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Years in film
1870s
1880s
1890s
1890 • 1891 • 1892 • 1893 • 1894 1895 • 1896 • 1897 • 1898 • 1899
1900s
1900 • 1901 • 1902 • 1903 • 1904 1905 • 1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1909
1910s
1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 1915 • 1916 • 1917 • 1918 • 1919
1920s
1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929
1930s
1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939
1940s
1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949
1950s
1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959
1960s
1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969
1970s
1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979
1980s
1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989
1990s
1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999
2000s
2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009
2010s
2010 • 2011 and beyond

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.
• Kathleen Turner makes her acting debut.
• Tom Cruise makes his acting debut.
• June 12 - Raiders of the Lost Ark is released. It set a major standard for many action-adventure films to date.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Chariots of Fire - Enigma, The Ladd Company/Warner Bros.

Best Director: Warren Beatty - Reds

Best Actor: Henry Fonda - On Golden Pond

Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond

Best Supporting Actor: John Gielgud - Arthur

Best Supporting Actress: Maureen Stapleton - Reds

Best Foreign Language Film: Mephisto, directed by Istvan Szabo, Hungary

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: On Golden Pond

Best Actor: Henry Fonda - On Golden Pond

Best Actress: Meryl Streep - The French Lieutenant's Woman

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Arthur

Best Actor: Dudley Moore - Arthur

Best Actress: Bernadette Peters - Pennies from Heaven

Other

Best Director: Warren Beatty - Reds

Best Foreign Film: Chariots of Fire, United Kingdom

Golden Raspberry Awards:

Worst Picture: Mommie Dearest

Worst Director: Michael Cimino - Heaven's Gate

Worst Actor: Klinton Spilsbury - The Legend of the Lone Ranger

Worst Actress: Bo Derek - Tarzan, the Ape Man; Faye Dunaway - Mommie Dearest

Worst Supporting Actor: Steve Forrest - Mommie Dearest

Worst Supporting Actress: Diana Scarwid - Mommie Dearest

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza), directed by Andrzej Wajda, Poland

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Marianne and Juliane (Die Bleierne Zeit), directed by Margarethe von Trotta, W. Germany

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Faster, Faster (Deprisa, deprisa / Vivre vite), directed by Carlos Saura, Spain / France

Films released in 1981

• Absence of Malice, directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Paul Newman, Sally Field and Melinda Dillon
• All Night Long, starring Barbra Streisand and Gene Hackman
• American Pop
• An American Werewolf in London, directed by John Landis, starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter
• Amy
• Arthur, starring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli and John Gielgud
• Berlin Tunnel 21, starring Richard Thomas and Horst Buchholz
• Blow Out, directed by Brian De Palma, starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow
• The Boat Is Full
• Body Heat
• Bustin' Loose
• The Cannonball Run
• Clash of the Titans, starring Harry Hamlin, Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith
• Condorman
• Come on, Granpa's!
• Chariots of Fire, directed by Hugh Hudson, starring Ben Cross
• Das Boot (1982 US release)
• Dead & Buried
• Deadly Blessing starring Sharon Stone
• Deprisa, Deprisa, Golden Bear winner
• The Devil and Max Devlin
• Dragonslayer
• Endless Love, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, starring Brooke Shields
• Escape from New York, starring Kurt Russell
• Escape to Victory, starring Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Max von Sydow and Pelé
• Excalibur
• The Evil Dead
• Eyewitness
• The Fan
• For Your Eyes Only
• Fort Apache the Bronx
• The Four Seasons, starring Alan Alda and Carol Burnett
• The Fox and the Hound
• The French Lieutenant's Woman, starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons
• Friday the 13th Part 2
• Full Moon High
• The Funhouse
• Gallipoli, directed by Peter Weir, starring Mel Gibson
• Gangster Wars
• Gas
• The German Sisters, Golden Lion winner
• The Great Muppet Caper
• Halloween II, starring Jamie Lee Curtis
• The Hand, starring Michael Caine, directed by Oliver Stone
• Happy Birthday to Me
• Hardly Working, starring Jerry Lewis
• Heavy Metal
• History of the World: Part I
• The Howling, directed by Joe Dante, starring Dee Wallace Stone
• Inseminoid
• The Killing of Angel Street
• The Land of Hunger
• The Last Chase
• The Legend of the Lone Ranger
• Lola, a German film
• Looker
• Mad Max 2 , starring Mel Gibson
• Man of Iron, Palme d'Or winner
• Mephisto
• Modern Romance
• Mommie Dearest, starring Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid and Steve Forrest
• My Bloody Valentine
• My Dinner with Andre
• Neighbors
• Nice Dreams
• Night Crossing
• Nighthawks
• Nobody's Perfekt
• Omen III: The Final Conflict, starring Sam Neill, Rossano Brazzi
• On Golden Pond, starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda
• Only When I Laugh, starring Marsha Mason, Kristy McNichol, James Coco and Joan Hackett
• Outland
• Pacific Banana
• Pennies From Heaven, starring Steve Martin, based on the 1978 BBC Television serial by Dennis Potter.
• Pixote
• Prince of the City, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Treat Williams
• The Private Eyes
• Quest for Fire also called La Guerre du feu
• Raggedy Man
• Ragtime, directed by Milos Forman, starring James Cagney, Howard E. Rollins, Jr. and Elizabeth McGovern
• Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford and Karen Allen
• Reds, starring Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Maureen Stapleton
• Rich And Famous
• Roadgames
• Saturday the 14th
• Scanners
• Sogni d'oro
• Southern Comfort
• Strange Behavior
• Stripes, starring Bill Murray
• Suddenly at Midnight
• Superman II
• Sweet & Sour Cops
• The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie
• The Tale of Today, Tomorrow, and the Day After
• Taps starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton
• Tarzan, the Ape Man
• Taxi zum Klo
• They All Laughed
• They Don't Wear Black Tie
• Thief
• This is Elvis
• Time Bandits
• True Confessions
• Utilities, directed by Harvey Hart, starring Robert Hays, Brooke Adams and John Marley
• Will
• Wolfen, starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora and Gregory Hines
• Women We Salute You!
• Zoot Suit, starring Edward James Olmos

Wide-release movies

January-March

April-June

July-September

October-December

Comedy film Series

• Bill Murray (1975-2010)
• Jim Carrey (1980-1997)
• Rik Mayall (1980-1999)

Births

• January 28 – Elijah Wood, actor
• February 17 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, actor
• April 10 - Michael Pitt, actor
• April 19 - Hayden Christensen, actor
• April 19 - Catalina Sandino Moreno, actress
• April 28 - Jessica Alba, actress
• June 9 - Natalie Portman (Natalie Hershlag), actress
• July 24 - Summer Glau, actress
• September 12 - Jennifer Hudson, singer and actress
• December 2 - Britney Spears, singer and actress

Deaths

• January 10 - Richard Boone, actor
• January 11 - Beulah Bondi, actress
• January 16 - Bernard Lee, actor
• February 1 - Wanda Hendrix, actress
• July 27 - William Wyler, director
• August 1 - Paddy Chayefsky, screenwriter
• August 4 - Melvyn Douglas, actor
• August 18 - Anita Loos, writer
• September 27 - Robert Montgomery, actor
• October 24 - Edith Head, costume designer
• November 12 - William Holden, actor
• November 27 - Lotte Lenya, actress
• November 29 - Natalie Wood, actress
• December 28 - Allan Dwan, pioneer film director

Film debuts

• Tom Cruise