1976 in film

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Last updated April 10, 2024

The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

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

Highest-grossing films of 1976
Rank	Title	Distributor	Domestic rentals
1	Rocky	United Artists	$55,900,000^[1]
2	A Star Is Born	Warner Bros.	$37,100,000^[1]
3	King Kong	Paramount	$36,900,000^[1]
4	Silver Streak	20th Century Fox	$30,018,000^[2]
5	All the President's Men	Warner Bros.	$30,000,000^[1]
6	The Omen	20th Century Fox	$28,500,000^[1]
7	The Bad News Bears	Paramount	$24,800,000^[1]
8	The Enforcer	Warner Bros.	$24,000,000^[1]
9	In Search of Noah's Ark	Sunn Classic	$23,800,000^[1]
10	Midway	Universal	$21,610,435^[2]

Events

January – Paramount Pictures sets up a separate motion picture division and names David V. Picker as president.^[3]
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 as of 2013^[update] all around the world.^[4]
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,^[5] 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

Category/Organization	34th Golden Globe Awards January 29, 1977		30th BAFTA Awards March 24, 1977	49th Academy Awards March 28, 1977
Category/Organization	Drama	Musical or Comedy	30th BAFTA Awards March 24, 1977	49th Academy Awards March 28, 1977
Best Film	Rocky	A Star Is Born	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	Rocky
Best Director	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	Laurence Olivier Marathon Man		Brad Dourif One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	Jason Robards All the President's Men
Best Supporting Actress	Katharine Ross Voyage of the Damned		Jodie Foster Taxi Driver and Bugsy Malone	Beatrice Straight Network
Best Screenplay, Adapted	Paddy Chayefsky Network		Alan Parker Bugsy Malone	William Goldman All the President's Men
Best Screenplay, Original	Paddy Chayefsky Network		Alan Parker Bugsy Malone	Paddy Chayefsky Network
Best Original Score	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	"Evergreen" A Star Is Born		N/A	"Evergreen" A Star Is Born
Best Foreign Language Film	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

1976 films

By genre/medium

Births

January 2 – Paz Vega, Spanish actress
January 4 - August Diehl, German actor
January 6
- Johnny Yong Bosch, American actor, voice actor
- Danny Pintauro, American actor
January 7 - Tyron Leitso, Canadian actor
January 8 - Jenny Lewis, American singer-songwriter, musician and actress
January 13 – Michael Peña, American actor
January 15 - Dorian Missick, American actor
January 18 - Derek Richardson, American actor
January 20 - Wayne Bastrup, American actor and musician
January 21 – Lars Eidinger, German film, television and stage actor
January 27
- Chris Gauthier, English-born Canadian actor (d. 2024)
- Wojciech Klata, Polish actor
January 28 – Lee Ingleby, English film, television and stage actor
January 31 - Paul Scheer, American actor, comedian
February 3
- Isla Fisher, Australian actress
- Tim Heidecker, American comedian, writer, director, actor and musician
February 5
- Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor
- Tony Jaa, Thai actor, martial artist, director and stuntman
February 8 - Sharon Duncan-Brewster, British actress
February 9 – Charlie Day, American actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian, director and musician
February 10 - Keeley Hawes, English actress
February 11 – Brice Beckham, American actor
February 14 - Erica Leerhsen, American actress
February 23
- Aaron Aziz, Singaporean actor, singer and film director
- Kelly Macdonald, Scottish actress
February 25 – Rashida Jones, American actress, director, writer, and producer
February 28 - Ali Larter, American actress and model
February 29 - Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
March 8 – Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor, voice actor, writer and producer
March 13 – Danny Masterson, American actor and DJ
March 14
- Daniel Gillies, New Zealand-Canadian actor, producer, director and screenwriter
- Corey Stoll, American actor
March 16 – Paul Schneider, American actor
March 21 – Rachael MacFarlane, American voice actress, singer and writer
March 22 – Reese Witherspoon, American actress, producer, and entrepreneur
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
- Jonathan Brandis, American actor (d. 2003)
- Glenn Howerton, American actor and writer
April 15 – Susan Ward, American actress and model
April 16 - Lukas Haas, American actor
April 17 - Maïwenn, French actress and filmmaker
April 18 - Kevin Rankin, American actor
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
April 28 - Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, Native American actor
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 26 - Stephen Curry, Australian comedian and 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 18
- Alana de la Garza, American actress
- Blake Shelton, American singer and actor
June 19 - Ryan Hurst, American actor
June 21 - Dan Scanlon, American animator, storyboard artist, director and screenwriter
June 27
- Joseph Sikora, American actor
- Wagner Moura, Brazilian actor, director and filmmaker
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 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^[6]
- Vinessa Shaw, American actress and model
July 31 – Mela Lee, American voice actress
August 2 – Sam Worthington, Australian actor
August 6
- Andero Ermel, Estonian actor
- Melissa George, Australian actress
- Soleil Moon Frye, American actress and director
August 9
- Jessica Capshaw, American actress
- Audrey Tautou, French actress
August 16 - Kinga Philipps, Polish-American actress
August 23 - Scott Caan, American actor, director and writer
August 24 - Alex O'Loughlin, Australian actor, director and writer
August 25 – Alexander Skarsgard, Swedish actor
August 26 – Mike Colter, American 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 18 - Denis Ménochet, French actor
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 1 - Danielle Bisutti, American actress and singer
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 16 - Gil Kenan, British-American filmmaker
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 1 - Chad Lindberg, American actor
November 5 - Sebastian Arcelus, American actor
November 7 - Melyssa Ade, Canadian actress
November 24
- Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Japanese actor
- Michael Roof, American actor and comedian (d. 2009)
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

Month	Date	Name	Age	Country	Profession	Notable films
January	1	Walter Janssen	88	Germany	Actor	The Great Longing Maskerade
	12	Agatha Christie	85	UK	Writer	Witness for the Prosecution Murder on the Orient Express
	13	Margaret Leighton	53	UK	Actress	The Go-Between The Best Man
	18	Sonia Dresdel	66	UK	Actress	This Was a Woman The Fallen Idol
	23	Paul Dupuis	62	France	Actor	Against the Wind Madness of the Heart
	23	Paul Robeson	77	US	Actor, Singer	Show Boat The Proud Valley
	29	Michael Gwynn	59	UK	Actor	Cleopatra Jason and the Argonauts
February	4	Roger Livesey	69	UK	Actor	The Entertainer The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
	11	Lee J. Cobb	64	US	Actor	On the Waterfront The Exorcist
	11	John Twist	77	US	Screenwriter	King Richard and the Crusaders Annie Oakley
	12	Sal Mineo	37	US	Actor	Rebel Without a Cause Exodus
	13	Lily Pons	77	France	Singer, Actress	I Dream Too Much Hitting a New High
	13	John Lounsbery	64	US	Animator	Dumbo Lady and the Tramp
	15	Maria Corda	77	Hungary	Actress	White Rose The Private Life of Helen of Troy
	16	Campbell Singer	66	UK	Actor	The Square Peg The Hands of Orlac
	24	Peter Madden	71	UK	Actor	From Russia with Love Doctor Zhivago
	26	Frieda Inescort	75	UK	Actress	A Place in the Sun The Letter
March	3	Doris Hill	70	US	Actress	Sons of the Saddle Men Are Like That
	5	Charles Lederer	69	US	Screenwriter	His Girl Friday Ocean's 11
	14	Busby Berkeley	80	US	Director, Choreographer	42nd Street Hollywood Hotel
	17	Luchino Visconti	69	Italy	Director, Writer	The Leopard Death in Venice
	20	Michael Goodliffe	61	UK	Actor	Cromwell Jigsaw
	28	Richard Arlen	76	US	Actor	Wings Wildcat
April	2	Ray Teal	74	US	Actor	Judgment at Nuremberg Ace in the Hole
	4	George Pastell	53	Cyprus	Actor	From Russia with Love The Magus
	5	Howard Hughes	70	US	Director, Producer	Hell's Angels The Outlaw
	5	Robert Lord	75	US	Screenwriter, Producer	One Way Passage 20,000 Years in Sing Sing
	11	Liam Dunn	59	US	Actor	Blazing Saddles Young Frankenstein
	12	Paul Ford	74	US	Actor	Advise & Consent The Music Man
	21	Léonide Moguy	75	Russia	Director, Writer	Paris After Dark Action in Arabia
	25	Carol Reed	69	UK	Director, Writer	OIiver! The Third Man
	26	Neil McCallum	46	Canada	Actor	The Longest Day Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
	26	Sid James	62	UK	Actor	The Lavender Hill Mob Trapeze
	29	Thelma Connell	63	UK	Film Editor	Alfie The Deadly Affair
May	3	David Bruce	62	US	Actor	Susie Steps Out Lady on a Train
	7	Alan Baxter	67	US	Actor	Saboteur The Set-Up
	27	Hilde Hildebrand	78	Germany	Actress	Victor and Victoria Little Dorrit
	27	Ruth McDevitt	80	US	Actress	The Parent Trap The Birds
June	5	Violet Wilkey	73	US	Actress	The Birth of a Nation The Burned Hand
	6	Victor Varconi	85	Hungary	Actor	The King of Kings The Sea Hawk
	9	Sybil Thorndike	93	UK	Actress	The Magic Box Melba
	10	Adolph Zukor	103	US	Producer, Studio Executive	Wings Shanghai Express
	25	Johnny Mercer	66	US	Songwriter	The Harvey Girls Darling Lili
	28	Stanley Baker	48	UK	Actor	The Guns of Navarone Helen of Troy
July	2	Frances Howard	73	US	Actress	The Shock Punch The Swan
	7	Norman Foster	72	US	Actor, Director	Pilgrimage State Fair
	12	James Wong Howe	76	China	Cinematographer	The Rose Tattoo Hud
	17	Rina Morelli	67	Italy	Actress	The Leopard Senso
	28	Lucie Mannheim	77	Germany	Actress	The 39 Steps The High Command
August	2	Fritz Lang	85	Germany	Director, Writer	Metropolis The Big Heat
	6	William Mervyn	64	UK	Actor	The Ruling Class The Long Arm
	10	Ray Corrigan	74	US	Actor	The Three Mesquiteers Range Busters
	17	William Redfield	49	US	Actor	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Death Wish
	17	Murvyn Vye	60	US	Actor	A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Al Capone
	18	Luigi Serventi	91	Italy	Actor	A Woman's Story The Story of a Poor Young Man
	28	Alastair Sim	75	UK	Actor	The Green Man Scrooge
September	10	Dalton Trumbo	70	US	Screenwriter	Spartacus Roman Holiday
September	30	Paul Dehn	63	UK	Screenwriter	Goldfinger Murder on the Orient Express
October	5	Barbara Nichols	47	US	Actress	Sweet Smell of Success The Naked and the Dead
October	14	Edith Evans	88	UK	Actress	Tom Jones The Nun's Story
November	15	Jean Gabin	72	France	Actor	La Grande Illusion Port of Shadows
	22	Rupert Davies	60	UK	Actor	Waterloo The Criminal
	28	Rosalind Russell	69	US	Actress	His Girl Friday Auntie Mame
	29	Godfrey Cambridge	43	US	Actor	Cotton Comes to Harlem The President's Analyst
December	3	Mary Nash	92	US	Actress	The Philadelphia Story The Human Comedy
	8	Cathy Downs	50	US	Actress	My Darling Clementine The Dark Corner
	12	Jack Cassidy	49	US	Actor	Bunny O'Hare The Eiger Sanction
	20	Walter Fitzgerald	80	UK	Actor	The Fallen Idol Man in the Sky

Film debuts

Victoria Abril – Robin and Marian
Shohreh Aghdashloo – The Chess Game of the Wind
Albert Brooks – Taxi Driver
Dean Cain – Elmer
Chow Yun-fat – Tou tai ren
Cam Clarke – Baker's Hawk
James Cromwell – Murder by Death
Michael Dorn – Rocky
Bill Duke – Car Wash
Joe Flaherty – Tunnel Vision
Dexter Fletcher – Bugsy Malone
Paul Freeman – Whose Child Am I?
Richard Griffiths – It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet
Mariel Hemingway – Lipstick
Ernie Hudson – Leadbelly
Amy Irving – Carrie
Michael Kamen – The Next Man
Jessica Lange – King Kong
Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Spy Who Never Was
Delroy Lindo – Find the Lady
Mark Margolis – The Opening of Misty Beethoven
Marc McClure – Freaky Friday
Edie McClurg – Carrie
Sam McMurray – The Front
Glenn Morshower – Drive-In
Bill Murray – Next Stop, Greenwich Village
Lena Olin – Face to Face
Holmes Osborne – The Student Body
Stuart Pankin – Next Stop, Greenwich Village
Tim Pigott-Smith – Aces High
Mary Kay Place – Bound for Glory
Jonathan Pryce – Voyage of the Damned
John Ratzenberger – The Ritz
James Rebhorn – The Yum Yum Girls
Isabella Rossellini – A Matter of Time
Cecilia Roth – No toquen a la nena
Deep Roy – The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Mercedes Ruehl – Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Theresa Russell – The Last Tycoon
Helen Shaver – Shoot
Brooke Shields – Alice, Sweet Alice
Ron Silver – Tunnel Vision
P.J. Soles – Carrie
Carol Sutton – Sounder, Part 2
Holland Taylor – The Next Man
Tim Thomerson – Car Wash
Charlene Tilton – Freaky Friday
Frank Vincent – The Death Collector
John Waters (actor) – End Play
Tom Wilkinson – The Shadow Line
Debra Winger – Slumber Party '57
Keone Young – Baby Blue Marine

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 360–361. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
1 2 Top 20 Films of 1976 by Domestic Revenue
↑ "Day-By-Day News Summary, Oct. '75-Sept. '76". Daily Variety. October 26, 1976. p. 208.
↑ rock Horror Picture Show film booking in Feb 2011 Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
↑ "Steadicam 30th anniversary press release". Archived from the original on 2014-04-30.
↑ "Benedict Cumberbatch". BFI. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2022.

External links

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[Finler-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 360–361. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.

[1976DomesticRevenue-2] 1 2 Top 20 Films of 1976 by Domestic Revenue

[3] "Day-By-Day News Summary, Oct. '75-Sept. '76". Daily Variety. October 26, 1976. p. 208.

[4] rock Horror Picture Show film booking in Feb 2011 Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine

[5] "Steadicam 30th anniversary press release". Archived from the original on 2014-04-30.

[6] "Benedict Cumberbatch". BFI. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2022.

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