susann	56	US	Author, Actress	Valley of the Dolls Once Is Not Enough
	21	Walter Brennan	80	US	Actor	The Westerner Rio Bravo
	22	Stephanie Bidmead	45	UK	Actress	Invasion Running Scared
	27	James R. Webb	64	US	Screenwriter	How the West Was Won Cape Fear
October	13	Ed Sullivan	73	US	Actor	Bye Bye Birdie The Singing Nun
November	7	Rodolfo Acosta	54	Mexico	Actor	The Sons of Katie Elder One-Eyed Jacks
	13	Vittorio De Sica	73	Italy	Actor, Director, Screenwriter	Bicycle Thieves Miracle in Milan
	14	Johnny Mack Brown	70	US	Actor	Coquette Our Dancing Daughters
	17	Clive Brook	87	UK	Actor	Shanghai Express Sherlock Holmes
	25	Rosemary Lane	61	US	Actress, Singer	Four Wives The Return of Doctor X
December	4	Lee Kinsolving	36	US	Actor	The Dark at the Top of the Stairs The Explosive Generation
	5	Pietro Germi	60	Italy	Actor, Director, Screenwriter	Divorce Italian Style Seduced and Abandoned
	10	Paul Richards	50	US	Actor	The Houston Story Beneath the Planet of the Apes
	11	Reed Hadley	63	US	Actor	The Baron of Arizona Big House, U.S.A.
	15	Anatole Litvak	72	Ukraine	Director, Producer	The Snake Pit Anastasia
	21	Richard Long	47	US	Actor	House on Haunted Hill The Stranger
	26	Jack Benny	80	US	Actor	To Be or Not to Be Broadway Melody of 1936

Film debuts

Selma Archerd – Airport 1975
Armand Assante – The Lords of Flatbush
Shabana Azmi – Parinay
Humbert Balsan – Lancelot of the Lake
Richard Belzer – The Groove Tube
Tom Bower – The Trial of Billy Jack
Tony Burton – The Black Godfather
Chevy Chase – The Groove Tube
Kent Cheng – Heroes Two
Bill Cobbs – The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Starletta DuPois – Death Wish
Robert Englund – Buster and Billie
Jeff Goldblum – Death Wish^[6]
Gloria Guida – Monika
Chris Haywood – The Cars That Ate Paris
Lawrence Hilton Jacobs – Claudine
Kane Hodder – California Split
Wendy Hughes – Petersen
Clyde Kusatsu – Airport 1975
Nick Mancuso – Black Christmas
Sean McCann – A Quiet Day in Belfast
Toshiyuki Nishida – Ranru no hata
Edward James Olmos – Black Fist
Raymond Serra – The Gambler
Ray Sharkey – The Lords of Flatbush
Stan Shaw – Truck Turner
Delia Sheppard – The Spots on My Leopard
Peter Simonischek – Die Auslieferung
Steven Spielberg (director) – The Sugarland Express
Jack Wallace – Death Wish
Fred Ward – Ginger in the Morning
Kenneth Welsh – Piaf
Henry Winkler – Crazy Joe

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 360–361. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
↑ Rental champs: Rate of return
↑ "Death Wish - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved September 28, 2023.
↑ Top 20 Films of 1974 by Domestic Revenue
1 2 Chase's Calendar of Events 2022: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months. Rowman & Littlefield. 15 November 2021. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-64143-504-8.
↑ Allon, Yoram; Cullen, Del; Patterson, Hannah (2001). Contemporary British and Irish Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide. Wallflower Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-903364-21-5.

External links

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[Finler-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 360–361. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.

[Variety97-2] Rental champs: Rate of return

[3] "Death Wish - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved September 28, 2023.

[1974DomesticRevenue-4] Top 20 Films of 1974 by Domestic Revenue

[Chase2022-5] 1 2 Chase's Calendar of Events 2022: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months. Rowman & Littlefield. 15 November 2021. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-64143-504-8.

[6] Allon, Yoram; Cullen, Del; Patterson, Hannah (2001). Contemporary British and Irish Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide. Wallflower Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-903364-21-5.

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