Film year 1961

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Other events

Film year 1961
American actor Gary Cooper (left) dies on May 13, 1961 .

Events

January 20th - Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller's marriage ends in divorce after four and a half years of marriage.
February 1 - World premiere of Misfits - Not Sociable (Director: John Huston ). For this production, based on a script by Arthur Miller , both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable were in front of the camera for the last time. Gable did not live to see the premiere.
December 20th - World premiere of Divorce in Italian (directed by Pietro Germi ), the first Commedia all'italiana film .
Winner of the BRAVO Otto readers' choice 1961:
- Category - male film star: Gold OW Fischer , silver Hansjörg Felmy , bronze Rock Hudson
- Category - female film star: Gold Ruth Leuwerik , Silver Sabine Sinjen , Bronze Liselotte Pulver

Film awards

Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Awards will take place on March 16 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Best drama: Spartacus by Stanley Kubrick
Best Musical: Few are chosen by Charles Vidor and George Cukor
Best Comedy: The apartment of Billy Wilder
Best Actor (Drama): Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry
Best Actress (Drama): Greer Garson in Sunrise at Campobello
Best Actor (Musical / Comedy): Jack Lemmon in Das Appartement
Best Actress (Musical / Comedy): Shirley MacLaine in Das Appartement
Best Supporting Actor: Sal Mineo in Exodus
Best Supporting Actress: Janet Leigh in Psycho
Best Director: Jack Cardiff for Sons and Lovers
Cecil B. DeMille Award : Fred Astaire

Academy Awards

The Academy Awards will be held on April 17th at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica . The moderator is Bob Hope .

Best Picture: The Apartment by Billy Wilder
Best Actor: Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry
Best Actress: Elizabeth Taylor in Phone Butterfield 8
Best director: Billy Wilder for Das Appartement
Best Supporting Actor: Peter Ustinov in Spartacus
Best Supporting Actress: Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry
Best original script: Billy Wilder and IAL Diamond for Das Appartement
Best script based on a literary source: Richard Brooks for Elmer Gantry
Best music: Ernest Gold for Exodus
Best Foreign Language Film: The Virgin Spring by Ingmar Bergman

Complete list of award winners

Cannes International Film Festival 1961

The Cannes festival runs from May 3rd to May 18th. The jury under President Jean Giono selects the following winners:

Golden Palm : Still after year and day by Henri Colpi and Viridiana by Luis Buñuel
Best Actor: Anthony Perkins in Do You Love Brahms?
Best actress: Sophia Loren in And yet they live
Best director: Julija Solntsewa for Flaming Years
Special jury prize: Mother Johanna von den Engeln by Jerzy Kawalerowicz

Berlin International Film Festival 1961

The festival in Berlin takes place from June 23rd to July 4th. The jury selects the following winners:

Golden Bear : The Night by Michelangelo Antonioni
Best Actor: Peter Finch in And Tomorrow Everything
Best Actress: Anna Karina in A Woman is a Woman
Best director: Bernhard Wicki for The Miracle of Malachia

Venice Film Festival

The Venice Festival runs from August 20th to September 3rd. The jury selects the following winners:

Golden Lion : Last year in Marienbad by Alain Resnais
Best Actor: Toshirō Mifune in Yojimbo - The Bodyguard
Best actress: Suzanne Flon in Tu ne tueras point

British Film Academy Award

Best Picture: The Apartment by Billy Wilder
Best British Actor: Peter Finch for The Man with the Green Carnation
Best Foreign Actor: Jack Lemmon for Das Appartement
Best British Actress: Rachel Roberts for Saturday night through Sunday morning
Best Foreign Actress: Shirley MacLaine for Das Appartement

Laurel Award

Best Action Drama: Alamo by John Wayne
- Best Actor: John Wayne in the Alamo
Best Drama: Elmer Gantry by Richard Brooks
- Best Actor in Drama : Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry

Best Comedy: The apartment of Billy Wilder

Best Comedic Actor: Jack Lemmon in The Apartment
Best Comedic Actress: Janet Leigh in Pepe - What Can the World Cost?

Best Musical: Pepe - What Can the World Cost by George Sidney

Best Entertainment Film: The AbsentMinded Professor by Robert Stevenson

Further film prizes and awards

Astor de Oro : Saturday night to Sunday morning by Karel Reisz
German Critics' Prize : Boy Gobert
Directors Guild of America Award : Billy Wilder for Das Appartement , Frank Borzage (life's work)
Ernst Lubitsch Prize : Gert Fröbe for The Crook and the Dear God
Louis Delluc Prize : With my eyes from François Reichenbach
Nastro d'Argento : Rocco and his brothers by Luchino Visconti and The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman
Photoplay Award : Fever in the Blood of Elia Kazan (Best Film), Troy Donahue (Most Popular Male Star), Connie Stevens (Most Popular Female Star)
German Film Critics' Prize : The Haunted Castle in the Spessart by Kurt Hoffmann
Festival Internacional de Cine de Donostia-San Sebastián : The Obsessed by Marlon Brando (Golden Shell)
Writers Guild of America Award : Just give us a call - come to the house (Best Musical), Elmer Gantry (Best Drama), Das Appartement (Best Comedy), George Seaton (Lifetime Achievement)

Birthdays

January to March

Nastassja Kinski (born January 24th)

Alexander Payne (born February 10)

Michael Winterbottom (born March 29)

January

0January 7th: Roland Suso Richter , German director
0January 8: Stephan Baumecker , German actor
January 10: Evan Handler , American actor
January 13: Julia Louis-Dreyfus , American actress
January 17: Brian Helgeland , American screenwriter and director
January 19: Paul McCrane , American actor
January 24th: Nastassja Kinski , German actress
January 26: Julia Kent , German actress and screenwriter

February

0February 1: Gabrielle Carteris , American actress
0February 2: Lauren Lane , American actress
0February 3: Keith Gordon , American actor and director
February 10: Alexander Payne , American director
February 11: Carey Lowell , American actress
February 16: Eric Red , American director and screenwriter
February 21: Christopher Atkins , American actor
February 24: Kasi Lemmons , American actress and director
February 28: Rae Dawn Chong , Canadian actress

March

0March 4th: Steven Weber , American actor
0March 5: Jelena Jakowlewa , Russian actress
0March 5th: Dirk Schäfer , German director and documentary filmmaker
0March 8: Camryn Manheim , American actress
March 11: Elias Koteas , Canadian actor
March 14th: Penny Johnson Jerald , American actress
March 17: Casey Siemaszko , American actor
March 18: Geoffrey Owens , American actor
March 20: Maja Maranow , German actress
March 24th: Nina Hoger , German actress
March 25: John Stockwell , American director
March 28: Barbara Wussow , Austrian actress
March 29: Amy Sedaris , American actress
March 29: Michael Winterbottom , British director

April to June

Eddie Murphy (born April 3)

Dirk Bach (born April 23)

George Clooney (born May 6)

Michael J. Fox (born June 9)

April

0April 2: Christopher Meloni , American actor
0April 3: Elizabeth Gracen , American actress
0April 3: Eddie Murphy , American actor
0April 5th: Andrea Arnold , British director
0April 5: Lisa Zane , American actress
April 14: Robert Carlyle , British actor
April 18: Jane Leeves , British actress
April 19: Serge Falck , Belgian-Austrian actor
April 19: Catherine Lloyd Burns , American actress
April 20: Konstantin Lavronenko , Russian actor
April 23: Dirk Bach , German actor, voice actor, presenter and comedian († 2012)
April 26: Joan Chen , Chinese-American actress and director

May

0May 2nd: Stephen Daldry , British director
0May 6: George Clooney , American actor
0May 9: John Corbett , American actor
May 10: Johanna ter Steege , Dutch actress
May 14: Ulrike Folkerts , German actress
May 14: Tim Roth , British actor
May 15: Katrin Cartlidge , British actress († 2002)
May 15: Larry Holden , British actor († 2011)
May 17: Corey Johnson , American actor
May 20: Owen Teale , British actor
May 22: Ann Cusack , American actress
May 23: Bernhard Majcen , Austrian actor
May 31: Lea Thompson , American actress

June

0June 1st: Sophie Rois , Austrian actress
0June 9: Michael J. Fox , Canadian actor
0June 9: Aaron Sorkin , American screenwriter
June 11th: María Barranco , Spanish actress
June 17th: Denis Lavant , French actor
June 21: Simone Brahmann , German actress and voice actress
June 21: Petra Kalkutschke , German actress
June 24: Iain Glen , British actor
June 25: Timur Bekmambetov , Kazakh director
June 29: Sharon Lawrence , American actress
June 30: Christian Wewerka , German actor and speaker

July to September

Raymond Cruz (born July 9)

Forest Whitaker (born July 15)

Woody Harrelson (born July 23)

Elpidia Carrillo (born August 16)

Heather Locklear (born September 25)

July

0July 1: Lesley Vickerage , British actress
0July 2nd: Mark Billingham , British author and actor
0July 2nd: Samy Naceri , French actor and producer
0July 2nd: Alba Parietti , Italian singer and actress
0July 6: Kimberly Foster , American actress
0July 7th: Eckhard Preuss , German actor, screenwriter and director
0July 8: Wally Pfister , American cameraman
0July 9: Raymond Cruz , American actor
0July 9: Martin Halm , German actor and voice actor
July 10: Ulla Kock am Brink , German presenter
July 10: Jacky Cheung , Hong Kong-Chinese actor and singer
July 12th: Stef Bos , Dutch singer and actor
July 12th: Heike-Melba Fendel , German actress
July 14th: Jackie Earle Haley , American actor
July 14: Patricia Schlesinger , German television presenter
July 15: Lolita Davidovich , Canadian actress
July 15: Jean-Christophe Grangé , French screenwriter
July 15: Forest Whitaker , American actor, producer and director
July 16: Tony Ayres , Australian screenwriter and director
July 17th: Henning Lohner , German director and composer
July 17: Zbigniew Zamachowski , Polish actor
July 18: Elizabeth McGovern , American actress
July 18: Lew Schneider , American producer, screenwriter, and actor
July 19: Hideo Nakata , Japanese director and producer
July 19: Campbell Scott , American actor
July 23: Woody Harrelson , American actor
July 25th: Herbert Föttinger , Austrian actor
July 25: Katherine Kelly Lang , American actress
July 27: John Putch , American actor and director
July 30: Laurence Fishburne , American actor

August

0August 1: Dana Sparks , American actress
0August 3: Molly Hagan , American actress
0August 4: Lauren Tom , American actress
0August 5: Tawny Kitaen , American actress
0August 5th: Janet McTeer , British actress
0August 5: Clayton Rohner , American actor
0August 9: Amy Stiller , American actress
August 16: Elpidia Carrillo , Mexican actress
August 17th: Kati Outinen , Finnish actress
August 18: Birol Ünel , German-Turkish actor
August 19: Francesca Comencini , Italian director
August 23: Alexandre Desplat , French composer
August 25: Ally Walker , American actress
August 29: Philipp Moog , German actor

September

0September 4th: Cédric Klapisch , French director and actor
September 11: Virginia Madsen , American actress
September 14th: Martina Gedeck , German actress
September 18: James Gandolfini , American actor († 2013)
September 19: Susanne Holst , German presenter
September 19: Ross Kettle , South African-American actor and director
September 19: Kai Wessel , German director
September 21: Thomas Klemm , German composer
September 21: Serena Scott Thomas , British actress
September 21: Nancy Travis , American actress
September 22nd: Scott Baio , American actor
September 22nd: Bonnie Hunt , American actress
September 22: Catherine Oxenberg , American actress
September 23: Chi McBride , American actor
September 23: Elizabeth Peña , American actress
September 24th: Pierre Cosso , French actor
September 24th: John Logan , American screenwriter
September 24th: Michael Tavera , American composer
September 25: Heather Locklear , American actress
September 27: Andy Lau , Chinese actor
September 29th: Tobias Hoesl , German actor
September 30th: Eric Stoltz , American actor

October to December

Peter Jackson (born October 31)

October

0October 3: Alexei Pavlovich Schipenko , Russian screenwriter
0October 4: David W. Harper , American actor
0October 7th: Matthias Brandt , German actor
0October 9: Peter Øvig Knudsen , Danish screenwriter
October 10: Danuta Stenka , Polish actress
October 11: Hany Abu-Assad , Dutch-Palestinian director
October 11th: Alfred Dorfer , Austrian actor
October 13: Abderrahmane Sissako , Mauritanian director and producer
October 13: Volker A. Zahn , German screenwriter
October 16: Marc Levy , French writer, actor and producer
October 19: Burkhard C. Kosminski , German director and actor
October 23: David Kitay , American film composer
October 24th: Wolfgang Herold , German producer and sound supervisor
October 26: Cyrus David , German actor, director and presenter
October 26: Dylan McDermott , American actor
October 29th: Regina Sattler , Austrian actress
October 31: Peter Jackson , New Zealand director

November

0November 4: Ralph Macchio , American actor
November 14th: Lucas Belvaux , Belgian actor, director and screenwriter
November 14: Daniel Bernard Sweeney , American actor
November 16: Andrea Prodan , Italian actor
November 18: Nick Chinlund , American actor
November 20: Phil Joanou , American director
November 22: Mariel Hemingway , American actress
November 25: Ted Elliott , American screenwriter
November 27th: Samantha Bond , British actress
November 27: Steve Oedekerk , American actor, director and screenwriter
November 28: Martin Clunes , British actor
November 28: Alfonso Cuarón , Mexican director
November 28: Jonathan Mostow , American director and producer
November 29: Tom Sizemore , American actor
November 30th: Diego Wallraff , German actor
November 30th: Paul Schulze , American actor

December

0December 1st: Lito Vitale , Argentine composer
0December 9: David Anthony Higgins , American actor and screenwriter
0December 9: Joe Lando , American actor
December 10th: Nia Peeples , American actress
December 11th: Kimberly Scott , American actress
December 12th: Sarah Sutton , British actress
December 16: Shane Black , American screenwriter and director
December 16: Sam Robards , American actor
December 16: Jon Tenney , American actor
December 19: Scott Cohen , American actor
December 24th: Wade Williams , American actor
December 25th: Stefan Ruzowitzky , Austrian director
December 26: John Lynch , British actor
December 26: Tahnee Welch , American actress

Day unknown

Susi Stach , Austrian actress