1981 in film
Encyclopedia : 1 : 19 : 198 : 1981 in film
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Events
- January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it.
- November 29 - Off Santa Catalina Island, 43-year old actress Natalie Wood drowns during a boating accident.
- Tom Cruise makes his acting debut.
Top grossing films
- North America
- Raiders of the Lost Ark, starring Harrison Ford
- Superman II
- Stir Crazy
- Nine to Five
- Stripes, starring Bill Murray and Warren Oates
- Any Which Way You Can
- Arthur
- The Cannonball Run
- The Four Seasons
- For Your Eyes Only
- Best Picture: Chariots of Fire - Enigma, The Ladd Company/Warner Bros.
- Best Actor: Henry Fonda - On Golden Pond
- Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond
Births
- January 28 – Elijah Wood, actor
- April 19 - Hayden Christensen , actor
- June 9 - Natalie Portman (Natalie Herschlag), actress
Deaths
- January 1 - Beulah Bondi, actress
- January 10 - Richard Boone, actor
- January 16 - Bernard Lee, actor
- February 1 - Wanda Hendrix, actress
- July 27 - William Wyler, director
- August 4 - Melvyn Douglas, actor
- August 18 - Anita Loos, writer
- September 27 - Robert Montgomery, actor
- October 24 - Edith Head, costume designer
- c.November 12 - William Holden, actor
- November 27 - Lotte Lenya, actress
- November 29 - Natalie Wood, actress
- December 28 - Allan Dwan, pioneer film director
Other movies released
- Absence of Malice
- An American Werewolf in London
- Bustin' Loose
- Chariots of Fire
- Das Boot (1982 US release)
- Deadly Blessing starring Sharon Stone
- Deprisa, Deprisa!, Golden Bear winner
- Escape from New York, starring Kurt Russell
- Excalibur
- Friday the 13th Part 2
- Gal Young 'Un, Sundance Grand Jury Prize
- Halloween II, starring Jamie Lee Curtis
- The Hand, starring Michael Caine, directed by Oliver Stone
- Heartland, Sundance Grand Jury Prize
- Heaven's Gate
- Looker
- Man of Iron, Palme d'Or winner
- Mommie Dearest, starring Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid
- , starring Sam Neill, Rossano Brazzi
- On Golden Pond, starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda
- Only When I Laugh
- Pennies From Heaven, starring Steve Martin, based on the 1978 BBC Television serial by Dennis Potter.
- Pixote
- Quest for Fire also called La Guerre du feu
- Ragtime
- Reds
- Sogni d'oro
- Stevie
- Taps starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton
- Tarzan, the Ape Man
- The Boat Is Full
- The Fox and the Hound
- The French Lieutenant's Woman
- The German Sisters, Golden Lion winner
- The Great Muppet Caper
- The Howling
- They Don't Wear Black Tie
- Time Bandits
- Wolfen
- Zoot Suit, starring Edward James Olmos
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