1936 in film

The following is an overview of 1936 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1936 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Events

 * January 9 – Silent screen actor John Gilbert, perhaps best known for his appearances in films such as The Merry Widow and The Big Parade, dies suddenly of a heart attack at his Bel Air home, aged 38.
 * February 15 – first Republic serial, Darkest Africa, is released.
 * May 29 – Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film, Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.
 * September 14 – Film producer Irving Thalberg, often referred by many as the "Boy Wonder of Hollywood", dies from pneumonia at his home in Santa Monica, aged 37.

Academy Awards

 * Best Picture: The Great Ziegfeld – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
 * Best Director: Frank Capra – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
 * Best Actor: Paul Muni – The Story of Louis Pasteur
 * Best Actress: Luise Rainer – The Great Ziegfeld
 * Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan – Come and Get It
 * Best Supporting Actress: Gale Sondergaard – Anthony Adverse

Top Ten Money Making Stars
Exhibitors selected the following as the Top Ten Money Making Stars of the Year in Quigley Publishing Company's annual poll.

Top Western stars
A poll of the top Western stars was also published for the first time.

1936 film releases
United States unless stated.

January–March

 * January 1936
 * 16 January
 * Ceiling Zero
 * Strike Me Pink
 * 17 January
 * Augustus the Strong (Germany/Poland)
 * 20 January
 * The Invisible Ray
 * 22 January
 * Collegiate
 * 24 January
 * Anything Goes
 * 28 January
 * Rose Marie
 * 30 January
 * Next Time We Love
 * February 1936
 * 6 February
 * The Petrified Forest
 * 7 February
 * The Milky Way
 * 14 February
 * The Bohemian Girl
 * It Had to Happen
 * 15 February
 * The Lawless Nineties
 * 19 February
 * Girl Friends (U.S.S.R.)
 * 20 February
 * Follow the Fleet
 * Things to Come (GB)
 * 22 February
 * The Story of Louis Pasteur
 * 25 February
 * Modern Times
 * 28 February
 * The Prisoner of Shark Island
 * Wife vs. Secretary
 * 29 February
 * Mayerling (France)
 * The Walking Dead
 * March 1936
 * 1 March
 * Sutter's Gold
 * 2 March
 * Man of the Frontier
 * 6 March
 * Little Lord Fauntleroy
 * Three Godfathers
 * 9 March
 * Love Before Breakfast
 * 13 March
 * The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
 * 18 March
 * These Three
 * 20 March
 * Silly Billies
 * 22 March
 * The Great Ziegfeld
 * 28 March
 * Road Gang
 * 30 March
 * Too Many Parents

April–June

 * April 1936
 * 4 April
 * Till We Meet Again
 * 10 April
 * A Message to Garcia
 * The Moon's Our Home
 * Small Town Girl
 * 11 April
 * Desire
 * The Singing Kid
 * 16 April
 * Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
 * 20 April
 * By the Bluest of Seas (U.S.S.R.)
 * 24 April
 * Captain January
 * 30 April
 * Thirteen Hours by Air
 * May 1936
 * 6 May
 * It's Love Again (GB)
 * 8 May
 * The Case Against Mrs. Ames
 * 11 May
 * Dracula's Daughter
 * 17 May
 * Show Boat
 * 19 May
 * Love in Exile (GB)
 * 20 May
 * Broken Blossoms (GB)
 * 26 May
 * Hearts in Bondage
 * 28 May
 * Osaka Elegy (Japan)
 * 29 May
 * Fury
 * June 1936
 * 5 June
 * Private Number
 * 6 June
 * Bullets or Ballots
 * 14 June
 * The Last Outlaw
 * 15 June
 * Secret Agent (GB)
 * 17 June
 * Poppy
 * 20 June
 * Hearts Divided
 * 26 June
 * San Francisco

July–September

 * July 1936
 * 10 July
 * The Devil-Doll
 * 16 July
 * Green Pastures
 * 22 July
 * Satan Met a Lady
 * 24 July
 * Poor Little Rich Girl
 * 28 July
 * The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (GB)
 * 29 July
 * Anthony Adverse
 * August 1936
 * 10 August
 * Where There's a Will (GB)
 * 20 August
 * Romeo and Juliet
 * 26 August
 * East Meets West (UK)
 * 27 August
 * Swing Time
 * 28 August
 * The Gorgeous Hussy
 * Militiaman Bruggler (Germany)
 * The Texas Rangers
 * September 1936
 * 1 September
 * Tudor Rose
 * 2 September
 * The General Died at Dawn
 * 4 September
 * The Last of the Mohicans
 * The Road to Glory
 * 6 September
 * My Man Godfrey
 * 9 September
 * Spy of Napoleon (GB)
 * 10 September
 * Dusty Ermine (UK)
 * 11 September
 * The Man Who Changed His Mind (GB)
 * 15 September
 * The Children of Captain Grant
 * 23 September
 * Dodsworth
 * 25 September
 * Craig's Wife
 * Ramona
 * 26 September
 * Cain and Mabel
 * 30 September
 * Yiddle with his Fiddle (Poland/U.S.)

October–December

 * October 1936
 * 1 October
 * Everything Is Thunder (UK)
 * 6 October
 * Allá en el Rancho Grande (Mexico)
 * 9 October
 * Libeled Lady
 * 15 October
 * The Garden of Allah
 * Sisters of the Gion (Japan)
 * 16 October
 * 15 Maiden Lane
 * Daniel Boone
 * Dimples
 * Hopalong Cassidy Returns
 * 20 October
 * The Charge of the Light Brigade
 * 22 October
 * Crime Over London (GB)
 * 27 October
 * César (France)
 * Rebellion
 * 30 October
 * Our Relations
 * November 1936
 * 1 November
 * Legion of Terror
 * 6 November
 * Come and Get It
 * Rembrandt (GB)
 * Tarzan Escapes
 * A Woman Rebels
 * 12 November
 * Theodora Goes Wild
 * 13 November
 * Go West, Young Man
 * 16 November
 * Intermezzo (Sweden)
 * Laburnum Grove (GB)
 * The Plainsman
 * 20 November
 * Love on the Run
 * 25 November
 * Lloyd's of London
 * Pennies from Heaven
 * 26 November
 * Men Are Not Gods (GB)
 * 27 November
 * Born to Dance
 * December 1936
 * 1 December
 * The Bold Caballero
 * 2 December
 * Sabotage (GB)
 * 11 December
 * General Spanky
 * Les bas-fonds (France)
 * 12 December
 * Camille
 * 20 December
 * Empty Saddles
 * 21 December
 * Forget Me Not (UK)
 * 24 December
 * The Jungle Princess
 * 25 December
 * After the Thin Man
 * Stowaway
 * 26 December
 * Gold Diggers of 1937
 * 31 December
 * Let's Go With Pancho Villa (Mexico)

Notable films released in 1936
United States unless stated.

0–9

 * 15 Maiden Lane, directed by Allan Dwan, starring Claire Trevor and Cesar Romero

A

 * Accused, directed by Thornton Freeland, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Dolores del Río – (GB)
 * Achhoot Kanya (Untouchable Maiden), directed by Franz Osten, starring Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani – (India)
 * After the Thin Man, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and James Stewart
 * Allá en el Rancho Grande (Out on the Great Ranch) (Mexico)
 * The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss, starring Cary Grant (GB)
 * Anthony Adverse, starring Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland
 * Anything Goes, starring Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman
 * Augustus the Strong (August der Starke), directed by Paul Wegener – (Germany/Poland)

B

 * Les bas-fonds, (Underworld), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Jean Gabin and Louis Jouvet (France)
 * Black Eyes directed by Abdolhossein Sepanta (Iran)
 * Blood on Wolf Mountain (Lang shan die xue ji) – (China)
 * The Bohemian Girl, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
 * The Bold Caballero, starring Robert Livingston
 * Born to Dance, starring Eleanor Powell and James Stewart
 * Broken Blossoms, starring Emlyn Williams and Dolly Haas
 * Bullets or Ballots, starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Blondell
 * By the Bluest of Seas (U samogo sinego morya), directed by Boris Barnet (U.S.S.R.)

C

 * Cain and Mabel, starring Marion Davies and Clark Gable
 * Camel Through the Eye of a Needle (Velbloud uchem jehly) (Czechoslovakia)
 * Camille, starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor
 * Captain January, starring Shirley Temple
 * The Case Against Mrs. Ames, starring Madeleine Carroll and George Brent
 * Ceiling Zero, directed by Howard Hawks, starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien
 * César, directed by Marcel Pagnol (France)
 * The Charge of the Light Brigade, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
 * Charlie Chan at the Opera, starring Warner Oland and Boris Karloff
 * The Children of Captain Grant
 * Circus (Tsirk) (U.S.S.R.)
 * Collegiate, starring Frances Langford and Betty Grable
 * Come and Get It, starring Edward Arnold and Joel McCrea
 * Craig's Wife, starring Rosalind Russell
 * The Crime of Monsieur Lange (Le Crime de Monsieur Lange), directed by Jean Renoir (France)
 * Crime Over London, directed by Alfred Zeisler (GB)

D

 * Daniel Boone, starring George O'Brien
 * The Desert Island (Lang tao sha) (China)
 * Desire, starring Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper
 * Devdas (India)
 * The Devil-Doll, directed by Tod Browning, starring Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan
 * Dimples, starring Shirley Temple
 * Dodsworth, directed by William Wyler, starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Mary Astor
 * Dracula's Daughter, starring Otto Kruger and Gloria Holden
 * Dusty Ermine, directed by Bernard Vorhaus (UK)

E

 * East Meets West, starring George Arliss (UK)
 * Empty Saddles, starring Buck Jones and Louise Brooks
 * Everything Is Thunder, starring Constance Bennett (UK)

F

 * Follow the Fleet, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
 * Forget Me Not, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Beniamino Gigli and Joan Gardner (UK)
 * The Four Musketeers (Italy)
 * Fury, starring Sylvia Sidney and Spencer Tracy

G

 * The Garden of Allah, starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer
 * The General Died at Dawn, starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll
 * General Spanky, starring Spanky McFarland
 * Girl Friends (Podrugi) (U.S.S.R.)
 * Go West, Young Man, starring Mae West, adapted by her from Lawrence Riley's 1934 stage play Personal Appearance
 * Gold Diggers of 1937, directed by Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley
 * The Gorgeous Hussy, starring Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor
 * The Great Ziegfeld, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer
 * Green Pastures, adapted from the 1923 stage play, starring Rex Ingram and Eddie Anderson

H

 * Hearts Divided, starring Marion Davies and Dick Powell
 * Hearts in Bondage, starring David Manners and Mae Clarke
 * Hopalong Cassidy Returns, starring William Boyd

I

 * I'll Give a Million (Darò un milione), starring Vittorio De Sica (Italy)
 * Intermezzo, starring Ingrid Bergman and Gösta Ekman (Sweden)
 * The Invisible Ray, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi
 * It Had to Happen, starring George Raft and Rosalind Russell
 * It's Love Again, starring Jessie Matthews and Robert Young (GB)

J

 * The Jungle Princess, starring Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland

K

 * Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (The Emperor of California) – (Germany)
 * Klondike Annie, starring Mae West and Victor McLaglen

L

 * Laburnum Grove, starring Edmund Gwenn and Cedric Hardwicke (GB)
 * The Last of the Mohicans, starring Randolph Scott
 * The Last Outlaw, starring Harry Carey
 * The Lawless Nineties, starring John Wayne
 * Legion of Terror, starring Bruce Cabot
 * Let's Go With Pancho Villa (Vámonos con Pancho Villa) (Mexico)
 * Libeled Lady, starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy
 * Limelight, starring Anna Neagle (GB)
 * Little Lord Fauntleroy, starring Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello Barrymore, C. Aubrey Smith
 * Lloyd's of London, starring Freddie Bartholomew, Madeleine Carroll, Tyrone Power
 * Love Before Breakfast, starring Carole Lombard and Preston Foster
 * Love in Exile, starring Helen Vinson and Clive Brook (GB)
 * Love on the Run. starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable

M

 * The Man Who Changed His Mind, starring Boris Karloff (GB)
 * The Man Who Could Work Miracles, starring Roland Young and Ralph Richardson (GB)
 * Mayerling, directed by Anatole Litvak starring Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux (France)
 * Men Are Not Gods, starring Miriam Hopkins, Gertrude Lawrence, Rex Harrison (GB)
 * A Message to Garcia, directed by George Marshall, starring Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles and Wallace Beery
 * Militiaman Bruggler (Standschütze Bruggler) – (Germany)
 * The Milky Way, starring Harold Lloyd
 * Modern Times, written, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin, with Paulette Goddard
 * The Mongolian Boy (Монгол хүү), directed by Ilya Trauberg is released as the first Mongolian film
 * The Moon's Our Home, starring Henry Fonda and Margaret Sullavan
 * Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, directed by Frank Capra, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur
 * My Man Godfrey, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring William Powell and Carole Lombard

N

 * Next Time We Love, starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Ray Milland
 * Night Mail, documentary (GB)

O

 * The Only Son (Hitori musuko), directed by Yasujirō Ozu (Japan)
 * Osaka Elegy (Naniwa erejii), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi (Japan)
 * Our Relations, starring Laurel and Hardy

P

 * Palm Springs, starring Frances Langford and David Niven
 * Paradise Road (Ulička v ráji) (Czechoslovakia)
 * Pennies from Heaven, starring Bing Crosby and Madge Evans
 * The Petrified Forest, starring Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis
 * Poppy, starring W.C. Fields
 * The Plainsman, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur
 * Poor Little Rich Girl, starring Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Jack Haley
 * The Prisoner of Shark Island, directed by John Ford, starring Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart
 * Private Number, starring Loretta Young and Robert Taylor

R

 * Red River Valley, starring Gene Autry
 * Redes, directed by Fred Zinnemann – (Mexico)
 * Ramona, starring Don Ameche and Loretta Young
 * Rebellion, starring Tom Keene and Rita Hayworth
 * Reefer Madness, (aka Tell Your Children), a cult exploitation film
 * Rembrandt, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Charles Laughton – (GB)
 * Road Gang, starring Donald Woods
 * Robin Hood, Jr. (1936), directed by Leslie Goodwins
 * The Road to Glory, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Lionel Barrymore and Fredric March
 * Romeo and Juliet, starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone
 * Rose Marie, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy

S

 * Sabotage, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Sylvia Sidney and Oskar Homolka – (GB)
 * San Francisco, starring Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy
 * Satan Met a Lady, starring Warren William and Bette Davis
 * Secret Agent, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring John Gielgud and Madeleine Carroll (GB)
 * Show Boat, starring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan
 * The Singing Kid, starring Al Jolson
 * Silly Billies starring Wheeler & Woolsey
 * Sisters of the Gion (Gion no shimai), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi (Japan)
 * Small Town Girl, directed by William Wellman, starring Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, James Stewart
 * Sportszerelem (Hungary)
 * Spy of Napoleon, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Richard Barthelmess and Dolly Haas (GB)
 * The Story of Louis Pasteur, starring Paul Muni
 * Stowaway, starring Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye
 * Sutter's Gold, starring Edward Arnold
 * Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Tod Slaughter (GB)
 * Swing Time, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

T

 * Tarzan Escapes, starring Johnny Weissmuller
 * The Texas Rangers, directed by King Vidor, starring Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie
 * Theodora Goes Wild, starring Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas
 * These Three, starring Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea (adapted from Lillian Hellman play The Children's Hour)
 * Things to Come, directed by William Cameron Menzies, starring Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, Cedric Hardwicke (GB)
 * Thirteen Hours by Air, starring Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett
 * Three Godfathers, starring Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Walter Brennan
 * Till We Meet Again, starring Herbert Marshall and Gertrude Michael
 * Too Many Parents, debut film for Frances Farmer
 * The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, starring Sylvia Sidney, Fred MacMurray, Henry Fonda
 * Tudor Rose, starring Cedric Hardwicke, Nova Pilbeam, John Mills (GB)

W

 * The Walking Dead, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Boris Karloff
 * Where There's a Will, starring Will Hay – (GB)
 * Whom the Gods Love, directed by Basil Dean, starring Stephen Haggard, Victoria Hopper – (GB)
 * Wife vs. Secretary, starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy
 * Windbag the Sailor, starring Will Hay (GB)
 * A Woman Rebels, starring Katharine Hepburn and Herbert Marshall

Y

 * Yiddle with his Fiddle, starring Molly Picon (Poland/U.S.)

Serials

 * Ace Drummond, starring John (Dusty) King
 * The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
 * The Black Coin
 * The Clutching Hand
 * Custer's Last Stand
 * Darkest Africa, starring Clyde Beatty
 * Flash Gordon, starring Buster Crabbe
 * The Phantom Rider
 * Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island, starring Ray Mala
 * Shadow of Chinatown
 * Undersea Kingdom, starring Ray Corrigan
 * The Vigilantes Are Coming

Comedy film series

 * Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
 * Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
 * Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
 * Buster Keaton (1917–1928)
 * Laurel and Hardy (1927–1940)
 * Our Gang (1922–1944)
 * Harry Langdon (1924–1936)
 * Wheeler & Woolsey (1929–1937)
 * The Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
 * The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

Animated short film series

 * Felix the Cat (1919-1936)
 * Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
 * Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–1938)
 * Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
 * Silly Symphonies
 * Elmer Elephant
 * Three Little Wolves
 * Toby Tortoise Returns
 * Three Blind Mousketeers
 * The Country Cousin
 * Mother Pluto
 * More Kittens
 * Screen Songs (1929–1938)
 * Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
 * Terrytoons (1930–1964)
 * Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
 * Scrappy (1931–1941)
 * Betty Boop (1932–1939)
 * Popeye (1933–1957)
 * ComiColor Cartoons (1933-1936)
 * Happy Harmonies (1934–1938)
 * Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
 * Rainbow Parades (1935-1936)
 * Meany, Miny, and Moe (1936–1937)

Births

 * January 9 – K Callan, American author and actress
 * January 18 – Tim Barlow, English actor (d. 2023)
 * January 22 – Nyree Dawn Porter, English actress (d. 2001)
 * January 27 – Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)
 * January 28 – Alan Alda, American actor
 * February 3 – Jeanine Basinger, American film historian
 * February 4 – Gary Conway, American actor and screenwriter
 * February 11 – Burt Reynolds, American actor (d. 2018)
 * February 12
 * Joe Don Baker, American character actor
 * Paul Shenar, American actor (d. 1989)
 * February 14
 * Joan O'Brien, American actor, singer
 * Andrew Prine, American actor (d. 2022)
 * February 17 – Jim Brown, American actor (d. 2023)
 * February 29 – Alex Rocco, American actor (d. 2015)
 * March 1 – Georgina Spelvin, born Shelley Graham, American pornographic film actress
 * March 5 – Dean Stockwell, American actor (d. 2021)
 * March 8 – Sue Ane Langdon, American actress
 * March 9 – Marty Ingels, American actor, comedian, comedy sketch writer and theatrical agent (d. 2015)
 * March 19 – Ursula Andress, Swiss actress
 * March 23 – Luisa Mattioli, Italian actress (d. 2021)
 * April 9 – Avery Schreiber, American actor and comedian (d. 2002)
 * April 12 – Charles Napier, American character actor (d. 2011)
 * April 19 – Andy Romano, American actor (d. 2022)
 * May 1 – Danièle Huillet, French director (d. 2006)
 * May 4 – Eleanor Coppola, American documentary filmmaker, artist, and writer (d. 2024)
 * May 9
 * Albert Finney, English actor (d. 2019)
 * Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician (d. 2023)
 * May 12 – Millie Perkins, American former actress
 * May 14 – Bobby Darin, American singer, songwriter, actor (d. 1973)
 * May 17 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and performance artist (d. 2010)
 * May 20 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
 * May 23 – Charles Kimbrough, American actor (d. 2023)
 * May 27 – Louis Gossett Jr., American actor (d. 2024)
 * May 28 – John Wilder, American producer, writer and former actor
 * May 30 – Keir Dullea, American actor
 * June 3 – Larry McMurtry, American novelist and screenwriter (d. 2021)
 * June 4 – Bruce Dern, American actor
 * June 8 – James Darren, American actor, director and singer
 * June 19 - Takeshi Aono, Japanese voice actor and narrator (d. 2012)
 * June 22 – Kris Kristofferson, American retired actor, musician and songwriter
 * June 24
 * Robert Downey Sr., American actor and director (d. 2021)
 * Paul L. Smith, American-Israeli actor and director (d. 2012)
 * June 27 – Shirley Anne Field, English actress (d. 2023)
 * July 1 – Ron Masak, American actor (d. 2022)
 * July 5 – Shirley Knight, American actress (d. 2020)
 * July 9 – Dick Richards, American director, producer and screenwriter
 * July 9 - Richard Wilson Scottish actor, theatre director and broadcaster
 * July 24
 * Ruth Buzzi, American actress, comedian and singer
 * Mark Goddard, American actor (d. 2023)
 * July 25 - August Schellenberg, Canadian actor (d. 2013)
 * August 5 - John Saxon, American actor (d. 2020)
 * August 13 – Vyjayanthimala, Indian actress, politician, dancer and singer
 * August 15 - Pat Priest, American actress
 * August 16 - Anita Gillette, American actress
 * August 17 – Floyd Westerman, American musician, political activist, and actor (d. 2007)
 * August 18 – Robert Redford, American actor and director
 * August 20 – Philip Voss, British actor (d. 2020)
 * August 25 – Hugh Hudson, English director (d. 2023)
 * September 7 – Bruce Gray, Canadian actor (d. 2017)
 * September 11 - Charles Dierkop, American character actor (d. 2024)
 * September 14 - Walter Koenig, American actor and screenwriter
 * September 19 - Anna Karen, British-South African actress (d. 2022)
 * September 20
 * Andrew Davies, Welsh writer
 * Pepper Martin, Canadian-American actor (d. 2022)
 * September 21 - Burr DeBenning, American character actor (d. 2003)
 * September 24 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer, animator, actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
 * October 8 - Leonid Kuravlyov, Russian actor (d. 2022)
 * October 9 – Brian Blessed, English actor
 * October 16
 * Peter Bowles, English actor (d. 2022)
 * Irina Demick, French actress (d. 2004)
 * October 19 - Tony Lo Bianco, Italian-American actor (d. 2024)
 * October 23 - Philip Kaufman, American director and screenwriter
 * October 24 – David Nelson, American actor, director and producer (d. 2011)
 * October 26 - Shelley Morrison, American actress (d. 2019)
 * October 28 - Joe Spinell, American character actor (d. 1989)
 * November 4 - Jan Tříska, Czech actor (d. 2017)
 * November 9 – Teddy Infuhr, American child actor (d. 2007)
 * November 19 - Dick Cavett, American television personality, comedian and former talk show host
 * November 25 - Matt Clark, American actor
 * November 27 – Joel Barcellos, Brazilian actor (d. 2018)
 * December 1 - Melissa Jaffer, Australian actress
 * December 3
 * Mary Alice, American actress (d. 2022)
 * Sir Horace Ové, Trinidadian-born British filmmaker (d. 2023)
 * December 5 - John Erwin, American voice actor
 * December 6 - David Ossman, American writer and comedian
 * December 8 – David Carradine, American actor and martial artist (d. 2009)
 * December 10 – Howard Smith, American journalist, director and producer (d. 2014)
 * December 13 - Cliff Emmich, American actor (d. 2022)
 * December 18 - Gary Gray, American child actor (d. 2006)
 * December 22 – Hector Elizondo, American actor
 * December 23
 * Frederic Forrest, American actor (d. 2023)
 * James Stacy, American actor (d. 2016)
 * December 25 – Ismail Merchant, Indian film producer (d. 2005)
 * December 29 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress (d. 2017)

Deaths

 * January 9
 * John Gilbert, American actor (b. 1897)
 * Frank Rice, American actor (b. 1892)
 * January 24 – Harry T. Morey, American actor (b. 1873)
 * February 20 – Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)
 * February 28 – Justus Hagman, Swedish actor (b. 1859)
 * April 6 – Väinö Lehmus, Finnish actor (b. 1886)
 * June 17 – Henry B. Walthall, American actor (b. 1878)
 * July 11 - James Murray, American actor (b. 1901)
 * September 14 – Irving Thalberg, American film producer (b. 1899)
 * October 17 – Suzanne Bianchetti, French actress (b. 1889)