1978 in film

The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1978 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Events

• February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California.
• March 1 - Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery three months after burial. After recovery a few weeks later, the casket is sealed in a concrete vault which is then buried in the same grave.
• March - Leigh Brackett completes the first draft for The Empire Strikes Back, but dies only two weeks later.
• June 4 - Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, has its world premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
• September - George Lucas purchases Bulltail Ranch, on Lucas Valley Road, for the development of Skywalker Ranch.
• November 17 - Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS. The special gives fans their first glimpse of Boba Fett, a character from the upcoming sequel.
• December - Superman premieres at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC on December 10 and has a European Royal Charity Premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square in London three days later in the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew.

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: The Deer Hunter - EMI Films/Cimino, Universal

Best Director: Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter

Best Actor: Jon Voight - Coming Home

Best Actress: Jane Fonda - Coming Home

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Walken - The Deer Hunter

Best Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith - California Suite

Best Foreign Language Film: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (Preparez vos mouchoirs), directed by Bertrand Blier, France

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Midnight Express

Best Actor: Jon Voight - Coming Home

Best Actress: Jane Fonda - Coming Home

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Heaven Can Wait

Best Actor: Warren Beatty - Heaven Can Wait

Best Actress (tie): Ellen Burstyn - Same Time, Next Year

Best Actress (tie): Maggie Smith - California Suite

Other

Best Director: Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter

Best Foreign Language Film: Autumn Sonata, Sweden

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'Albero degli zoccoli), directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Trout (Las Truchas), directed by José Luis García Sánchez, Spain

What Max Said (Las Palabras de Max), directed by Emilio Martínez-Lázaro, Spain

Notable films released in 1978

U.S.A. unless stated #

• The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Shao Lin san shi liu fang), starring Gordon Liu - (Hong Kong)

A

• The Adventures of Jody Shanan
• Almost Summer, starring Bruno Kirby
• American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince, directed by Martin Scorsese (documentary)
• American Hot Wax, a biopic of Alan Freed, starring Tim McIntire, Fran Drescher, Laraine Newman, Jay Leno
• L'argent des autres (Other People's Money), starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Catherine Deneuve - (France)
• Autumn Sonata (Höstsonaten), directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann - (Sweden)
• Avalanche, starring Rock Hudson, Robert Forster and Mia Farrow

B

• The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, starring Tony Curtis and Jackie Earle Haley
• Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron (Kumokiri Nizaemon) - (Japan)
• Battlestar Galactica (Canada and most European countries only; released in U.S. theatres the following year)
• The Betsy, starring Laurence Olivier, Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Katharine Ross, Kathleen Beller and Lesley-Anne Down
• The Big Fix, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Anspach, F. Murray Abraham amd John Lithgow
• The Big Sleep, starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Oliver Reed, Richard Boone, Candy Clark, Joan Collins and James Stewart - (U.K.)
• Big Wednesday, directed by John Milius, starring Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt and Gary Busey
• Bloodbrothers, starring Richard Gere and Paul Sorvino
• Blue Collar, directed by Paul Schrader, starring Richard Pryor, Yaphet Kotto and Harvey Keitel
• Born Again, starring Dean Jones and Anne Francis
• The Boys from Brazil, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier and James Mason - (U.K./U.S.A.)
• The Boys in Company C, starring Stan Shaw, Andrew Stevens and Craig Wasson
• The Brink's Job, directed by William Friedkin, starring Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Peter Boyle, Paul Sorvino and Warren Oates
• The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey, Don Stroud and Charles Martin Smith
• Bye Bye Monkey (Rêve de singe / Ciao maschio), starring Gérard Depardieu and Marcello Mastroianni - (France/Italy)

C

• La Cage aux Folles, directed by Édouard Molinaro, starring Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault - (France/Italy)
• California Suite, starring Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Elaine May and Walter Matthau
• Capricorn One, directed by Peter Hyams, starring Elliott Gould, James Brolin, O. J. Simpson, Sam Waterston, Hal Holbrook and Brenda Vaccaro
• Caravans, starring Anthony Quinn, Jennifer O'Neill and Michael Sarrazin
• Casey's Shadow, starring Walter Matthau, Alexis Smith and Robert Webber
• The Cat from Outer Space, starring Ronnie Schell and Sandy Duncan
• Centennial, TV miniseries, starring Raymond Burr, Richard Chamberlain, Richard Crenna, Andy Griffith, David Janssen and Alex Karras
• La chambre verte (The Green Room), directed by and starring François Truffaut - (France)
• The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, directed by Fred Schepisi - (Australia)
• The Cheap Detective, starring Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, Marsha Mason and Sid Caesar
• China 9, Liberty 37 (Amore, piombo e furore), starring Fabio Testi, Jenny Agutter and Warren Oates - (Italy/Spain)
• Closed Circuit (Circuito chiuso) - (Italy)
• Coma, directed by Michael Crichton, starring Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas and Richard Widmark
• Comes a Horseman, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Jane Fonda, James Caan and Jason Robards
• Coming Home, directed by Hal Ashby, starring Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern and Penelope Milford
• Convoy, directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw and Ernest Borgnine
• Corvette Summer, starring Mark Hamill
• Cosi' come sei (aka Stay As You Are) starring Marcello Mastroianni and Nastassja Kinski - (Italy)
• Crippled Avengers (Can que), directed by Chang Cheh - (Hong Kong)

D

• The Dain Curse, mini-series for TV, starring James Coburn and Jean Simmons
• Damien: Omen II, starring William Holden and Lee Grant
• d'Artagnan and Three Musketeers (d'Artanyan i tri mushketera) - (U.S.S.R.)
• Dawn of the Dead, directed by George A. Romero - (U.S.A./Italy)
• Days of Heaven, directed by Terrence Malick, starring Richard Gere, Sam Shepard and Brooke Adams
• Death on the Nile, directed by John Guillermin, starring Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Olivia Hussey and Mia Farrow - (U.K.)
• Debbie Does Dallas, adult comedy
• The Deer Hunter, directed by Michael Cimino, starring Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep
• The Demon (Kichiku) - (Japan)
• A Different Story, starring Meg Foster, Perry King and Valerie Curtin
• El diputado (The Deputy) - (Spain)
• Don, starring Amitabh Bachchan - (India)
• A Dream of Passion (Kravgi gynaikon), directed by Jules Dassin, starring Melina Mercouri and Ellen Burstyn - (Greece)
• The Driver, directed by Walter Hill, starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani and Ronee Blakley
• Drunken Master (Jui kuen), starring Jackie Chan - (Hong Kong)

E

• Ecce bombo, directed by and starring Nanni Moretti - (Italy)
• Empire of Passion (Ai no Bōrei), directed by Nagisa Oshima - (Japan)
• The End, directed by and starring Burt Reynolds, with Dom DeLuise, Joanne Woodward, Pat O'Brien, Myrna Loy and Sally Field
• An Enemy of the People, starring Steve McQueen
• Enter the Fat Dragon (Fei Lung gwoh gong), starring Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
• Every Which Way but Loose, directed by James Fargo, starring Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke and Geoffrey Lewis
• Eyes of Laura Mars, directed by Irvin Kershner, starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones

F

• F.I.S.T., directed by Norman Jewison, starring Sylvester Stallone, Melinda Dillon and Rod Steiger
• FM, starring Cleavon Little and Eileen Brennan
• Fedora, directed by Billy Wilder, starring William Holden and Marthe Keller
• Fingers, directed by James Toback, starring Harvey Keitel
• Five Deadly Venoms
• Force 10 from Navarone, starring Robert Shaw, Edward Fox and Harrison Ford - (U.K.)
• Foul Play, directed by Colin Higgins, starring Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Dudley Moore and Billy Barty
• The Fury, directed by Brian De Palma, starring Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Andrew Stevens and Amy Irving

G

• Gates of Heaven, a documentary film
• Germany in Autumn (Deutschland im Herbst) - (West Germany)
• Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (Preparez vos mouchoirs), directed by Bertrand Blier - (France)
• Girlfriends, directed by Claudia Weill, starring Melanie Mayron - Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner
• Go Tell the Spartans, starring Burt Lancaster
• Gray Lady Down, starring Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty
• Grease, directed by Randal Kleiser, starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Jeff Conaway, Stockard Channing, Sid Caesar and Eve Arden

H

• Halloween, directed by John Carpenter, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence
• Harper Valley PTA, starring Barbara Eden
• Heaven Can Wait, directed by Buck Henry and Warren Beatty, starring Beatty, Julie Christie, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Jack Warden and James Mason
• The Herd (Sürü) - (Turkey)
• High-Ballin', starring Peter Fonda, Michael Ironside, Helen Shaver and Jerry Reed
• Holocaust, TV miniseries, starring Meryl Streep, James Woods, Michael Moriarty, Tovah Feldshuh, Fritz Weaver and Ian Holm
• Hooper, directed by Hal Needham, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jan-Michael Vincent, Robert Klein and Brian Keith
• Hot Lead and Cold Feet, starring Karen Valentine
• House Calls, directed by Howard Zieff, starring Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Richard Benjamin and Art Carney
• A Hunting Accident (Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver) - (U.S.S.R.)

I-J

• I Wanna Hold Your Hand, directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Nancy Allen, Marc McClure and Bobby Di Cicco
• Ice Castles, starring Lynn-Holly Johnson
• In a Year of 13 Moons (In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder - (West Germany)
• In Praise of Older Women, starring Tom Berenger, Karen Black and Helen Shaver - (Canada)
• Interiors, directed by Woody Allen, starring Geraldine Page, Diane Keaton, E. G. Marshall, Mary Beth Hurt and Maureen Stapleton
• International Velvet, starring Tatum O'Neal, Nanette Newman and Anthony Hopkins
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers, remake of 1956 movie, directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Jeff Goldblum
• Jaws 2, starring Roy Scheider

K-L

• Killer of Sheep, directed by Charles Burnett
• King of the Gypsies, starring Eric Roberts, Sterling Hayden, Judd Hirsch, Shelley Winters and Brooke Shields
• Kondura (The Boon), directed by Shyam Benegal - (India-Bollywood/Telugu)
• Lady on the Bus (A Dama do Lotação), starring Sônia Braga - (Brazil)
• The Left-Handed Woman (Die linkshändige Frau) - (West Germany)
• The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese, featuring The Band, Van Morrison, Neil Young and Bob Dylan
• Long Weekend, starring John Hargreaves - (Australia)
• The Lord of the Rings, animated film by Ralph Bakshi, with voices of William Squire, John Hurt and Anthony Daniels

M

• Magic, directed by Richard Attenborough, starring Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith and Ed Lauter
• De Mantel der Liefde (The Mantle of Love) - (Netherlands)
• Mean Dog Blues, starring Gregg Henry, Kay Lenz, Tina Louise and George Kennedy
• The Medusa Touch, starring Richard Burton, Lino Ventura and Lee Remick - (U.K.)
• Midnight Express, directed by Alan Parker, starring Brad Davis, Randy Quaid and John Hurt - (U.K./U.S.A.)
• Movie Movie, directed by Stanley Donen, starring George C. Scott, Harry Hamlin, Barry Bostwick, Trish Van Devere, Red Buttons and Art Carney
• Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (Conqueror of Destiny), starring Amitabh Bachchan - (India)

N-O

• National Lampoon's Animal House, directed by John Landis, starring John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, Karen Allen and John Vernon
• Newsfront, directed by Phillip Noyce, starring Wendy Hughes and Bryan Brown - (Australia)
• A Night Full of Rain (Una notte piena di pioggia), directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini and Candice Bergen - (Italy/U.S.A.)
• The Night the Prowler, directed by Jim Sharman - (Australia)
• Occupation in 26 Pictures (Okupacija u 26 slika) - (Yugoslavia)
• Oliver's Story, directed by John Korty, starring Ryan O'Neal and Candice Bergen
• The One and Only, directed by Carl Reiner, starring Henry Winkler and Kim Darby
• Orchestra Rehearsal (Prova d'orchestra), directed by Federico Fellini - (Italy)

P-Q

• Paradise Alley, directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone, with Armand Assante and Anne Archer
• Passion Flower Hotel (Leidenschaftliche Blümchen), starring Nastassja Kinski - (West Germany)
• Perceval le Gallois (Percival the Gaul), directed by Éric Rohmer - (France)
• Piranha, directed by Joe Dante, starring Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies and Kevin McCarthy
• The Place Without Limits (El lugar sin límites) - (Mexico)
• Pretty Baby, directed by Louis Malle, starring Keith Carradine, Susan Sarandon and Brooke Shields
• The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians (Profetul, aurul si Ardelenii) - (Romania)
• Pugachev - (U.S.S.R.)

R

• Rabbit Test, directed by Joan Rivers, starring Billy Crystal
• Remember My Name, starring Geraldine Chaplin and Anthony Perkins
• Renaldo and Clara, directed by and starring Bob Dylan
• Return from Witch Mountain, starring Bette Davis and Christopher Lee
• Revenge of the Pink Panther, starring Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom and Dyan Cannon - (U.K./U.S.A.)
• Rhinegold - (West Germany)
• Ringing Bell (Chirin no Suzu), an anime film - (Japan)
• Rockers, starring Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs and Big Youth - (Jamaica)

S

• The Sailor's Return, starring Tom Bell - (U.K.)
• Same Time Next Year, starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn
• The Second Awakening of Christa Klages, directed by Margarethe von Trotta - (West Germany)
• Sextette, starring Mae West, Timothy Dalton, Dom DeLuise, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, George Hamilton and Alice Cooper
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring Peter Frampton, Steve Martin and the Bee Gees with music by The Beatles
• Shogun's Samurai (Yagu ichizoku no inbō), starring Sonny Chiba - (Japan)
• The Shout, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, starring Alan Bates, John Hurt and Susannah York - (U.K.)
• The Silent Partner, directed by Daryl Duke, starring Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer and Susannah York
• Slow Dancing in the Big City, directed by John G. Avildsen, starring Paul Sorvino
• The Small One
• Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (Shé xíng diāo shÇ'u), starring Jackie Chan - (Hong Kong)
• Somebody Killed Her Husband, starring Farrah Fawcett and Jeff Bridges
• Stevie, starring Glenda Jackson and Trevor Howard - (U.K.)
• Straight Time, directed by Ulu Grosbard, starring Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Harry Dean Stanton and Gary Busey
• The Stud, starring Joan Collins - (U.K.)
• Superman, directed by Richard Donner, starring Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty and Glenn Ford
• The Swarm, starring Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, Olivia de Havilland, Ben Johnson and Lee Grant
• The Swissmakers (Die Schweizermacher) - (Switzerland)

T

• Thank God It's Friday, starring Debra Winger, Donna Summer and Jeff Goldblum
• Three from Prostokvashino (Troye iz Prostokvashino) - (U.S.S.R.)
• Toplo (Heat) - (Bulgaria)
• The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'Albero degli zoccoli), directed by Ermanno Olmi - (Italy) - Palme d'Or winner
• Trishul, starring Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan - (India)
• Las truchas (The Trout) - (Spain) - Golden Bear winner
• Two Solitudes, starring Jean-Pierre Aumont and Stacy Keach - (Canada)

U-V

• Uncle Joe Shannon, starring Burt Young
• An Unmarried Woman, directed by Paul Mazursky, starring Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates and Michael Murphy
• Up in Smoke, starring Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong
• Violette Nozière, directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Isabelle Huppert and Stéphane Audran - (France)

W

• Ward Six (Paviljon VI) - (Yugoslavia)
• Warriors Two (Zan xian sheng yu zhao qian Hua), starring Bryan Leung and Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
• The Water Babies, directed by Lionel Jeffries, starring James Mason, Bernard Cribbins, Billie Whitelaw - (U.K./Poland)
• Watership Down, animated film directed by Martin Rosen, with the voices of John Hurt and Richard Briers - (U.K.)
• A Wedding, directed by Robert Altman, starring Desi Arnaz, Jr., Carol Burnett, Geraldine Chaplin, Lauren Hutton, Paul Dooley and Mia Farrow
• Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, starring George Segal and Jacqueline Bisset - (West Germany/U.S.A.)
• Who'll Stop the Rain, directed by Karel Reisz, starring Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld
• The Wild Geese, starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore and Richard Harris - (U.K.)
• Without Anesthesia (Bez znieczulenia), directed by Andrzej Wajda - (Poland)
• The Wiz, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor
• Wolf Lake, directed by Burt Kennedy, starring Rod Steiger

XYZ

• You Are Not Alone (Du er ikke alene) - (Denmark)

Births

• January 20 - Omar Sy, French actor
• January 24 - Mark Hildreth, Canadian actor/voice actor
• February 7 - Ashton Kutcher, actor
• February 20 - Julia Jentsch, German actress
• March 1 - Jensen Ackles, actor
• March 17
  • Patrick Seitz, voice actor
  • Jason M. Burns, American writer
• March 21 - Rani Mukerji, Indian actress
• March 23 - Nicholle Tom, actress
• April 1 - Anamaria Marinca, Romanian actress
• April 3 - Matthew Goode, English actor
• April 16 - Lara Dutta, Indian actress
• April 19 - James Franco, actor
• April 20 - Matt Austin, Canadian actor
• May 10 - Kenan Thompson, actor-comedian
• May 12 - Jason Biggs, actor
• May 15
  • Caroline Dhavernas, Canadian actress
  • David Krumholtz, actor
• May 16 - Jim Sturgess, actor
• June 2 - Nikki Cox, actress
• June 6 - Judith Barsi, child actress (d. 1988)
• June 7 - Bill Hader, actor-comedian
• June 8 - Maria Menounos, actress
• June 10 - Shane West, actor
• June 11 - Joshua Jackson, Canadian actor
• June 14 - Diablo Cody, Canadian writer
• June 16 - Daniel Brühl, German actor
• June 19 - Zoe Saldana, actress
• June 21 - Erica Durance, Canadian actress
• July 4 - Becki Newton, actress
• July 6 - Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry, actresses
• July 8 - Rachael Lillis, voice actress
• July 12
  • Michelle Rodriguez, actress
  • Topher Grace, actor
• July 19 - R. J. Williams, actor, television host, CEO of Young Hollywood
• July 20 - Charlie Korsmo, former child actor
• July 21
  • Josh Hartnett, actor
  • Justin Bartha, actor
• August 8 - Countess Vaughn, actress
• August 18 - Andy Samberg, actor-comedian
• August 25 - Kel Mitchell, actor-comedian
• September 4 - Wes Bentley, actor
• September 7 - Devon Sawa, Canadian actor
• September 23 - Anthony Mackie, American actor
• October 3 - Shannyn Sossamon, actress
• October 14 - Usher, singer and actor
• October 30 - Matthew Morrison, singer and actor
• November 1 - Mary Kate Schellhardt, actress
• November 9 - Sisqó, singer/actor/songwriter
• November 17 - Rachel McAdams, Canadian actress
• November 24 - Katherine Heigl, actress
• December 7 - Shiri Appleby, actress
• December 8 - Ian Somerhalder, actor
• December 9 - Jesse Metcalfe, actor
• December 16 - Joe Absolom, English actor
• December 18 - Katie Holmes, actress

Deaths

• January 5 - Sally Eilers, 69, American actress, Bad Girl, The Black Camel
• January 23 - Jack Oakie, 74, American actor, The Great Dictator, Lover Come Back
• January 27 - Oskar Homolka, 79, Austrian actor, Sabotage, I Remember Mama
• January 29 - Tim McCoy, 86, American cowboy actor, soldier, Texas Cyclone, Two-Fisted Law
• February 2 - Wendy Barrie, 69, British actress, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Private Life of Henry VIII
• February 15 - Ilka Chase, 77, American actress, Now, Voyager, The Big Knife
• February 18 - Maggie McNamara, 48, American actress, The Moon Is Blue, Three Coins in the Fountain
• March 12 - John Cazale, 42, American actor, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II
• March 25 - Hanna Ralph, 92, German actress, Faust
• March 24 - Leigh Brackett, 62, American science fiction writer and screenwriter, The Big Sleep, The Empire Strikes Back
• April - Philip Ray, 79, British actor, A Night to Remember, Dracula: Prince of Darkness
• April 22 - Will Geer, 76, American actor, Winchester '73, Broken Arrow
• June 20 - Mark Robson, 64, Canadian director, Peyton Place, Von Ryan's Express
• June 29 - Bob Crane, 49, American actor, Gus, Superdad
• July 14 - Jack Woolgar, 64, English actor, Death Line
• July 17 - Thayer David, 51, American actor, Rocky, The Eiger Sanction
• August 24 - Louis Prima, 67, American bandleader, voice actor, The Jungle Book
• August 26 - Charles Boyer, 78, French actor, Gaslight, The Earrings of Madame de...
• August 28 - Robert Shaw, 51, British actor, Jaws, The Sting
• September 3 - Karin Molander, 89, Swedish actress
• September 9 - Jack Warner, 86, Canadian executive, Hollywood studio founder
• September 30 - Edgar Bergen, 75, American actor, The Muppet Movie, Fun and Fancy Free
• October 16 - Dan Dailey, 62, American actor, It's Always Fair Weather, Pepe
• October 19 - Gig Young, 64, American actor, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, That Touch of Mink
• October 30 - Brian Hayles, 47, writer, Warlords of Atlantis, Arabian Adventure
• November 2 - Henry Willson, 67, Hollywood talent scout and agent
• November 28 - André Morell, 69, English actor, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Hound of the Baskervilles
• December 15 - Chill Wills, 76, American actor, The Alamo, Giant
• December 19 - Duncan Lamont, 60, British actor, Frankenstein Created Woman, Battle of Britain

Film debuts

• Karen Allen - National Lampoon's Animal House
• Pedro Almodóvar (director) - Folle...folle...fólleme Tim!
• Kevin Bacon - National Lampoon's Animal House
• Jim Broadbent - The Shout
• Jake Busey - Straight Time
• Billy Crystal - Rabbit Test
• Jamie Lee Curtis - Halloween
• Corey Feldman - Born Again
• Daryl Hannah - The Fury
• Mark Harmon - Comes a Horseman
• Ed Harris - Coma
• Michael Keaton - Rabbit Test
• Cheech Marin - Up in Smoke
• James Spader - Team-Mates
• Mary Steenburgen - Goin' South
• Alfre Woodard - Remember My Name

References