1974 in film

The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

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

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.
• 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 following Barry Diller earlier becoming chairman and chief executive office.
• 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.
• Kevin Costner made his film debut in Sizzle Beach, U.S.A., although the film was not released until 1986.

Awards

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 country/region

• List of American films of 1974
• List of Argentine films of 1974
• List of Australian films of 1974
• List of Bangladeshi films of 1974
• List of British films of 1974
• List of Canadian films of 1974
• List of French films of 1974
• List of Hong Kong films of 1974
• List of Indian films of 1974
  • List of Hindi films of 1974
  • List of Kannada films of 1974
  • List of Malayalam films of 1974
  • List of Marathi films of 1974
  • List of Tamil films of 1974
  • List of Telugu films of 1974
• List of Japanese films of 1974
• List of Mexican films of 1974
• List of Pakistani films of 1974
• List of South Korean films of 1974
• List of Soviet films of 1974
• List of Spanish films of 1974

By genre/medium

• List of action films of 1974
• List of animated feature films of 1974
• List of avant-garde films of 1974
• List of comedy films of 1974
• List of drama films of 1974
• List of horror films of 1974
• List of science fiction films of 1974
• List of thriller films of 1974
• List of western films of 1974

Births

• January 1 – Jennifer Podemski, Canadian actress
• January 5 – Daisy Bates, English actress
• January 10
  • Jemaine Clement, New Zealand actor, musician, comedian, singer, director and writer
  • 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
• January 30
  • Christian Bale, English actor
  • Olivia Colman, English actress
• February 4 – Urmila Matondkar, Indian actress
• 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
• 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
• 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 18 - Edgar Wright, English filmmaker
• April 21
  • John Hasler, English actor and voice-over artist
  • Tony Kgoroge, South African 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
• 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
• 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 14 - Phillip Rhys, English actor and filmmaker
• 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 4 - Mick Wingert, American voice actor
• July 8 – Tami Erin, American 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 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 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 18 - Xzibit, American rapper, actor and broadcaster
• 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 - 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 10 – Simone Singh, Indian actress
• November 11 – Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor
• November 14
  • Fatima Adoum, French actress
  • David Moscow, American actor and producer
• November 16 – Chloë Sevigny, American actress
• November 17 – Leslie Bibb, American actress and model
• 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
• 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
• 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

Film debuts

• Armand Assante – The Lords of Flatbush
• Richard Belzer – The Groove Tube
• Tom Bower – The Trial of Billy Jack
• Tony Burton – The Black Godfather
• Chevy Chase – The Groove Tube
• Bill Cobbs – The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
• Robert Englund – Buster and Billie
• Jaime Fabregas – Black Mamba
• Jeff Goldblum – Death Wish
• Chris Haywood – The Cars That Ate Paris
• Lawrence Hilton Jacobs – Claudine
• Clyde Kusatsu – Airport 1975
• Sean McCann – A Quiet Day in Belfast
• Edward James Olmos – Black Fist
• Raymond Serra – The Gambler
• Ray Sharkey – The Lords of Flatbush
• Delia Sheppard – The Spots on My Leopard
• Peter Simonischek – Die Auslieferung
• Steven Spielberg (director) – The Sugarland Express
• Fred Ward – Ginger in the Morning
• Kenneth Welsh – Piaf
• Henry Winkler – Crazy Joe

References

External links

• List of 1974 films at IMDb
• List of 1974 deaths at IMDb
• List of 1974 births at IMDb