1963 in film

The top ten 1963 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

• February 20 – The classic epic western How the West Was Won premieres in the United States. It is an instant success with both audiences and critics and becomes the biggest moneymaker for MGM since Ben-Hur.
• June 12 – Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton, premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City. Its staggering production costs nearly bankrupted Twentieth Century Fox and the adulterous affair between Taylor and Burton made the publicity even worse. Cleopatra marked the only instance that a film would be the highest-grossing film of a year while still losing money, thus establishing it as, at the time, the biggest box office disaster in cinema history. The film's terrible reception harmed the reputation of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had an esteemed career for directing classics like A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, Julius Caesar, The Barefoot Contessa, Guys and Dolls, and Suddenly Last Summer. It effectively destroyed the career of its well-known producer Walter Wanger, who never worked in Hollywood or on another film again; he died five years later at the age of 74 of a heart attack. Much of the blame of the film's failures could be pointed at Taylor's super-diva personality, her health issues, her and Burton's adulterous affair, and the studio's inadequate management. It wouldn't be until two years later that Rodgers and Hammerstein's adaptation of The Sound of Music would help rescue Fox from bankruptcy by becoming one of the highest-grossing motion pictures of all time.
• November 7 – The classic comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World premieres and it boasts one of the finest all-star ensemble casts ever, easily the most impressive for a comedy. It is also the first comedy film ever directed by Stanley Kramer, best known for directing serious human drama films on controversial subjects like The Defiant Ones, Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
• December 25 – Walt Disney's production of The Sword in the Stone premieres. It is the second adaptation of T. H. White's The Once and Future King after the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical Camelot, the first cinematic adaptation of the novel, and the 13th film adaptation of the legend of King Arthur.

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Tom Jones — Woodfall, United Artists-Lopert (British)

Best Director: Tony Richardson – Tom Jones

Best Actor: Sidney Poitier – Lilies of the Field

Best Actress: Patricia Neal – Hud

Best Supporting Actor: Melvyn Douglas – Hud

Best Supporting Actress: Margaret Rutherford – The V.I.P.s

Best Foreign Language Film: 8½ (Otto e mezzo), directed by Federico Fellini, Italy

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: The Cardinal

Best Actor: Sidney Poitier - Lilies of the Field

Best Actress: Leslie Caron - The L-Shaped Room

Comedy or Musical:

Best Picture: Tom Jones

Best Actor: Alberto Sordi - To Bed or Not to Bed

Best Actress: Shirley MacLaine - Irma la Douce

Other

Best Supporting Actor: John Huston - The Cardinal

Best Supporting Actress: Margaret Rutherford – The V.I.P.s

Best Director: Elia Kazan - America America

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

The Leopard (Il Gattopardo), directed by Luchino Visconti, Italy

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Hands Over the City (Le mani sulla città), directed by Francesco Rosi, Italy

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Il diavolo (To Bed... or Not to Bed), directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro, Italy

United States unless stated

United States except where noted..

• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Yosemite Sam (1945-1963)
• Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)

• January 4 - Dave Foley, Canadian actor and comedian
• January 14 - Steven Soderbergh, US director
• February 12 - John Michael Higgins, actor
• February 17
  • Michael Jordan, US basketball player and occasional actor
  • Larry the Cable Guy, American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, singer and radio personality
• February 21 - William Baldwin, actor
• March 18 - Vanessa L. Williams, actress, singer and beauty queen
• March 20 - David Thewlis, English actor
• March 27 - Quentin Tarantino, director
• April 17 - Joel Murray, actor
• April 18 - Conan O'Brien, television entertainer and talk show host
• April 26 - Jet Li, actor
• May 11 - Natasha Richardson, actress (d. 2009)
• May 25 - Mike Myers, Canadian actor
• June 6 - Jason Isaacs, English thespian
• June 9 - Johnny Depp, US actor
• June 10 - Jeanne Tripplehorn, US actress
• June 12 - Tim DeKay, actor & producer
• June 15 - Helen Hunt, US actress and director
• June 17 - Greg Kinnear, American actor, producer and television personality
• July 2 - Mark Kermode, English critic
• July 13 - Sandy Fox, American voice actress
• July 29 - Alexandra Paul, US actress
• July 30 - Lisa Kudrow, US actress
• August 1 - Demián Bichir, Mexican-American actor
• August 5 - Mark Strong, English actor
• August 7 - Harold Perrineau, US actor
• August 13 - Sridevi, Indian actress (d. 2018)
• August 14 - Emmanuelle Béart, French actress
• September 19 - Dan Povenmire, animator and voice actor
• September 25 - Tate Donovan, American actor and director
• October 6 - Elisabeth Shue, US actress
• October 12 - Dave Legeno, actor
• October 31 - Rob Schneider, actor and comedian
• November 5 - Tatum O'Neal, US actress
• November 20 - Ming-Na Wen, American actress
• November 27
  • Vladimir Mashkov, Russian actor
  • Fisher Stevens, US actor
• December 15 - Helen Slater, US actress
• December 16 - Benjamin Bratt, American actor, producer and activist
• December 18 - Brad Pitt, actor
• December 19
  • Jennifer Beals, actress
  • Til Schweiger, actor
• December 23 - Jess Harnell, American voice actor and singer

• January 2
  • Dick Powell, 58, American actor, director, Murder, My Sweet, The Bad and the Beautiful
  • Jack Carson, 52, Canadian actor, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Mildred Pierce
• January 6 – Frank Tuttle, 70, American director, This Gun for Hire, Waikiki Wedding
• January 26 – Ole Olsen, 70, American actor and comedian, Hellzapoppin'
• January 28 – John Farrow, 58, Australian director, Hondo, The Big Clock
• February 2 – William Gaxton, 69, American actor and singer, Diamond Horseshoe, The Heat's On
• February 8 – George Dolenz, 55, Hungarian actor, Vendetta, My Cousin Rachel
• February 18 – Monte Blue, 76, American actor, Key Largo, White Shadows in the South Seas
• March 18 – Wanda Hawley, 67, American actress, The Young Rajah, The Midnight Message
• March 25 – Felix Adler, 79, American screenwriter, Saps at Sea, Block-Heads
• April 4 – Jason Robards Sr., 70, American actor, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Isle of the Dead
• May 6 – Monty Woolley, 74, American actor, The Bishop's Wife, The Man Who Came to Dinner
• May 17 – Daniel Mendaille, French actor, 77, On Trial, Napoléon
• May 19 – Luana Walters, 50, American actress, Mexicali Rose, The Corpse Vanishes
• June 7 – ZaSu Pitts, 69, American actress, Greed, Life with Father
• June 18 – Pedro Armendáriz, 51, Mexican actor, The Fugitive, Fort Apache
• July 10 – John Sutton, 54, Pakistani actor, The Three Musketeers, Captain from Castile
• July 25 – Leota Lane, 59, American singer, actress, Three Hollywood Girls
• August 4 – Tom Keene, 66, American actor, Our Daily Bread, Ghost Valley
• August 14 – Clifford Odets, 57, American playwright and screenwriter, Sweet Smell of Success, None but the Lonely Heart
• August 17 – Richard Barthelmess, 68, American actor, Broken Blossoms, Only Angels Have Wings
• August 25 – Edward L. Cahn, 64, American director, It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Girls in Prison
• October 8 –
  • Frank R. Adams, 80, American composer and screenwriter, Peg o' My Heart, The Cowboy and the Lady
  • Grace Darmond, 68, Canadian actress, What Every Woman Wants, The Hope Diamond Mystery
• October 11 – Jean Cocteau, 74, French director and screenwriter, Beauty and the Beast, Orpheus
• October 18 – Constance Worth, 52, Australian actress, China Passage, Meet Boston Blackie
• October 29 – Adolphe Menjou, 73, American actor, Paths of Glory, A Star is Born
• October 31
  • Henry Daniell, 69, British actor, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, The Great Dictator
  • Hans Jacoby, 59, German screenwriter, Reunion in Reno, Champagne for Caesar
• November 1 – Elsa Maxwell, 82, American gossip columnist, Rhapsody in Blue, Stage Door Canteen
• November 15 - Paul Sloane, 70, American director, The Woman Accused, Down to Their Last Yacht
• November 25
  • Jean Brooks, 47, American actress, The Leopard Man, The Seventh Victim
  • Joseph Sweeney, 79, American actor, 12 Angry Men, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit
• November 29 – Charles Schnee, 47, American screenwriter, The Bad and the Beautiful, Red River
• November 30
  • Phil Baker, 67, American comedian and actor, The Gang's All Here, Take It or Leave It
  • Gina Malo, 54, American actress, The Gang Show, All In
• December 2
  • Sabu, 39, Indian actor, Jungle Book, The Thief of Bagdad
  • Mario Zampi, 60, Italian director, The Naked Truth, Five Golden Hours
• December 4 – Robert Hamer, 52, British director, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Dead of Night
• December 5 – Tom London, 74, American actor, Calamity Jane, High Noon
• December 12
  • Yasujirō Ozu, 60, Japanese director and screenwriter, Tokyo Story, Late Spring
  • Barbara Read, 45, Canadian actress, Three Smart Girls, The Shadow Returns

• Alan Alda – Gone are the Days!
• James Brolin – Take Her, She's Mine
• Mel Brooks – The Critic
• James Caan – Irma la Douce
• William Daniels – Ladybug Ladybug
• Dick Van Dyke – Bye Bye Birdie
• Héctor Elizondo – The Fat Black Pussycat
• Peter Fonda – Tammy and the Doctor
• Teri Garr – Fun in Acapulco
• Clint Howard – The Courtship of Eddie's Father
• Christopher Lambert – Who's Minding the Store?
• Geoffrey Lewis – The Fat Black Pussycat
• Estelle Parsons – Ladybug Ladybug
• Kurt Russell – It Happened at the World's Fair
• Lynn Redgrave – Tom Jones
• Donald Sutherland – The World Ten Times Over
• Andrei Tarkovsky - Ivan's Childhood a.k.a. Ivanovo Detstvo