Overview of the events of 1974 in film
Overview of the events of 1974 in film
The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.
Highest-grossing films (U.S.) [ edit ] The top ten 1974 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1974 Rank Title Distributor(s) Domestic rentals 1 The Towering Inferno 20th Century Fox / Warner Bros. $50,000,000[1] 2 Blazing Saddles Warner Bros. $45,200,000[1] 3 Young Frankenstein 20th Century Fox $38,800,000[1] 4 Earthquake Universal $36,300,000[1] 5 The Trial of Billy Jack Warner Bros. $31,100,000[2] 6 The Godfather Part II Paramount $30,700,000[1] 7 Airport 1975 Universal Pictures $25,800,000[1] 8 The Longest Yard Paramount $23,000,000[1] 9 Death Wish Paramount $22,000,000[3] 10 The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams Sunn Classic $21,895,000[4]
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. 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 [ edit ] By country/region [ edit ] By genre/medium [ edit ] January 1 – Jennifer Podemski , Canadian actress January 5 – Daisy Bates , English actress January 10 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 February 4 – Urmila Matondkar , Indian actress February 8 February 9 February 10 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 February 18 – Nadine Labaki , Lebanese actress, director and activist February 25 – Divya Bharti , Indian actress (d. 1993) March 5 March 7 March 8 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 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 April 18 - Edgar Wright , English filmmaker April 21 - John Hasler , English actor and voice-over artist 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 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 July 29 - Josh Radnor , American actor and filmmaker July 30 – Hilary Swank , American actress July 31 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 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 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 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 October 7 - Numan Acar , Turkish-German actor and producer October 17 October 20 – Brian Limond , Scottish comedian, actor and writer October 28 October 31 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 - 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 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 Month Date Name Age Country Profession Notable films January 2 Tex Ritter 68 US Actor, Singer 3 Gino Cervi 72 Italy Actor 14 Paul Whitsun-Jones 50 UK Actor 31 Samuel Goldwyn 94 Poland Producer, Studio Executive 31 Roger Pryor 72 US Actor February 7 Arline Judge 61 US Actress 11 Anna Q. Nilsson 85 Sweden Actress 23 Florence Rice 67 US Actress 23 Harry Ruby 79 US Screenwriter, Composer 27 Orry-Kelly 66 Australia Costume Designer 28 Carole Lesley 38 UK Actress March 3 Barbara Ruick 43 US Actress, Singer 5 Billy De Wolfe 67 US Actor 7 Alberto Rabagliati 67 Italy Actor, Singer 8 Martha Wentworth 84 US Actress, Voice Actress 13 Howard St. John 68 US Actor 19 Edward Platt 58 US Actor 28 Dorothy Fields 68 US Songwriter 28 Françoise Rosay 82 France Actress 29 Seton I. Miller 71 US Screenwriter April 2 Douglass Dumbrille 84 Canada Actor 10 Patricia Collinge 81 Ireland Actress 13 Stanley Smith 71 US Actor 18 Betty Compson 77 US Actress 20 Peter Lee Lawrence 30 Germany Actor 24 Bud Abbott 78 US Actor 30 Agnes Moorehead 73 US Actress May 18 Mary Maguire 55 Australia Actress 24 Duke Ellington 75 US Composer 25 Donald Crisp 91 UK Actor June 6 Blanche Yurka 86 US Actress 10 Lewis R. Foster 75 US Director, Screenwriter 17 Pamela Britton 51 US Actress 28 Frank Sutton 50 US Actor July 13 Joe Flynn 48 US Actor 13 Marthe Vinot 79 France Actress 27 Julián de Meriche 65 Mexico Actor 28 Truman Bradley 69 US Actor, Narrator August 13 Ilona Massey 64 Hungary Actress 16 Maxwell Reed 55 Ireland Actor September 6 Olga Baclanova 78 Russia Actress 6 Otto Kruger 89 US Actor 14 Barbara Jo Allen 68 US Actress 14 Warren Hull 71 US Actor 18 Edna Best 74 UK Actress 21 Jacqueline Susann 56 US Author, Actress 21 Walter Brennan 80 US Actor 22 Stephanie Bidmead 45 UK Actress 27 James R. Webb 64 US Screenwriter October 13 Ed Sullivan 73 US Actor November 7 Rodolfo Acosta 54 Mexico Actor 13 Vittorio De Sica 73 Italy Actor, Director, Screenwriter 14 Johnny Mack Brown 70 US Actor 17 Clive Brook 87 UK Actor 25 Rosemary Lane 61 US Actress, Singer December 4 Lee Kinsolving 36 US Actor 5 Pietro Germi 60 Italy Actor, Director, Screenwriter 10 Paul Richards 50 US Actor 11 Reed Hadley 63 US Actor 15 Anatole Litvak 72 Ukraine Director, Producer 21 Richard Long 47 US Actor 26 Jack Benny 80 US Actor
Film debuts [ edit ] References [ edit ] External links [ edit ]