1942 in film

The top ten 1942 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

• January 16 – Actress Carole Lombard is killed in a plane crash west of Las Vegas while returning home to Los Angeles from a War Bond tour.
• June 4 – Mrs. Miniver, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon, opens at Radio City Music Hall in New York, in what will become a record-breaking 10-week run. The film is released nationally in the United States on July 22, 1942, and becomes MGM's most financially successful film of the 1940s. At the 15th Academy Awards, Mrs. Miniver wins six awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (for William Wyler), Best Actress (for Greer Garson) and Best Supporting Actress (for Teresa Wright).
• August 8 – Walt Disney's animated film Bambi opens in United Kingdom.
• November 11 – Road to Morocco, starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour, premieres.
• November 26 – The film Casablanca premieres at the Hollywood Theatre in New York City. Released nationally in the United States on January 23, 1943, it becomes one of the top-grossing pictures of 1943 and goes on to win the Best Picture and Best Director awards at the 16th Academy Awards.

• Best Picture: Mrs. Miniver – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Best Director: William Wyler – Mrs. Miniver
• Best Actor: James Cagney – Yankee Doodle Dandy
• Best Actress: Greer Garson – Mrs. Miniver
• Best Supporting Actor: Van Heflin – Johnny Eager
• Best Supporting Actress: Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver
• Special Academy Award: In Which We Serve

U.S.A unless stated

U.S.A unless stated

• Captain Midnight, starring Dave O'Brien, directed by James W. Horne
• Don Winslow of the Navy
• Gang Busters
• Junior G-Men of the Air, starring the Dead End Kids
• King of the Mounties, starring Allan Lane, directed by William Witney
• Overland Mail
• Perils of Nyoka, starring Kay Aldridge & Clayton Moore, directed by William Witney
• Perils of the Royal Mounted, directed by James W. Horne
• The Secret Code, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet
• Spy Smasher, starring Kane Richmond, directed by William Witney
• The Valley of Vanishing Men, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet

• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Scrappy (1931–1941)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
• Donald Duck (1937–1956)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Walter Lantz Cartune (also known as New Universal Cartoons or Cartune Comedies) (1938-1942)
• Goofy (1939–1955)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
• Swing Symphonies (1941–1945)
• The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)

• January 3 – John Thaw, English actor (d. 2002)
• January 8 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress
• January 10 – Walter Hill, American director, producer and screenwriter
• January 19 – Michael Crawford, English actor and singer
• February 1 – Terry Jones, Welsh comedic actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2020)
• February 9 – Ada Lundver, Estonian actress and singer (d. 2011)
• February 21 – Margarethe von Trotta, German director
• March 25 – Richard O'Brien, English actor and writer
• March 27 – Michael York, English actor
• March 28 – Mike Newell, English director and producer
• April 3 – Marsha Mason, American actress
• April 6 – Barry Levinson, American director, producer and screenwriter
• April 23 – Sandra Dee, American actress (d. 2005)
• April 24 – Barbra Streisand, American actress, singer, director and producer
• June 18
  • Roger Ebert, American film critic of the Chicago Sun Times (d. 2013)
  • Paul McCartney, English musician and composer (The Beatles)
• July 1 – Geneviève Bujold, Canadian actress
• July 9 – Richard Roundtree, American actor
• July 13 – Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
• July 24 – Chris Sarandon, American actor
• August 7 – Tobin Bell, actor
• August 28 - Peter Bartlett, American actor and voice actor
• September 29
  • Madeline Kahn, American actress (d. 1999)
  • Ian McShane, English actor
• October 3 - Steve Susskind, American actor
• October 4 – Christopher Stone, American actor (d. 1995)
• October 6 – Britt Ekland, Swedish actress
• October 11 – Amitabh Bachchan, Indian actor
• October 13 – Suzzanna, Indonesian actress (d. 2008)
• October 22 – Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
• October 26
  • Bob Hoskins, English actor and director (d. 2014)
  • Eili Sild, Estonian actress
• October 31 – David Ogden Stiers, American actor (d. 2018)
• November 1 - Marcia Wallace, American actress and comedian (d. 2013)
• November 17 – Martin Scorsese, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor
• November 24 – Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian and actor
• December 4 – Gemma Jones, English actress

• January 16 – Carole Lombard, 33, American actress, To Be or Not to Be, My Man Godfrey, Made for Each Other, Nothing Sacred
• January 31 – Rolf Wenkhaus, 24, German actor, Emil and the Detectives, S.A.-Mann Brand
• April 10 – Carl Schenstrøm, 60, Danish actor, Cocktails, The Last Laugh
• May 29 – John Barrymore, 60, American actor, Grand Hotel, Twentieth Century, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dinner at Eight
• June 4 – Virginia Lee Corbin, 31, American actress, Hands Up!, X Marks the Spot
• July 5 – Karin Swanström, 69, Swedish actress, director, His English Wife, Black Roses
• August 18 – Rafaela Ottiano, 54, Italian-born American actress, Grand Hotel, She Done Him Wrong, The Devil-Doll, Curly Top
• October 20 – May Robson, 84, Australian-born American stage & film actress, Bringing Up Baby, A Star is Born, Lady for a Day, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• October 22 – Olga Svendsen, 59, Danish actress, Kidnapped
• November 5 – George M. Cohan, 64, American actor, songwriter, entertainer, The Phantom President, Broadway Jones, subject of Yankee Doodle Dandy
• November 9 – Edna May Oliver, 59, American stage & film actress, David Copperfield, Drums Along the Mohawk, Little Women, A Tale of Two Cities
• November 12 – Laura Hope Crews, 62, American stage & screen actress, Gone with the Wind, Camille, Angel, The Blue Bird
• November 15 – Sidney Fox, 30, American actress, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Bad Sister, Six Cylinder Love
• December 12 – Helen Westley, 67, American stage & screen actress, Heidi, Roberta, All This, and Heaven Too, Alexander's Ragtime Band

• Richard Attenborough – In Which We Serve
• Madhubala – Basant
• Mumtaz Shanti – Basant
• Betty Hutton – The Fleet's In
• Anne Jeffreys – Billy the Kid Trapped
• Gene Kelly – For Me and My Gal
• Harry Morgan – To the Shores of Tripoli
• Eleanor Parker – The Big Shot
• Simone Signoret – Bolero
• Elizabeth Taylor – There's One Born Every Minute
• Peter Ustinov – One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
• Esther Williams – Andy Hardy's Double Life
• Tweety Bird – A Tale of Two Kitties