1974 in film

Events

• May - George Lucas creates the first draft of what would eventually become Star Wars.
• August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of the J. Geils Band marries actress Faye Dunaway

Top Grossing Films of the Year

1. Blazing Saddles, directed by Mel Brooks, starring Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Madeline Kahn and Harvey Corman
2. The Towering Inferno, starring Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, and Fred Astaire
3. Young Frankenstein, directed by Mel Brooks, starring Gene Wilder, Teri Garr, and Madeline Kahn.
4. Earthquake
5. The Godfather: Part II
6. Black Christmas
7. Benji
8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
9. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
10. The Man with the Golden Gun

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: The Godfather, Part II - Coppola Company, Paramount
• Best Director: Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather, Part II
• Best Actor: Art Carney - Harry and Tonto
• Best Actress: Ellen Burstyn - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
• Best Supporting Actor: Robert De Niro - The Godfather, Part II
• Best Supporting Actress: Ingrid Bergman - Murder on the Orient Express

Births

• March 24 - Alyson Hannigan, actress
• April 28 - Penelope Cruz, actress
• June 25 - Karisma Kapoor, Indian actress
• November 11 - Leonardo DiCaprio, actor

Deaths

• January 31 - Samuel Goldwyn, producer, the original "G" in "MGM"
• February 7 - Arline Judge, actress
• February 11 - Anna Q Nilsson, actress
• February 23 - Florence Rice, actress
• February 28 - Carole Lesley, actress
• March 5 - Billy De Wolfe, actress
• March 19 - Edward Platt, actor
• April 10 - Patricia Collinge, actress
• April 24 - Bud Abbott, actor, best known as straight man to Lou Costello
• April 30 - Agnes Moorehead, actress
• May 25 - Donald Crisp, actor
• August 20 - Ilona Massey, actress
• September 6 - Olga Baclanova, actress
• September 21 - Walter Brennan, actor
• September 21 - Jacqueline Susann, former actress, author of Valley Of The Dolls
• October 13 - Ed Sullivan, television host, actor
• November 13 - Vittorio De Sica, Italian director
• November 14 - Johnny Mack Brown, actor
• December 15 - Anatole Litvak, director
• December 21 - Richard Long, actor
• December 26 - Jack Benny, actor

Other Movies Released

• Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
• Chinatown
• The Conversation
• Son of Dracula

Referenced By