The year 1974 in film involved some significant events. Columbia Pictures and

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

(MGM) celebrated their 50th anniversaries.

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 Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

and featured Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston, is released to worldwide critical acclaim. *September 23 – Barry Diller announced as chairman and chief executive office of Paramount Pictures. *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. *

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. *December 30 – Gordon Stulberg resigns as president of 20th Century Fox. * 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

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 ** Kelly Marcel, English screenwriter, director and former actress ** 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 ** Melody Perkins, American actress *January 30 ** Christian Bale, English actor ** Olivia Colman, English actress *February 2 - Oz Perkins, American actor, screenwriter and director *February 4 – Urmila Matondkar, Indian actress *February 5 - Tofiga Fepulea'i, New Zealand actor and comedian *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 23 - Barry Watson, American 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 ** Juliet Cowan, Northern Irish 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 *May 28 - Romain Duris, French actor *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 Karisma Kapoor (; born 25 June 1974) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films. One of the leading and highest-paid actresses of the 1990s and early 2000s, Kapoor is a recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Karisma Kapoor ...

, Indian actress *June 28 - Kirsty Mitchell, Scottish actress *July 1 - Jonathan Roumie, American actor *July 3 - Corey Reynolds, American actor *July 4 - Mick Wingert, American voice actor *July 8 – Tami Erin, American actress *July 10 - Imelda May, Irish actress and singer *July 14 - Maxine Peake, English 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 23 - Stephanie March, American actress *July 27 ** Amy Hathaway, American former actress ** Takehiro Hira, Japanese actor *July 28 - Hannah Waddingham, English actress, singer and television presenter *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 21 - Paul Chowdhry, British comedian and 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 16 - Ed Stoppard, English actor *September 18 ** Xzibit, American rapper, actor and broadcaster ** Emily Rutherfurd, American actress *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 ** Brandon Keener, American actor ** 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 9 - Ryo Kase, Japanese actor *November 10 – Simone Singh, Indian actress *November 11 – Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor *November 12 - Tamala Jones, American actress *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 *November 30 - Hinnerk Schönemann, German actor *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 Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...

– ''The Groove Tube'' * Kent Cheng – '' Heroes Two'' * 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'' * Toshiyuki Nishida – ''Ranru no hata'' * 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 {{Portal bar, Film Film by year