Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
Friendly Persuasion is a 1956 American Civil War drama film produced and directed by William Wyler. It stars Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton, Phyllis Love, Mark Richman, Walter Catlett and Marjorie Main. The screenplay by Michael Wilson was adapted from the 1945 novel The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West. The film tells the story of a Quaker family in southern Indiana during the American Civil War and the way the war tests their pacifist beliefs.
Richard William Farnsworth was an American actor and stuntman. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award: in 1978 for Best Supporting Actor for Comes a Horseman, and in 2000 for Best Actor in The Straight Story, making him the oldest nominee for the award at the time. Farnsworth was also known for his performances in The Grey Fox (1982), for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, as well as Anne of Green Gables (1985); Sylvester (1985), and Misery (1990).
The following is an overview of 1956 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Diary of a Mad Housewife is a 1970 American comedy-drama film about a frustrated wife portrayed by Carrie Snodgress. Snodgress was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won a Golden Globe award in the same category. The film was adapted by Eleanor Perry from the 1967 novel by Sue Kaufman and directed by Perry's then-husband Frank Perry. The film co-stars Richard Benjamin and Frank Langella.
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson in the television science-fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–68). He also portrayed Wilton Knight in the pilot episode of the TV series Knight Rider (1982), and provided the narration that was heard during the opening credits throughout the entire series.
Harry Stewart Fleetwood Andrews, CBE was an English actor known for his film portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Regimental Sergeant Major Wilson in The Hill (1965) alongside Sean Connery earned Andrews the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for the 1966 BAFTA Award for Best British Actor. The first of his more than 80 film appearances was in The Red Beret in 1953.
Michael Joseph Anderson was an English film director, best known for directing the World War II film The Dam Busters (1955), the epic Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and the dystopian sci-fi film Logan's Run (1976).
Moby Dick is a 1956 color film adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. It was directed by John Huston with a screenplay by Huston and Ray Bradbury. The film starred Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Leo Genn.
Ciarán Hinds is an Irish actor. Born in Belfast, Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Persuasion (1995), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), Road to Perdition (2002), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Munich (2005), Amazing Grace (2007), There Will Be Blood (2007), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Silence (2016), First Man (2018), and Belfast (2021). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the last of these.
Francis Marie de Wolff was an English character actor. Large, bearded, and beetle-browed, he was often cast as villains in both film and television.
The 67th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 1995, were announced on 13 December 1995 and given on 26 February 1996.
Moby Dick is a two-act drama by Orson Welles. The play was staged June 16–July 9, 1955, at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, in a production directed by Welles. The original cast included Welles, Christopher Lee, Kenneth Williams, Joan Plowright, Patrick McGoohan, Gordon Jackson, Peter Sallis, and Wensley Pithey. The play was published by Samuel French in 1965.
Phyllis Ann Love was an American theater and television actress.
The 29th Academy Awards were held on March 27, 1957, to honor the films of 1956.
The 14th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film for 1956 films, were held on February 28, 1957, at the Cocoanut Grove, Ambassador Hotel.
The following is a list of the Top 10 Films chosen annually by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, beginning in 1929.
The 22nd New York Film Critics Circle Awards, honored the best filmmaking of 1956.
Franklyn Farnum was an American character actor and Hollywood extra who appeared in at least 1,100 films. He was also cast in more films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture than any other performer in American film industry. He was also credited as Frank Farnum.
The 93rd National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2021, were announced on December 2, 2021. The gala was held on March 15, 2022, at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.