1946 in film

The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.

Events

 * November 21 – William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.
 * December 20 – Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, featuring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, and Thomas Mitchell opens in New York.
 * Cinemagoing in the United Kingdom reaches an all-time peak, with 1,635 million admissions during the year.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)
(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)

Awards
Academy Awards:
 * Best Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives – Goldwyn, RKO Radio
 * Best Director: William Wyler – The Best Years of Our Lives
 * Best Actor: Fredric March – The Best Years of Our Lives
 * Best Actress: Olivia de Havilland – To Each His Own
 * Best Supporting Actor: Harold Russell – The Best Years of Our Lives
 * Best Supporting Actress: Anne Baxter – The Razor's Edge

Golden Globe Awards:


 * Best Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
 * Best Director: Frank Capra – It's a Wonderful Life
 * Best Actor: Gregory Peck – The Yearling
 * Best Actress: Rosalind Russell – Sister Kenny


 * Best Film Promoting International Understanding: The Last Chance (Switzerland)

GRAND PRIX (Cannes Film Festival):
 * Portrait of Maria (María Candelaria), directed by Emilio Fernández, Mexico
 * The Turning Point (Великий перелом, Velikiy perelom), directed by Fridrikh Ermler, Soviet Union
 * La Symphonie pastorale, directed by Jean Delannoy, France
 * The Last Chance (Die Letzte Chance), directed by Leopold Lintberg, Switzerland
 * Men Without Wings (Muži bez křídel), directed by František Čáp, Czechoslovakia
 * Rome, Open City (Roma, città aperta), directed by Roberto Rossellini, Italy

Notable films released in 1946

 * 1) It's a Wonderful Life

Serials

 * Daughter of Don Q
 * Chick Carter, Detective
 * The Crimson Ghost
 * Hop Harrigan
 * King of the Forest Rangers
 * Lost City of the Jungle
 * The Mysterious Mr. M
 * The Phantom Rider, starring Robert Kent and Peggy Stewart
 * The Scarlet Horseman
 * Son of the Guardsman

Short film series

 * Shirley Temple (1932–1946)
 * The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
 * Popular Science (1935–1950)

Animated Short Film Series

 * Mickey Mouse (1928–1952)
 * Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
 * Terrytoons (1930–1964)
 * Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
 * Popeye (1933–1957)
 * Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
 * Donald Duck (1936–1956)
 * Pluto (1937–1951)
 * Andy Panda (1939–1949)
 * Goofy (1939–1953)
 * Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
 * Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
 * The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)
 * Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
 * Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
 * Droopy (1943–1958)
 * Chip and Dale (1943–1956)
 * Screwball Squirrel (1943–1946)
 * Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
 * George and Junior (1946–1948)

Births

 * January 5 – Diane Keaton, American actress, producer and director
 * January 19 – Dolly Parton, American country singer and actress
 * January 20 – David Lynch, American director
 * January 26 – Gene Siskel, American film critic, Siskel and Ebert (d. 1999)
 * February 7 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
 * February 20
 * Brenda Blethyn, English actress
 * Sandy Duncan, American actress, comedian, dancer, and singer
 * February 21 – Alan Rickman, English actor (d. 2016)
 * March 12 – Liza Minnelli, American singer and actress
 * March 21 – Timothy Dalton, Welsh actor
 * April 18 – Hayley Mills, English actress and singer
 * April 19 – Tim Curry, English actor and singer
 * April 21 – Claire Denis, French director
 * April 25 – Talia Shire, American actress
 * May 9 – Candice Bergen, American actress and model
 * May 20 – Cher, American singer and actress
 * June 1 – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
 * June 15 – Brigitte Fossey, French actress
 * July 6 – Sylvester Stallone, American actor, screenwriter and director
 * July 13 – Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian
 * July 22 – Danny Glover, American actor and director
 * August 16 – Lesley Ann Warren, American actress and singer
 * September 15
 * Oliver Stone, American director and producer
 * Tommy Lee Jones, American actor
 * September 19 – Michael Elphick, English actor (d. 2002)
 * September 28 – Jeffrey Jones, American actor
 * October 4 – Susan Sarandon, American actress
 * October 15 – John Getz, American actor
 * October 27 – Ivan Reitman, Slovakian-born director and producer
 * October 31 – Stephen Rea, Northern Irish actor
 * November 6 – Sally Field, American actress and singer
 * December 14 – Patty Duke, American actress (d. 2016)
 * December 17 – Eugene Levy, Canadian actor, comedian and director
 * December 18 – Steven Spielberg, American director and producer

Deaths

 * January 5 – Slim Summerville, 53, American actor and comedian, All Quiet on the Western Front, Captain January, Niagara Falls, Charlie Chan in Reno
 * February 1 – Jenő Törzs, 58, Hungarian actor, Secret of St. Job Forest, Alraune, Oliver Twist, Number 111
 * February 6 – Justus D. Barnes, 84, American actor
 * April 1 – Noah Beery, Sr., 64, American actor, She Done Him Wrong, The Trail Beyond, The Mark of Zorro, Mystery Liner
 * June 23 – William S. Hart, 81, American actor, The Narrow Trail, The Silent Man, The Money Corral, The Return of Draw Egan
 * July 2 – Mary Alden, 63, American actress, The Birth of a Nation, The Plastic Age, Brown of Harvard, Strange Interlude
 * August 9 – Léon Gaumont, 82, French film pioneer
 * August 13 – H. G. Wells, 79, British science fiction writer, The First Men in the Moon, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The Island of Dr. Moreau
 * August 26 – Jeanie MacPherson, 59, American actress and screenwriter, Dynamite, Manslaughter, The Godless Girl, The Captive
 * August 28 – Florence Turner, 61, American actress, The Chinese Parrot
 * September 21 – Olga Engl, 75, Austrian actress, Phantom, Frauenmoral
 * October 31 – Gabriel Gabrio, 59, French actor, Pépé le Moko, Wooden Crosses, Lucrezia Borgia, Gigolette
 * November 18 – Donald Meek, 68, American actor, Stagecoach, You Can't Take It with You, Captain Blood, State Fair
 * December 12 – Renée Jeanne Falconetti, 54, French actress, The Passion of Joan of Arc
 * December 25 – W. C. Fields, 66, American comedian and actor, The Bank Dick, It's a Gift, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, My Little Chickadee

Film debuts

 * Kirk Douglas – The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
 * Burt Lancaster – The Killers
 * Dean Martin – Film Vodvil: Art Mooney and Orchestra
 * Yves Montand – Star Without Light