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The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.
Contents
Events
- June 4 - The Three Stooges release their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters.
- September 18 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx marries his second wife, Barbara Blakely.
- September 30 - The film of Mise Éire, made by George Morrison for Gael Linn, is premiered to close the Cork Film Festival, the first feature-length Irish language film.
- November 18 - William Wyler's film Ben-Hur premieres at Loews Theater in New York City.
- Sammy Davis, Jr. and May Britt start dating.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
| # | Film | Studio | Actors | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ben-Hur | MGM | Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Hugh Griffith, Jack Hawkins | $36.992 m |
| 2. | Sleeping Beauty* | Disney | Mary Costa, Eleanor Audley, Bill Shirley, Verna Felton | $21.998 m |
| 3. | North by Northwest | MGM | Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason | $12.703 m |
| 4. | Some Like It Hot | United Artists | Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon | $10.128 m |
| 5. | Pillow Talk | Universal | Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall | $9.670 m |
| 6. | Imitation of Life | Universal | Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Juanita Moore | $9.618 m |
| 7. | Suddenly, Last Summer | Columbia | Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn | $6.375 m |
| 8. | The Nun's Story | Warner Bros. | Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch | $5.750 m |
| 9. | Rio Bravo | Warner Bros. | John Wayne, Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson | $5.650 m |
| 10. | Anatomy of a Murder | Columbia | James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara | $5.500 m |
| 11 | The Diary of Anne Frank (1959 film) | 20th century fox | Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters | $5,014
m |
| 11. | On the Beach | United Artists | Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire | $4.803 m |
| 12. | Operation Petticoat | Universal | Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Dina Merrill | $3.950 m |
| 13. | The Best of Everything | 20th century fox | Joan Crawford, Hope Lange, Suzy Parker, Diane Baker, Louis Jourdan | $3,500
m |
| 14. | Godzilla Raids Again | Warner Bros | Hiroshi Koizumi, Minoru Chiaki, Takashi Shimura | $1,952, m |
(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)
Awards
| Category/Organization | 17th Golden Globe Awards March 10, 1960 |
12th BAFTA Awards March 26, 1960 |
32nd Academy Awards April 4, 1960 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Musical or Comedy | Drama | |||
| Best Film | Some Like It Hot | Ben-Hur | Room at the Top | Ben-Hur |
| Best Director | William Wyler Ben-Hur |
- | William Wyler Ben-Hur | |
| Best Actor | Jack Lemmon Some Like It Hot |
Anthony Franciosa Career |
Sidney Poitier The Defiant Ones |
Charlton Heston Ben-Hur |
| Best Actress | Marilyn Monroe Some Like It Hot |
Elizabeth Taylor Suddenly, Last Summer |
Simone Signoret Room at the Top |
Simone Signoret Room at the Top |
| Best Supporting Actor | Stephen Boyd Ben-Hur |
- | Hugh Griffith Ben-Hur | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Susan Kohner Imitation of Life |
- | Shelley Winters The Diary of Anne Frank | |
| Best Screenplay, Adapted | Room at the Top Neil Paterson |
Orders to Kill Paul Dehn |
Room at the Top Neil Paterson | |
| Best Screenplay, Original | Pillow Talk Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene, Stanley Shapiro, and Maurice Richlin | |||
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
- Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro), directed by Marcel Camus, France
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):
- Il Generale della Rovere (General della Rovere), directed by Roberto Rossellini, Italy / France
- La grande guerra (The Great War), directed by Mario Monicelli, Italy / France
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
- Les Cousins (The Cousins), directed by Claude Chabrol, France
Notable films released in 1959
Romance films released in 1959
Short film series
- Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
- Terrytoons (1930–1964)
- Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
- Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
- Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
- Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)
- The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
Births
- January 5 – Clancy Brown, American actor & voice actor
- January 17 - Momoe Yamaguchi, former Japanese actress & singer
- January 22 - Linda Blair, American actress
- February 2 - Laine Mägi, Estonian actress & dancer
- February 4 - Pamelyn Ferdin, American actress
- February 22 - Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
- March 5 - Darío Grandinetti, Argentinian actor
- March 6 - Tom Arnold, American actor & comedian
- March 7 - Donna Murphy, actress & singer
- March 8 - Aidan Quinn, Irish/American actor
- March 15 - Renny Harlin, Finnish director & producer
- March 18
- Irene Cara, American actress & singer
- Luc Besson, French director & producer
- March 22 - Matthew Modine, American actor
- March 23 - Catherine Keener, American actress
- April 15 - Emma Thompson, English actress
- April 17 - Sean Bean, English actor
- April 20 - Clint Howard, American actor
- June 11 - Hugh Laurie, English actor
- June 22 - Wayne Federman, American actor & comedian
- June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor
- July 26 - Kevin Spacey, American actor
- August 10 - Rosanna Arquette, American actress
- August 14 - Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
- August 29 - Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
- September 23 - Jason Alexander, American actor
- October 21 - Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
- November 14 - Paul McGann, British actor
- November 19 - Allison Janney, American actress
- November 28 - Judd Nelson, American actor
- December 13 - Johnny Whitaker, American actor
- December 29 - Patricia Clarkson, American actress
- December 31 - Val Kilmer, American actor
Deaths
- January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille, 77, American director and producer, The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Show on Earth
- February 1 - Madame Sul-Te-Wan, 85, American actress, King of the Zombies, In Old Chicago
- February 4 - Una O'Connor, 78, Irish actress, Witness for the Prosecution, The Adventures of Robin Hood
- February 5 - Gwili Andre, 51, Danish actress
- February 22 - Helen Parrish, 34, American actress, Too Many Blondes, X Marks the Spot
- March 2 - Eric Blore, 71, British actor, Top Hat, The Lady Eve
- March 3 - Lou Costello, 52, American comedian and actor, half of Abbott and Costello comedy team, Africa Screams, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
- March 26 - Raymond Chandler, 70, American author and screenwriter, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity
- March 27 - Grant Withers, 54, American actor, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache
- April 12 - James Gleason, 76, American actor, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Bishop's Wife
- April 17 - Cecil Cunningham, 70, American actress, The Awful Truth, Monkey Business
- April 18 - Irving Cummings, 70, American director, Louisiana Purchase, The Dolly Sisters
- May 3 – Troy Sanders, 57, American score arranger and composer, White Christmas, Going My Way
- June 4 - Charles Vidor, 58, Hungarian director, Gilda, Love Me or Leave Me
- June 16 - George Reeves, 45, American actor, Gone with the Wind, So Proudly We Hail!
- June 18 - Ethel Barrymore, 79, American actress, Portrait of Jennie, The Spiral Staircase
- August 6 - Preston Sturges, 60, American writer, director, Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve
- September 6
- Edmund Gwenn, 81, British actor, Miracle on 34th Street, Mister 880
- Kay Kendall, 32, British actress, Genevieve, Les Girls
- September 11 - Paul Douglas, 52, American actor, A Letter to Three Wives, It Happens Every Spring
- September 14 - Wayne Morris, 45, American actor, Kid Galahad, Paths of Glory
- October 3 - William Bishop, 41, American actor, Harriet Craig, Top Gun
- October 7 - Mario Lanza, 38, American singer and actor, The Great Caruso, Winged Victory
- October 14 - Errol Flynn, 50, Australian actor, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood
- October 23 - Gerda Lundequist, 88, Swedish actress, Gosta Berlings Saga
- November 7 - Victor McLaglen, 72, British actor, The Quiet Man, Gunga Din
- November 20 – Sylvia Lopez, 26, French actress, Hercules Unchained, Son of the Red Corsair
- November 25 - Gérard Philipe, 36, French actor, Fan-Fan the Tulip, Beauties of the Night
- December 24 - Edmund Goulding, 68, American director, Grand Hotel, The Razor's Edge
Film debuts
- James Coburn - Ride Lonesome
- Mia Farrow - John Paul Jones
- Richard Harris - Shake Hands with the Devil
- Martin Landau - Pork Chop Hill
- Martin Scorsese - Vesuvius VI
- George C. Scott - The Hanging Tree
- Steven Spielberg - The Lost Guy
Template:1959 films
