1979 in film

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The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.

Contents 1 Major events 2 Top grossing films (U.S.) 3 Awards 4 Films released in 1979 5 # 6 A 7 B 8 C 9 D 10 E 11 F 12 G 13 H 14 I 15 J 16 K 17 L 18 M 19 N 20 O 21 P 22 Q 23 R 24 S 25 T 26 U 27 V 28 W 29 Y 30 Z 30.1 Births 30.2 Deaths 30.3 Debuts 30.4 References

Major events

• March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
• May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released.
• May 31 - The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson's Muppets' first foray into the world of feature length motion pictures, is released in United Kingdom.
• June 11 - John Wayne dies.
• September 19 - Don Bluth and a group of fellow animators resign from The Walt Disney Company's animation department to set up a rival studio, Don Bluth Productions.
• November 1 - Production begins on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• December 7 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture debuts in the United States to mixed reviews but strong box office, launching a film franchise that lead to 11 films over the next 30 years. It also lead to the creation of four spin-off television series based upon Gene Roddenberry's creation.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Rank	Title	Studio	Actors	Director	Gross
1.	Kramer vs. Kramer	Columbia	Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry, Jane Alexander	Robert Benton	$106,260,000[1]
2.	Amityville Horror	American International Pictures	James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger	Stuart Rosenberg	$86,432,520[2]
3.	Rocky II	United Artists	Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith	Sylvester Stallone	$85,182,160[3]
4.	Apocalypse Now	United Artists	Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen	Francis Ford Coppola	$83,471,511[4]
5.	Star Trek: The Motion Picture	Paramount	William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy	Robert Wise	$82,258,456[5]
6.	Alien	Fox	Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto	Ridley Scott	$80,931,801[6]
7.	10	Warner Bros./Orion	Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Bo Derek	Blake Edwards	$74,865,517[7]
8.	The Jerk	Universal	Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters	Carl Reiner	$73,691,419[8]
9.	Moonraker	United Artists	Roger Moore, Michael Lonsdale, Lois Chiles	Lewis Gilbert	$70,308,099[9]
10.	The Muppet Movie	ITC/Henson Associates	Jim Henson	James Frawley	$65,200,000[10]

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer - Jaffe, Columbia

Best Director: Robert Benton - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actress: Sally Field - Norma Rae

Best Supporting Actress: Meryl Streep - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Supporting Actor: Melvyn Douglas - Being There

Best Foreign Language Film: The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), directed by Volker Schlöndorff, W. Germany

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actress: Sally Field - Norma Rae

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Breaking Away

Best Actor: Peter Sellers - Being There

Best Actress: Bette Midler - The Rose

Other

Best Director: Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now

Best Foreign Language Film: La Cage aux Folles (France)

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, United States

The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), directed by Volker Schlöndorff, W. Germany

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

David, directed by Peter Lilienthal, West Germany

Films released in 1979

• 10, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Bo Derek
• 1941, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Warren Oates, Robert Stack, Treat Williams

• A Little Romance, directed by George Roy Hill, starring Laurence Olivier, Diane Lane, Sally Kellerman
• A Perfect Couple, directed by Robert Altman, starring Paul Dooley
• L'adolescente
• The Adventure of Sudsakorn, Thailand's first and only cel-animated feature film
• Agatha, directed by Michael Apted, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman
• Ah! Nomugi Toge
• Alexandria... Why?
• Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto
• The Alien Encounters
• All That Jazz, directed by Bob Fosse, starring Roy Scheider, Ann Reinking, Ben Vereen, Jessica Lange
• All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Delbert Mann, starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine
• An Almost Perfect Affair
• Americathon, starring John Ritter and Harvey Korman
• The Amityville Horror, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger
• …And Justice for All, directed by Norman Jewison, starring Al Pacino, John Forsythe, Jack Warden Christine Lahti
• Anti-Clock
• Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, Laurence Fishburne
• The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
• Arabian Adventure
• Ashanti, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Michael Caine and Peter Ustinov

• Banjo the Woodpile Cat
• Being There, directed by Hal Ashby, starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden
• Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, directed by Irwin Allen, starring Michael Caine, Telly Savalas, Sally Field, Telly Savalas, Karl Malden, Shirley Jones
• Birth of The Beatles
• The Black Hole, directed by Gary Nelson, starring Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine
• The Black Stallion, starring Mickey Rooney, Hoyt Axton, Teri Garr, Kelly Reno
• Bloody Kids, directed by Stephen Frears
• Boardwalk, directed by Stephen Verona, starring Ruth Gordon, Lee Strasberg, Janet Leigh, Ruth Gordon
• Breaking Away, directed by Peter Yates, starring Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley, Paul Dooley, Barbara Barrie
• Les bronzes font du ski, directed by Patrice Leconte
• The Brood, directed by David Cronenberg, starring Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
• Buffet froid
• The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
• Butch and Sundance: The Early Days, starring Tom Berenger and William Katt
• The Butterfly Murders, directed by Tsui Hark
• Bye Bye Brazil

• Caligula, directed by Tinto Brass, written by Gore Vidal, starring Malcolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole
• Carry On Emmannuelle, directed by Gerald Thomas, starring Kenneth Williams, Suzanne Danielle, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor
• The Castle of Cagliostro, Japanese anime film by Hayao Miyazaki
• The Cat and the Canary
• The Champ, starring Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway, Ricky Schroder
• The China Syndrome, directed by James Bridges, starring Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas
• C.H.O.M.P.S., directed by Don Chaffey, starring Wesley Eure, Valerie Bertinelli, Conrad Bain, Chuck McCann, Red Buttons
• Christ Stopped at Eboli (Cristo si è fermato a Eboli), directed by Francesco Rosi, starring Gian Maria Volonté
• The Concorde ... Airport '79, starring Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, George Kennedy
• Cuba, directed by Richard Lester, starring Sean Connery, Brooke Adams, Chris Sarandon

• David - Golden Bear winner
• Derek and Clive Get the Horn, starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
• Dirty Ho (Lan tou He), starring Gordon Liu
• Don Giovanni, directed by Joseph Losey, starring Ruggero Raimondi, John Macurdy and Kiri Te Kanawa
• Dracula, directed by John Badham, starring Frank Langella as Count Dracula and Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing, with Trevor Eve
• Dreamer, starring Tim Matheson

• Eagle's Wing, starring Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston
• The Electric Horseman, directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda
• Escape from Alcatraz, directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Fred Ward
• Escape to Athena, starring Roger Moore, David Niven, Elliott Gould, Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale, Sonny Bono, Telly Savalas
• The Europeans, directed by James Ivory, starring Lee Remick

• Fast Break, starring Gabe Kaplan and Bernard King
• The Fifth Musketeer, starring Sylvia Kristel, Ursula Andress, Beau Bridges
• Firepower, starring Sophia Loren, James Coburn, O.J. Simpson
• The First Great Train Robbery, starring Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland
• A Force of One, starring Chuck Norris and Jennifer O'Neill

• Gal Young 'Un
• Goldengirl, starring Susan Anton
• The Great Santini, starring Robert Duvall and Michael O'Keefe

• Hair , directed by Milos Forman, starring John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo
• Hanover Street, directed by Peter Hyams, starring Harrison Ford, Lesley-Anne Down, Christopher Plummer
• Hardcore, starring George C. Scott
• Heartland, directed by Richard Pearce - Golden Bear winner, Sundance Grand Jury Prize
• Hot Stuff, directed by and starring Dom DeLuise with Suzanne Pleshette, Jerry Reed
• H.O.T.S.
• The Human Factor, starring Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi

• I as in Icarus
• In Search of Historic Jesus - (documentary)
• The In-Laws, directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Alan Arkin and Peter Falk

• The Jerk, directed by Carl Reiner, starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters
• Jesus, directed by Peter Sykes and John Krisch, starring Brian Deacon
• Just You and Me, Kid, starring George Burns

• The Kids Are Alright
• Killerfair directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring James Coburn
• Kramer vs. Kramer, directed by Robert Benton, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep (both won Oscars), Justin Henry, Jane Alexander

• Last Embrace, starring Roy Scheider and Janet Margolin
• The Late Great Planet Earth - (film only mentioned in article)
• Love at First Bite, starring George Hamilton and Susan Saint James
• Love on the Run, directed by François Truffaut
• Lovers and Liars

• Mad Max, directed by George Miller, starring Mel Gibson
• Magnificent Butcher (Lin shi rong), starring Sammo Hung
• The Main Event, starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal
• Manhattan, directed by Woody Allen, starring Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy and Mariel Hemingway
• The Marriage of Maria Braun, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Hanna Schygulla
• Meatballs, directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murray
• Meetings with Remarkable Men, Gurdjieff biography directed by Peter Brook
• Monty Python's Life of Brian, directed by Terry Jones, starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin
• Moonraker, starring Roger Moore as James Bond
• More American Graffiti, starring Candy Clark, Ron Howard, Paul LeMat, Charles Martin Smith and Cindy Williams
• Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears - Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film
• Mr. Mike's Mondo Video
• The Muppet Movie, made by Jim Henson, with Charles Durning and Dom DeLuise
• Murder by Decree, a Sherlock Holmes mystery starring Christopher Plummer and James Mason
• My Brilliant Career, directed by Gillian Armstrong

• Norma Rae, directed by Martin Ritt, starring Sally Field and Beau Bridges
• The North Avenue Irregulars
• North Dallas Forty, starring Nick Nolte and Mac Davis
• Nosferatu ("Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht"), directed by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani and Bruno Ganz

• The Odd Angry Shot
• The Onion Field, starring James Woods and John Savage
• Over the Edge, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, starring Matt Dillon

• Phantasm
• Players, starring Ali MacGraw and Dean Paul Martin
• The Prisoner of Zenda, starring Peter Sellers, Lynne Frederick and Lionel Jeffries
• The Prize Fighter
• Prophecy, starring Talia Shire

• Quadrophenia, directed by Franc Roddam, starring Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash and Ray Winstone with music by The Who

• Real Life, directed by and starring Albert Brooks
• Return of the Secaucus Seven, directed by John Sayles
• Rock 'n' Roll High School, produced by Roger Corman, featuring The Ramones
• Rocky II, starring Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young
• Roller Boogie, starring Linda Blair
• The Rose, directed by Mark Rydell, starring Bette Midler, Alan Bates, Frederic Forrest

• Saint Jack, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Ben Gazzara
• Scavenger Hunt, starring Cloris Leachman, Cleavon Little, Vincent Price, Tony Randall
• Scum, starring Ray Winstone
• She's 19 and Ready
• Siberiade, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky
• Sisters, or the Balance of Happiness
• Soldier of Orange, directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbe (International release)
• Stalker, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture, directed by Robert Wise, starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
• Starting Over, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen
• Stay As You Are, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Nastassja Kinski (American release)

• Take Down
• The Tempest, directed by Derek Jarman, starring Toyah Wilcox
• Tess, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Nastassja Kinski
• The Third Generation, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• Tim, starring Mel Gibson and Piper Laurie
• Time After Time, starring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Mary Steenburgen
• The Tin Drum, directed by Volker Schlondorff, starring David Bennent - Palme d'Or winner

• Ultraman
• Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle

• Vengeance Is Mine, directed by Shohei Imamura, starring Ken Ogata

• Wanda Nevada, directed by Peter Fonda, starring Peter Fonda and Brooke Shields
• The Wanderers, starring Ken Wahl and Karen Allen
• The Warriors, directed by Walter Hill, starring Michael Beck, James Remar, David Patrick Kelly and Deborah Van Valkenburgh
• When a Stranger Calls, starring Charles Durning and Carol Kane
• Winter Kills, starring Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins
• Wolfman
• Woyzeck, directed by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski and Eva Mattes

• Yanks, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave

• Zulu Dawn, starring Peter O'Toole, Burt Lancaster and Simon Ward

Births

• January 8 - Sarah Polley, actress
• January 12 - Isidra Vega, actress
• January 27 - Rosamund Pike, actress
• February 9 - Mena Suvari, actress
• February 9 - Zhang Ziyi, actress and dancer
• February 21 - Jennifer Love Hewitt, actress and singer
• April 4 - Bunko Kanazawa, actress
• April 4 - Heath Ledger, actor (d. 2008)
• April 4 - Natasha Lyonne, actress
• April 12 - Claire Danes, actress
• April 19 - Kate Hudson, actress
• April 23 - Jaime King, actress
• May 9 - Rosario Dawson, actress
• May 25 - Monica Keena, actress
• June 27 - Benjamin Speed, film composer
• August 31 - Yuvan Shankar Raja, film composer
• September 23 - Anthony Mackie, actor
• October 4 - Rachael Leigh Cook, actress
• October 8 - Kristanna Loken, actress
• December 23 - Summer Altice, model and actress

Deaths

• January 16 - Peter Butterworth, actor
• February 12 - Jean Renoir, director
• March 1 - Dolores Costello, actress
• March 22 - Ben Lyon, actor, also credited as the man who supposedly "discovered" and renamed Marilyn Monroe
• May 26 - George Brent, actor
• May 29 - Mary Pickford, American actress
• June 11 - John Wayne, American actor
• July 8 - Michael Wilding, English actor
• August 17 - Vivian Vance, American actress
• September 8 - Jean Seberg, actress
• September 12 - Jocelyne LaGarde, Tahitian-born actress
• November 23 - Merle Oberon, actress
• November 30 - Zeppo Marx, American comic actor
• December 11 - Adile Nasit, actress & director
• December 13 - Jon Hall, actor
• December 25 - Joan Blondell, actress

Debuts

• Danny Glover - Escape from Alcatraz
• Diane Lane - A Little Romance
• Mickey Rourke - 1941
• Ray Winstone
• Matt Dillon - Over the Edge
• Patrick Swayze - Skatetown, U.S.A.
• Rick Schroder - The Champ
• Wallace Shawn - Manhattan
• Timothy Spall - Quadrophenia
• Cary Elwes - Yesterday's Hero
• Jeffrey Tambor - ...And Justice for All
• Rosanna Arquette
• Matt Craven - Meatballs
• Ted Danson - The Onion Field
• Corey Feldman - Time After Time
• Daniel Stern
• Martin Short - Lost and Found
• Chris Penn - Charlie and the Talking Buzzard

References

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