1961 in film

The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1961 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Top-grossing films by country

The highest-grossing 1961 films from countries outside of North America.

Events

May 13 – Legendary actor Gary Cooper dies at the age of 60 in Los Angeles from colon and prostate cancer. Best known for his appearances in classic films such as Wings, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Sergeant York, The Pride of the Yankees and High Noon, Cooper was one of the biggest stars of Hollywood's Golden Age and won two Academy Awards for Best Actor.
June 28 – Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman sign a multi-picture deal with United Artists to produce a series of films based on the novels of Ian Fleming starting with either Dr. No or Diamonds Are Forever.^[12] The series goes on to become the highest-grossing film series of all-time.
July 17 – Trans World Airlines screens Come September to the press aboard one of its jets to introduce in-flight movies.^[13]
October 18 – The film version of the musical West Side Story is released. Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, it becomes the year's highest-grossing film and goes on to win ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (for Wise and Robbins), Best Supporting Actor (for Chakiris) and Best Supporting Actress (for Moreno).

Awards

1961 film releases

United States unless stated

Notable films released in 1961

US unless stated

A

The Absent-Minded Professor, starring Fred MacMurray
Accattone, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini – (Italy)
Ada, starring Dean Martin and Susan Hayward
All in a Night's Work, starring Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine
Ana Wa Banati, starring Salah Zulfikar, Zaki Rostom and Fayza Ahmed – (Egypt)
And Love Has Vanished (Dvoje) – (Yugoslavia)
Angel Baby, starring Salome Jens and Mercedes McCambridge
Antigone, starring Irene Papas – (Greece)
Armored Command, starring Howard Keel and Tina Louise
The Artillery Sergeant Kalen (Ogniomistrz Kaleń) – (Poland)
The Assassin (L'Assassino), starring Marcello Mastroianni – (Italy)
Atlantis, the Lost Continent, starring John Dall

B

Babes in Toyland, starring Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello
Bachelor in Paradise, starring Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Janis Paige, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss
Back Street, starring Susan Hayward, John Gavin, Vera Miles
Bandits of Orgosolo (Banditi a Orgosolo) – (Italy)
Barabbas, starring Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano and Jack Palance – (Italy)
The Big Bankroll, aka King of the Roaring 20s, starring David Janssen, Mickey Rooney, Diana Dors
The Big Gamble, starring Stephen Boyd
The Black Monocle (Le monocle noir), directed by Georges Lautner
Black Silk (Prae Dum) – (Thailand)
Blast of Silence, directed by and starring Allen Baron
The Blonde from Buenos Aires (Una Americana en Buenos Aires), starring Mamie Van Doren and Jean-Pierre Aumont – (Argentina/France)
Blue Hawaii, starring Elvis Presley (his biggest box-office success), with Joan Blackman and Angela Lansbury
Boatmen of Thessaloniki (Солунските Атентатори) – (Yugoslavia)
A Bomb Was Stolen (S-a furat o bombă) – (Romania)
Bootleggers (Samogonshchiki) – (USSR)
Breakfast at Tiffany's, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen
Bridge to the Sun, starring Carroll Baker and James Shigeta – (France/U.S.)
By Love Possessed, starring Lana Turner, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., George Hamilton

C

Carry On Regardless, starring Sid James, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey – (U.K.)
Cash on Demand, starring Peter Cushing and André Morell – (U.K.)
On The Tiger's Back (A cavallod della tigre ), starring Nino Manfredi – (Italy)
The Children's Hour, starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner and Miriam Hopkins
Chronicle of Flaming Years (Povest plamennykh let) – (USSR)
Claudelle Inglish, starring Diane McBain and Arthur Kennedy
The Coachman (Mabu) – (South Korea)
The Colossus of Rhodes, directed by Sergio Leone, starring Rory Calhoun – (Italy)
The Comancheros, starring John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Lee Marvin and Ina Balin
Come September, starring Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin
The Connection, directed by Shirley Clarke
Cry for Happy, starring Glenn Ford, Miyoshi Umeki and Donald O'Connor
The Curse of the Werewolf, starring Clifford Evans and Oliver Reed – (U.K.)

D

The Day the Earth Caught Fire, starring Edward Judd – (U.K.)
The Deadly Companions, directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith
Dersu Uzala – (USSR)
The Devil at 4 O'Clock, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, Grégoire Aslan
A Difficult Life (Una vita difficile), directed by Dino Risi, starring Alberto Sordi – (Italy)
Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana), directed by Pietro Germi, starring Marcello Mastroianni – (Italy)
Dondi, starring David Janssen

E

El Cid, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren – (U.S./Italy)
The End of Summer (Kohayagawa-ke no aki), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan)
The End of the Cancageiros (A Morte Comanda o Cangaço) – (Brazil)
The Errand Boy, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis
Everything's Ducky, starring Buddy Hackett
The Exiles – documentary
The Explosive Generation, starring William Shatner and Patty McCormack

F

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (Baron Prášil), directed by Karel Zeman – (Czechoslovakia)
Fanny, starring Charles Boyer and Leslie Caron
The Fascist (Il federale), starring Ugo Tognazzi – (Italy)
A Fever in the Blood, starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Angie Dickinson, Don Ameche and Jack Kelly
Five Golden Hours, starring Robert Wagner, Cyd Charisse, Ernie Kovacs
Five Minutes to Live, starring Johnny Cash
Flight of the Lost Balloon, directed by Nathan Juran and starring Mala Powers and Marshall Thompson
Flooded Out (Los inundados), directed by Fernando Birri – (Argentina)
Flower Drum Song, starring Nancy Kwan
Francis of Assisi, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Bradford Dillman and Dolores Hart
The Frightened City, starring Sean Connery, John Gregson, Yvonne Romain

G

Garibaldi (Viva l'Italia!), directed by Roberto Rossellini – (Italy)
The George Raft Story, starring Jayne Mansfield and Ray Danton
Gidget Goes Hawaiian, starring Deborah Walley
The Girl on the Boat, starring Norman Wisdom – (U.K.)
Girl with a Suitcase (La Ragazza con la valigia), starring Claudia Cardinale – (Italy)
Go Naked in the World, starring Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Franciosa – (Italy)
Goliath Against the Giants (Goliath contro i giganti), directed by Guido Malatesta – (Italy)
Goodbye Again, starring Ingrid Bergman and Yves Montand – (France/U.S.)
Gorgo, starring Bill Travers – (U.K.)
The Great Impostor, starring Tony Curtis
The Greengage Summer, starring Kenneth More and Susannah York – (U.K.)
Gunga Jumna, starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala – (India)
The Guns of Navarone, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn – (U.K.)

H

Harry and the Butler (Harry og kammertjeneren) – (Denmark)
Havoc in Heaven (aka The Monkey King), an animated films – (China)
Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis, (Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide), directed by Vittorio Cottafavi – (Italy)
Hercules in the Haunted World (Ercole al centro della terra), directed by Mario Bava – (Italy)
His and Hers, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, starring Terry-Thomas and Janette Scott – (U.K.)
Hogs and Warships (Buta to gunkan), directed by Shohei Imamura – (Japan)
Homicidal, directed by William Castle
The Honeymoon Machine, starring Steve McQueen, Brigid Bazlen, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss
The Hoodlum Priest, starring Don Murray
The Human Condition (Ningen no jōken), directed by Masaki Kobayashi – (Japan)
The Houseguest and My Mother (Sarangbang sonnimgwa eomeoni) – (South Korea)
The Hustler, directed by Robert Rossen, starring Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott, Jackie Gleason

I

Immortal Love (Eien no hito) – (Japan)
The Innocents, starring Deborah Kerr – (U.K.)

J

Jhumroo, starring Madhubala and Kishore Kumar – (India)
Johnny Nobody, directed by and starring Nigel Patrick – (U.K.)
Judgment at Nuremberg, directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, Richard Widmark, William Shatner

K

King of Kings, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Jeffrey Hunter, Robert Ryan, Siobhán McKenna, Hurd Hatfield, Rita Gam, Rip Torn
The Knife (Het Mes), directed by Fons Rademakers – (Netherlands)

L

The Ladies Man, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis
The Last Judgment (Il Giudizio universale), directed by Vittorio De Sica – (Italy)
The Last Sunset, starring Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotten, Carol Lynley
The Last Time I Saw Archie, starring Robert Mitchum and Jack Webb
The Last War (Sekai Daisensō) – (Japan)
Last Year at Marienbad (L'Année dernière à Marienbad), directed by Alain Resnais, starring Delphine Seyrig – Golden Lion winner – (France)
Léon Morin, Priest (Léon Morin, prêtre), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo – (France)
Lola, directed by Jacques Demy, starring Anouk Aimée – (France)
The Long Absence (Une aussi longue absence), directed by Henri Colpi – (France)
The Long and the Short and the Tall, starring Laurence Harvey and Richard Harris – (U.K.)
Look in Any Window, starring Paul Anka and Ruth Roman
The Lovemakers (La Viaccia), starring Claudia Cardinale and Jean-Paul Belmondo – (Italy)
Lover Come Back, starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson

M

Mad Dog Coll, directed by Burt Balaban and starring John Davis Chandler
A Majority of One, starring Rosalind Russell and Alec Guinness
Man-Trap, starring Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen and Stella Stevens
Marines, Let's Go, starring Tom Tryon and David Hedison
The Mark, starring Stuart Whitman and Maria Schell – (U.K.)
The Marriage-Go-Round, starring James Mason and Julie Newmar
The Mask, starring Paul Stevens – (Canada)
Master of the World, directed by William Witney, starring Vincent Price and Charles Bronson
The Miracle of Father Malachia (Das Wunder des Malachias), directed by Bernhard Wicki – (West Germany)
The Misfits, directed by John Huston, starring Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift
Mother Joan of the Angels (Matka Joanna od Aniołów), directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz – (Poland)
Mothra, directed by Ishirō Honda – (Japan)
Mr. Sardonicus, directed by William Castle
Mr. Topaze (a.k.a. I Like Money), directed by and starring Peter Sellers – (U.K.)
Murder, She Said, directed by George Pollock and starring Margaret Rutherford – (U.K.)
Mysterious Island, starring Michael Craig, Michael Callan and Joan Greenwood

N

The Naked Edge, starring Gary Cooper (in his final film) and Deborah Kerr
Nazrana (Gift), starring Raj Kapoor and Vyjayanthimala – (India)
Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile (Nefertiti, regina del Nilo), starring Jeanne Crain and Vincent Price – (Italy)
No Love for Johnnie, starring Peter Finch – (U.K.)
La Notte (The Night), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau – Golden Bear winner – (Italy/France)
Nude on the Moon, directed by Doris Wishman

O

One-Eyed Jacks, directed by and starring Marlon Brando, with Karl Malden, Katy Jurado, Ben Johnson
One Hundred and One Dalmatians, featuring the voices of Rod Taylor and Betty Lou Gerson
One, Two, Three, directed by Billy Wilder, starring James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis
The Outsider, a biography starring Tony Curtis as World War II Marine Ira Hayes

P

The Parent Trap, starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith
Paris Belongs to Us (Paris nous appartient), directed by Jacques Rivette – (France)
Paris Blues, starring Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll
Parrish, starring Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Claudette Colbert
Peace to Him Who Enters (Mir vkhodyashchemu) – (USSR)
Pigs and Battleships (Buta to gunkan), directed by Shohei Imamura – (Japan)
The Pit and the Pendulum, starring Vincent Price
Plácido, directed by Luis García Berlanga – (Spain)
Please, Not Now! (La bride sur le cou), starring Brigitte Bardot – (France)
The Pleasure of His Company, starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds
Pocketful of Miracles, final film of director Frank Capra, starring Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Hope Lange and Arthur O'Connell
Portrait of a Mobster, starring Vic Morrow
Posse from Hell, directed by Herbert Coleman, starring Audie Murphy and John Saxon
Il posto, directed by Ermanno Olmi – (Italy)
Professor Mamlock, directed by Konrad Wolf – (East Germany)

Q

Question 7, directed by Stuart Rosenberg – (U.S./West Germany)

R

A Raisin in the Sun, starring Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee
The Rebel, starring Tony Hancock – (U.K.)
Return to Peyton Place, directed by José Ferrer, starring Carol Lynley, Tuesday Weld and Eleanor Parker
The Right Approach, starring Martha Hyer, Frankie Vaughan and Juliet Prowse
Romanoff and Juliet, starring Peter Ustinov and Sandra Dee
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, starring Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty – (U.K.)

S

Sail a Crooked Ship, starring Ernie Kovacs, Robert Wagner, Dolores Hart and Frank Gorshin
Sanctuary, starring Lee Remick and Yves Montand
Scarlet Sails (Алые Паруса), directed by Alexandr Ptushko – (USSR)
The Second Time Around, starring Debbie Reynolds, Andy Griffith and Juliet Prowse
The Secret Ways, starring Richard Widmark
Seetarama Kalyanam, directed by and starring N. T. Rama Rao – (India)
Sennin Buraku (Hermit Village) – (Japan)
The Sins of Rachel Cade, starring Angie Dickinson
A Soldier's Prayer (Ningen no jôken), directed by Masaki Kobayashi – (Japan)
Something Wild, starring Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker
A Song About the Gray Pigeon (Piesen o sivém holubovi), directed by Stanislav Barabáš – (Czechoslovakia)
Splendor in the Grass, starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty
Spotlight on a Murderer (Pleins feux sur l'assassin), directed by Georges Franju – (France)
The Steamroller and the Violin (Katok i skripka), directed by Andrei Tarkovsky – (USSR)
A Storm of Love, starring Salah Zulfikar and Nahed Sherif – (Egypt)
Summer and Smoke, starring Geraldine Page and Laurence Harvey
Susan Slade, starring Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens

T

Tammy Tell Me True, starring Sandra Dee
Taste of Fear, starring Susan Strasberg – (U.K.)
Taxi for Tobruk (Un taxi pour Tobrouk), directed by Denys de La Patellière – (France)
Then Nilavu (Honeymoon), starring Gemini Ganesan and Vyjayanthimala – (India)
A Taste of Honey, directed by Tony Richardson, starring Rita Tushingham – (U.K.)
That's What Love Is, directed by Mahmoud Zulfikar, starring Salah Zulfikar, Sabah – (Egypt)
The Terror of the Tongs, starring Geoffrey Toone, Christopher Lee and Yvonne Monlaur – (U.K.)
Three Daughters (Teen Kanya), directed by Satyajit Ray – (India)
Through a Glass Darkly (Såsom i en spegel), directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden)
A Thunder of Drums, starring Richard Boone, George Hamilton and Luana Patten
Tintin and the Golden Fleece (Tintin et le mystère de la toison d'or), directed by Jean-Jacques Vierne – (France)
Too Late Blues, starring Bobby Darin
Town Without Pity (Stadt ohne Mitleid), directed by Gottfried Reinhardt and starring Kirk Douglas – (U.S./West Germany/Switzerland)
Two Living, One Dead, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Patrick McGoohan – (U.K./Sweden)
Two Loves, starring Shirley MacLaine
Two Rode Together, starring James Stewart and Richard Widmark

U

Underworld U.S.A., directed by Samuel Fuller, starring Cliff Robertson

V

Valley of the Dragons
Victim, directed by Basil Dearden, starring Dirk Bogarde and Sylvia Syms – (U.K.)
Violent Life (Una vita violenta) – (Italy)
Viridiana, directed by Luis Buñuel – Palme d'Or winner – (Mexico/Spain)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, starring Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Robert Sterling, Peter Lorre, Barbara Eden

W

We Were Young (A byahme mladi) – (Bulgaria)
West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris
What A Whopper, directed by Gilbert Gunn, starring Adam Faith, Sidney James, Carole Lesley and Terence Longdon – (U.K.)
When the Trees Were Tall (Kogda derevya byli bolshimi) – (USSR)
Whistle Down the Wind, directed by Bryan Forbes, starring Hayley Mills and Alan Bates – (U.K.)
Wife Number 13 (Al zouga talattashar) – (Egypt)
Wild in the Country, starring Elvis Presley with Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins
A Woman Is a Woman (Une Femme est une femme), directed by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina – (France)

Y

Yojimbo, directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune – (Japan)
The Young Doctors, starring Ben Gazzara and Dick Clark
The Young Ones, starring Cliff Richard and The Shadows – (U.K.)
The Young Savages, starring Burt Lancaster and Dina Merrill

Short film series

Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
Terrytoons (1930–1964)
Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
Goofy (1961)
Tom and Jerry (1940–1967)
Noveltoons (1943–1967)
Loopy De Loop (1959–1965)
The Alvin Show (1961–1962)

Births

January 2
- Neil Dudgeon, English actor
- Todd Haynes, American director
- Paula Hamilton, English model and actress
January 4 - Graham McTavish, Scottish actor
January 9 - Candi Milo, American actress, voice actress and singer
January 10 - Mark Venturini, American actor (died 1996)
January 12 - Simon Russell Beale, English actor
January 13
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress
January 18 - Bob Peterson, American animator, director, screenwriter and voice actor
January 24 – Nastassja Kinski, German actress
January 25 - Roger Yuan, American martial artist, stunt coordinator/performer and actor
February 5 - Tim Meadows, American actor and comedian
February 11 – Carey Lowell, American actress
February 13 - Henry Rollins, American singer, writer, actor, comedian and presenter
February 20 - Imogen Stubbs, English actress and writer
February 21
- Christopher Atkins, American actor
- Martha Hackett, American actress
February 23 - David Warshofsky, American actor
February 24
- Kasi Lemmons, American director, screenwriter and actress
- Emilio Rivera, American actor and stand-up comedian
February 28
- Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian-American actress
- Mark Ferguson, Australian actor
March 4 – Steven Weber, American actor
March 8 – Camryn Manheim, American actress
March 11
- Elias Koteas, Canadian actor
- Greg Kramer, British-Canadian actor and director (died 2013)
March 17
- Dana Reeve, American actress and singer (died 2006)
- Casey Siemaszko, American actor
March 21 – Kassie DePaiva, American actress and singer
March 25
- John Stockwell, American actor, director, producer and writer
- Aron Warner, American producer and voice actor
March 29 - Amy Sedaris, American actress, comedian and writer
March 31 - Gary Winick, American filmmaker (died 2011)
April 2 - Christopher Meloni, American actor
April 3 – Eddie Murphy, American actor and comedian
April 5 - Lisa Zane, American actress and singer
April 6 – Gene Eugene, Canadian actor, lead singer of Adam Again (died 2000)
April 10 - Lorraine Ashbourne, English actress
April 12 - Magda Szubanski, Australian comedy actress
April 14 – Robert Carlyle, Scottish actor
April 18
- Jane Leeves, English actress
- Joe Whyte, American actor
April 21
- Cathy Cavadini, American voice actress
- Kate Vernon, Canadian-born American actress
April 23
- Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson, Icelandic actor
- George Lopez, American comedian and actor
May 2 - Beeban Kidron, British filmmaker
May 5 - LeAnn Vaylen, American actress and singer
May 6
- George Clooney American actor, writer, director and producer
- Wally Wingert, American actor, voice actor, singer and former radio personality
May 8 – David Winning, Canadian-American director, producer and screenwriter
May 9 - John Corbett, American actor and singer
May 12 - Lar Park Lincoln, American actress
May 13 - Siobhan Fallon Hogan, American actress and comedian
May 14 – Tim Roth, English actor
May 16 - Kevin McDonald, Canadian actor, voice actor and comedian
May 17 - Corey Johnson, American character actor
May 20 - Owen Teale, Welsh character actor
May 21 - Brent Briscoe, American character actor and screenwriter (died 2017)
May 23 - Karen Duffy, American writer, television personality and actress
May 26 - Tarsem Singh, Indian director
May 30 – Harry Enfield, English actor, comedian, writer and director.
May 31 – Lea Thompson, American actress
June 2: Liam Cunningham, Irish actor
June 4: Julie White, American actress
June 5: Mary Kay Bergman, American voice actress and voice-over teacher (died 1999)
June 9
- Michael J. Fox, Canadian actor
- Aaron Sorkin, American screenwriter, actor, writer, producer and director
June 15 - Jim Hanks, American actor and filmmaker
June 25
- Timur Bekmambetov, Russian-Kazakh director, producer and screenwriter
- Ricky Gervais, English comedian, actor, writer, producer and director
June 27
- Meera Syal, English comedian, writer, singer and actress
- Tim Whitnall, English playwright, screenwriter and actor
July 9 – Raymond Cruz, American actor
July 12 - Caroline Bliss, English actress
July 14 – Jackie Earle Haley, American actor
July 15
- Lolita Davidovich, Canadian actress
- Forest Whitaker, American actor
July 17 - Anthony Lee, American actor (died 2000)
July 18 – Elizabeth McGovern, American actress
July 19 - Campbell Scott, American actor, producer and director
July 23 – Woody Harrelson, American actor
July 28 - Debi Sue Voorhees, American actress
July 30 – Laurence Fishburne, American actor
August 3 - Molly Hagan, American actress
August 4 - Lauren Tom, American actress
August 5
- Tawny Kitaen, American actress and model (died 2021)
- Janet McTeer, English actress
August 7 - Maggie Wheeler, American actress
August 16
- Elpidia Carrillo, Mexican actress and director
- Noam Murro, Israeli director and producer
August 18 - Glenn Plummer, American actor
August 19 - Tony Longo, American actor (died 2015)
August 20 - Joe Pasquale, English comedian, actor and television personality
August 21
- Eric Darnell, American animator, storyboard artist, director, writer and voice actor
- Stephen Hillenburg, American animator, writer, producer, director, marine science educator and creator of SpongeBob SquarePants (died 2018)
August 22 - Stephen Stanton, American actor, voice actor, comedian and visual effects artist
August 23 - Michael "Bear" Taliferro, American actor, sportsman and singer (died 2006)
August 24 - Jared Harris, British actor
August 25
- Ally Walker, American actress
- Joanne Whalley, English actress
August 27 - Tim Johnson, American director and producer
August 28 – Jennifer Coolidge, American actress
September 2 - Eugenio Derbez, Mexican actor, comedian and filmmaker
September 9 - Steven Eckholdt, American actor
September 11
- E. G. Daily, American actress
- Virginia Madsen, American actress
September 15
- Noel MacNeal, American actor, director, puppeteer and writer
- Colin McFarlane, English actor
September 16 - Jen Tolley, American-Canadian actress, voice actress and singer
September 18 – James Gandolfini, American actor (died 2013)
September 20
- Morwenna Banks, British comedy actress, writer and producer
- James Colby, American actor (died 2018)
September 21 - Nancy Travis, American actress
September 22 – Bonnie Hunt, American actress and comedian
September 23 - Chi McBride, American actor
September 25 - Heather Locklear, American actress
September 28 - Gregory Jbara, American actor and singer
September 30 - Eric Stoltz, American actor, director and producer
October 1 - Steve Purcell, American cartoonist, animator, game designer, and voice actor
October 4 - Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese author and creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! (died 2022)
October 10 - Jodi Benson, American actress, voice actress and singer
October 16
- Randy Vasquez, American actor and director
- Kim Wayans, American actress and comedian
October 17 - John Okafor, Nigerian actor and comedian (died 2024)
October 26 – Dylan McDermott, American actor
October 27 - Joanna Scanlan, British actress and screenwriter
October 31 – Peter Jackson, New Zealand director
November 1 - Lauren-Marie Taylor, American actress
November 3 - Lee Montgomery, Canadian actor
November 4 – Ralph Macchio, American actor
November 5
- Gina Mastrogiacomo, American actress (died 2001)
- Philip Moon, American actor of Asian descent
November 8 - John Costelloe, American actor (died 2008)
November 14 – D. B. Sweeney, American actor
November 18 - Nick Chinlund, American actor
November 19 – Meg Ryan, American actress
November 22 – Mariel Hemingway, American actress
November 24 - Robin Stille, American actress (died 1996)
November 27
- Samantha Bond, English actress
- Rebecca Ferratti, American model and actress
- Steve Oedekerk, American actor, stand-up comedian, director, editor, producer and screenwriter
- Kurt Max Runte, Canadian actor
November 28
- Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican director
- Martin Clunes, English actor, comedian, director and television presenter
- Neil Mullarkey, English actor, writer and comedian
November 29 – Tom Sizemore, American actor (died 2023)
December 1 - Jeremy Northam, English actor and singer
December 6 - Colin Salmon, British actor
December 16
- Shane Black, American filmmaker and actor
- Gretchen Palmer, American actress
- Sam Robards, American actor
- LaChanze, American actress and singer
- Jon Tenney, American actor
December 26 - John Lynch, Irish actor

Deaths

January 13 – Blanche Ring, 89, American singer and actress, The Yankee Girl, It's the Old Army Game
January 14 – Barry Fitzgerald, 72, Irish actor, Going My Way, The Quiet Man
February 2 – Anna May Wong, 56, American actress, Shanghai Express, The Thief of Bagdad
February 15 – Jack Whiting, 59, American actor, singer and dancer, Sailing Along, Give Me a Sailor
February 17 – Nita Naldi, 66, American actress, Blood and Sand, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
February 26 – Harry Bannister, 71, American actor, The Girl of the Golden West
March 6 – George Formby, 56, British actor, entertainer, It's in the Air, Off the Dole
March 12 – Belinda Lee, 25, British actress, Long Night in 1943, The Goddess of Love (automobile accident)
March 14 – Lies Noor, 23, Indonesian actress, Pulang (encephalitis)
March 29 – Fritzi Ridgeway, 62, American actress, Ruggles of Red Gap, This Is Heaven
April 27 – Roy Del Ruth, 67, American director, The Maltese Falcon, Broadway Melody of 1938
May 4 – Anita Stewart, 66, American silent-film actress, The Combat, The Suspect
May 13 – Gary Cooper, 60, American actor, High Noon, Meet John Doe, The Pride of the Yankees, Sergeant York
May 18 – Henry O'Neill, 69, American actor, Shadow of the Thin Man, Anchors Aweigh
May 19 – Ben Corbett, 69, American actor, The Fighting Renegade, Six-Gun Trail
May 22
- Edward F. Cline, 69, American director, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
- Joan Davis, 53, American actress, Hold That Ghost, If You Knew Susie
June 2 – George S. Kaufman, 71, American playwright, A Night at the Opera
June 10 – Vivienne Osborne, 64, American actress, Supernatural, Luxury Liner
June 14 – Eddie Polo, 86, Austrian-American actor, The Vanishing Dagger
June 15 – Luther Reed, 72, American director, Rio Rita, Hit the Deck
June 17 – Jeff Chandler, 42, American actor, Broken Arrow, Merrill's Marauders
June 27 – Paul Guilfoyle, 58, American actor, Winterset, The Grapes of Wrath
June 30 – Lee de Forest, 87, American inventor of Phonofilm
July 4 – Franklyn Farnum, 83, American actor, The Life of Emile Zola, The Lost Weekend, The Greatest Show on Earth
July 9 – Alan Marshal, 52, Australian actor, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, House on Haunted Hill
July 23 – Valentine Davies, 55, American screenwriter and director, The Glenn Miller Story, The Benny Goodman Story
July 28 – Harry Gribbon, 76, American silent comedy actor, Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition, Down on the Farm, A Small Town Idol, The Cameraman
August 4 – Maurice Tourneur, 85, French director, The Last of the Mohicans, The Poor Little Rich Girl
August 17 – Violet Kemble-Cooper, 74, British actress, The Invisible Ray, David Copperfield
August 20 – Dorothy Burgess, 54, American actress, In Old Arizona, Black Moon
August 27 – Gail Russell, 36, American actress, Angel and the Badman, Seven Men from Now
August 30 – Charles Coburn, 84, American actor, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Lady Eve
September 10 – Leo Carrillo, 81, American actor, Viva Villa!, Phantom of the Opera
September 20 – Andrzej Munk, 39, Polish director and screenwriter, Man on the Tracks, Passenger
September 22 – Marion Davies, 64, American actress, Show People, Cain and Mabel
September 23
- John Eldredge, 57, American actor, The Woman in Red, His Brother's Wife
- Billy House, 72, American actor, Rogues of Sherwood Forest, Bedlam
September 25 – Frank Fay, 69, American actor, Under a Texas Moon, The Matrimonial Bed
September 26 – Juanita Hansen, 66, American actress, The Magic Cloak of Oz, The Phantom Foe
October 1 – Donald Cook, 60, American actor, The Public Enemy, Baby Face
October 11 – Chico Marx, 74, American actor, member of the Marx Brothers, A Night at the Opera, Duck Soup
October 13
- Maya Deren, 44, American experimental filmmaker, Meshes of the Afternoon, At Land
- Zoltan Korda, 66, Hungarian director, The Four Feathers, Cry, the Beloved Country
October 18 – Tsuru Aoki, 69, Japanese-born American actress, The Dragon Painter
October 22 – Joseph Schenck, 82, Russian-born American pioneer motion picture executive, The General, Sherlock Jr.
October 29 – Astrid Holm, 68, Danish actress, The Phantom Carriage, Häxan
November 15
- Elsie Ferguson, 78, American actress, The Witness for the Defense, Scarlet Pages
- Douglas Walton, 51, Canadian actor, Bride of Frankenstein, Murder, My Sweet
November 18 – Eduard Tisse, 64, Soviet cinematographer, Battleship Potemkin, Ivan the Terrible
November 24 – Ruth Chatterton, 68, American actress, Dodsworth, Female
December 20 – Moss Hart. 57, American playwright, Gentleman's Agreement, A Star Is Born
December 27 – Bernard McConville, 74, American screenwriter, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Phantom of the Opera

Film debuts

Ann-Margret – Pocketful of Miracles
Ed Asner – The Murder Men
Warren Beatty – Splendor in the Grass
John Davis Chandler – Mad Dog Coll
Sonny Chiba – Invasion of the Neptune Men
Keir Dullea – Hoodlum Priest
Louis Gossett Jr. – A Raisin in the Sun
Gene Hackman – Mad Dog Coll
Lance Henriksen – The Outsider
Sammo Hung – Ai de jiao yu
Anna Karina – A Woman Is a Woman
George Kennedy – The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come
Harvey Korman – Living Venus
Eddy Mitchell – Daniella by Night
Dudley Moore – The Third Alibi
Lance Percival – Three on a Spree
Joe Pesci – Hey, Let's Twist!
Burt Reynolds – Angel Baby
Doris Roberts – Something Wild
Aldo Sambrell – King of Kings
Stefania Sandrelli – Gioventù di notte
Telly Savalas – Mad Dog Coll
George Segal – The Young Doctors
Oleg Vidov – My Friend, Kolka!

Notes

^ 4.79 Indian rupees per US dollar from 1948 to 1966^[8]
^ ₹7 crore^[7] (US$14.61 million)^{[n 1]}
^ 11.45 million Rbls (45.8 million tickets sold,^[9] average ticket price of 25 kopecks),^[10] 0.9 Rbl per US dollar from 1961 to 1971^[11]

References

^ Pirie, David (1981). Anatomy of the Movies. Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc. p. 254. ISBN 0-02-597540-4.
^ a b Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
^ a b c "All-time top film grossers", Variety 8 January 1964 p 37.
^ The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ a b Cohn, Lawrence (October 15, 1990). "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. p. M140-M196.
^ Gabler, Neal (2006). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. Vintage Books. p. 586. ISBN 978-0679757474.
^ "Box Office 1961". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 2012-09-22. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
^ "Rupee's journey since Independence: Down by 65 times against dollar", The Economic Times, 24 August 2013
^ Sergey Kudryavtsev. "Отечественные фильмы в советском кинопрокате".
^ Moscow Prime Time: How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War, page 48, Cornell University Press, 2011
^ Archive of Bank of Russia http://cbr.ru/currency_base/OldDataFiles/USD.xls
^ "Cubby Broccoli, Saltzman Close Deal With UA". Daily Variety. June 29, 1961. p. 1.
^ "Screening 'September' Tonite On TWA Jet". Daily Variety. July 17, 1961. p. 3.

External links

List of 1961 films at IMDb
List of 1961 deaths at IMDb
List of 1961 births at IMDb