The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.
June 4 - The Three Stooges release their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters.
September 18 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx marries his second wife, Barbara Blakely.
September 30 - The film of Mise Éire, made by George Morrison for Gael Linn, is premiered to close the Cork Film Festival, the first feature-length Irish language film.
November 18 - William Wyler's film Ben-Hur premieres at Loews Theater in New York City.
Sammy Davis, Jr. and May Britt start dating.
(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
Black Orpheus (
Orfeu Negro), directed by Marcel Camus, France
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):
Il Generale della Rovere (
General della Rovere), directed by Roberto Rossellini, Italy / France
La grande guerra (
The Great War), directed by Mario Monicelli, Italy / France
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
Les Cousins (
The Cousins), directed by Claude Chabrol, France
U.S.A. unless stated
#
4D Man, starring Robert Lansing and Lee Meriwether
The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, starring Lou Costello and Dorothy Provine
The 39 Steps, starring Kenneth More - (Britain)
The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups), directed by François Truffaut, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud - (France)
A
The Adventures of Buratino (Priklyucheniya Buratino) - (USSR)
Al Capone, starring Rod Steiger
Alias Jesse James, starring Bob Hope
The Alligator People, starring Beverly Garland
Anari, starring Raj Kapoor - (India)
Anatomy of a Murder, directed by Otto Preminger, starring James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden, Arthur O'Connell, Kathryn Grant, George C. Scott
The Angry Hills, starring Robert Mitchum and Gia Scala
The Angry Red Planet (aka Invasion of Mars), starring Gerald Mohr
Apur Sansar, directed by Satyajit Ray (India)
Argument About Basia (Awantura o Basię) - (Poland)
B
Bad Girls Don't Cry (La notte brava), starring Rosanna Schiaffino - (Italy)
Ballad of a Soldier (Ballada o soldate), directed by Grigory Chukhray - (U.S.S.R.)
The Bat, starring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead
Battle Beyond the Sun (Nebo zovet) - (U.S.S.R.)
Battle in Outer Space, directed by Ishirō Honda - (Japan)
The Battle of the Sexes, starring Peter Sellers - (Britain)
The Beat Generation, starring Steve Cochran and Mamie Van Doren
Ben-Hur, directed by William Wyler, starring Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins - winner of 11 Academy Awards and 4 Golden Globes
The Best of Everything, starring Hope Lange, Diane Baker, Suzy Parker, Stephen Boyd, Joan Crawford
The Big Circus, starring Victor Mature, Rhonda Fleming, Red Buttons, Gilbert Roland, Kathryn Grant
The Big Fisherman, starring Howard Keel
The Big Operator, starring Mickey Rooney, Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Doren
The Birth of Japan (Nippon Tanjō), starring Toshiro Mifune - (Japan)
Black Orpheus, directed by Marcel Camus - winner of Palme d'Or, Golden Globe, Oscar and Bafta - (Brazil/France/Italy)
Blessings of the Land (Biyaya ng lupa), starring Rosa Rosal - (Philippines)
Breakout, starring Hazel Court
The Bridge (Die Brücke), directed by Bernhard Wicki - (West Germany)
A Bucket of Blood, directed by Roger Corman
But Not for Me, directed by Walter Lang, starring Clark Gable, Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb
C
The Captain's Table, starring John Gregson and Peggy Cummins - (Britain)
Career, starring Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Anthony Franciosa
Carlton-Browne of the F.O., starring Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, John Le Mesurier - (Britain)
Carry On Nurse, starring Shirley Eaton and Kenneth Connor - (Britain)
Carry On Teacher, starring Kenneth Connor and Leslie Phillips - (Britain)
The Chasers (Jakten) - (Norway)
Come Dance with Me, starring Brigitte Bardot - (France/Italy)
Compulsion, starring Orson Welles, Bradford Dillman, Dean Stockwell, Diane Varsi, E. G. Marshall
Court Martial (Kriegsgericht) - (West Germany)
Les Cousins, directed by Claude Chabrol - (France)
The Crimson Kimono, directed by Samuel Fuller, starring James Shigeta
La Cucaracha (aka The Soldiers of Pancho Villa), starring María Félix and Dolores del Río - (Mexico)
D
Danger Within, starring Richard Todd, Bernard Lee, Richard Attenborough - (Britain)
Darby O'Gill and the Little People, starring Sean Connery
Date With Death, starring Gerald Mohr
Day of the Outlaw, starring Robert Ryan, Tina Louise, Burl Ives
The Death Ship (Das Totenschiff), starring Horst Buchholz - (West Germany)
Destiny of a Man (Sudba cheloveka), directed by Sergei Bondarchuk - (U.S.S.R.)
The Devil's Disciple, starring Laurence Olivier, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas - (U.S./Britain)
The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by George Stevens, starring Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters, Richard Beymer, Diane Baker, Ed Wynn
Dil Deke Dekho, starring Shammi Kapoor - (India)
Donald in Mathmagic Land (short subject)
Don't Give Up The Ship, starring Jerry Lewis
Dust on the Brain (Støv på hjernen) - (Norway)
E-F
Expresso Bongo, starring Laurence Harvey and Cliff Richard - (Britain)
The FBI Story, starring James Stewart
Face of a Fugitive, starring Fred MacMurray
The Facts of Murder (Un maledetto imbroglio), directed by and starring Pietro Germi with Claudia Cardinale - (Italy)
La fièvre monte à El Pao (Fever Mounts at El Pao), directed by Luis Buñuel - (France/Mexico)
Fires on the Plain (Nobi), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
The Five Pennies, starring Danny Kaye
Floating Weeds (Ukikusa), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
Follow a Star, starring Norman Wisdom, Ron Moody, Hattie Jacques - (Britain)
The Fugitive Kind, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward
G
The Gazebo, starring Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner
Il Generale della Rovere, directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
Gidget, starring Sandra Dee
Girls Town, starring Mamie Van Doren
Good Morning (Ohayō), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
La grande guerra (The Great War), directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Alberto Sordi and Vittorio Gassman - (Italy)
The Gunfight at Dodge City, starring Joel McCrea
H
The Hanging Tree, directed by Delmer Daves, starring Gary Cooper, Karl Malden, George C. Scott
The Hangman, starring Robert Taylor and Tina Louise
Hannibal, starring Victor Mature and Rita Gam
Happy Anniversary, starring David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor
The Heart of a Man, starring Frankie Vaughan and Anne Heywood - (Britain)
Hiroshima Mon Amour, directed by Alain Resnais - (France/Japan)
A Hole in the Head, starring Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Carolyn Jones, Eddie Hodges
Holiday for Lovers, starring Jane Wyman, Clifton Webb, Jill St. John
A Home for Tanya (Otchiy dom) - (USSR)
Honeymoon (Luna de miel), directed by Michael Powell - (Britain/Spain)
The Horse Soldiers, starring John Wayne, William Holden, Constance Towers
The Hound of the Baskervilles, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee - (Britain)
House on Haunted Hill, starring Vincent Price
I
Il Vedovo, directed by Dino Risi - (Italy)
I'm All Right Jack, directed by the Boulting Brothers, starring Peter Sellers and Ian Carmichael - (Britain)
Imitation of Life, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner, Juanita Moore
The Immoral Mr. Teas, directed by Russ Meyer
It Happened to Jane, starring Doris Day, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs
It Started with a Kiss, starring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford
J
The Jazz Singer, a television film starring Jerry Lewis
Jet Over the Atlantic, starring Guy Madison and Virginia Mayo
Jet Storm, starring Richard Attenborough, Stanley Baker, Diane Cilento, Mai Zetterling - (Britain)
John Paul Jones, starring Robert Stack
The Journey, starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr
Journey to the Center of the Earth, starring James Mason and Pat Boone
K-L
Kaagaz Ke Phool (Paper Flowers), directed by and starring Guru Dutt - (India)
Kapò, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, starring Susan Strasberg - (Italy/France/Yugoslavia)
Killers of Kilimanjaro, starring Robert Taylor, Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey
The Last Angry Man, starring Paul Muni
Last Train from Gun Hill, starring Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman
The Law (La Legge), starring Gina Lollobrigida and Yves Montand - (Italy)
El Lazarillo de Tormes, winner of Golden Bear - (Spain)
Le Signe du Lion, directed by Éric Rohmer - (France)
The Legend of Tom Dooley, starring Michael Landon
Les Liaisons Dangereuses, directed by Roger Vadim, starring Jeanne Moreau - (France)
Letter Never Sent (Neotpravlennoye pismo) - (USSR)
Libel, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Dirk Bogarde and Olivia de Havilland - (Britain)
Li'l Abner, directed by Melvin Frank, starring Peter Palmer, Leslie Parrish, Stella Stevens, Julie Newmar, Stubby Kaye
Look Back in Anger, directed by Tony Richardson, starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom - (Britain)
M
Magic Boy (Shōnen Sarutobi Sasuke) - Japanese animated film
Make Mine a Million, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Arthur Askey and Sid James - (Britain)
The Man in the Net, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Alan Ladd and Carolyn Jones
The Man Who Could Cheat Death, starring Anton Diffring and Hazel Court
Marked for Murder, starring Keith Andes and Hazel Court
The Master and His Servants (Herren og hans tjenere) - (Norway)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Sen noci svatojánské), an animated puppet film by Jiří Trnka - (Czechoslovakia)
The Miracle, starring Carroll Baker and Roger Moore
Mise Éire - (Ireland)
The Mouse That Roared, starring Peter Sellers and Jean Seberg - (Britain)
The Mummy, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee - (Britain)
My Second Brother, directed by Shōhei Imamura - (Japan)
N
Nazarín, directed by Luis Buñuel - (Mexico)
Never So Few, starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen
Night Train (Pociąg) - (Poland)
The Nightingale's Prayer (Doaa al-Karawan) - (Egypt)
No Name on the Bullet, starring Audie Murphy
North by Northwest, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
North West Frontier, aka Flame Over India, starring Kenneth More and Lauren Bacall - (Britain)
The Nun's Story, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Audrey Hepburn
O
Odd Obsession (Kagi), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
Odds Against Tomorrow, starring Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan
On the Beach, directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins
Operation Petticoat, starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis
Our Man in Havana, directed by Carol Reed, starring Alec Guinness, Maureen O'Hara, Noël Coward, Ernie Kovacs - (Britain)
The Overcoat (Shinel) - (USSR)
P
Paigham, directed by S. S. Vasan, starring Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Raaj Kumar, B. Saroja Devi - (India)
Pickpocket, directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
Pillow Talk, starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson
El Pisito (The Little Apartment), directed bt Marco Ferreri - (Spain)
Plan 9 from Outer Space, directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr., starring Tor Johnson, Vampira, Bela Lugosi
Porgy and Bess, a musical directed by Otto Preminger, starring Dorothy Dandridge and Sidney Poitier, music by George and Ira Gershwin
Pork Chop Hill, starring Gregory Peck
Q-R
The Rest Is Silence (Der Rest ist Schweigen), starring Hardy Krüger - (West Germany)
Ride Lonesome, starring Randolph Scott
Rio Bravo, directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson
The Rookie, starring Julie Newmar, Tommy Noonan, Peter Marshall
Room at the Top, directed by Jack Clayton, starring Simone Signoret and Laurence Harvey - (Britain)
The Roots of Heaven, directed by John Huston, starring Errol Flynn, Trevor Howard, Juliette Gréco, Eddie Albert, Orson Welles
S
Sampo (The Day the Earth Froze) - (U.S.S.R./Finland)
Sapphire, directed by Basil Dearden - (Britain)
Say One for Me, starring Bing Crosby, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner
The Scapegoat, starring Alec Guinness and Bette Davis - (Britain)
Serious Charge, starring Anthony Quayle - (Britain)
Shadows, directed by John Cassavetes
The Shaggy Dog, starring Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen, Tommy Kirk
The Shakedown, starring Donald Pleasence and Hazel Court
Shake Hands with the Devil, starring James Cagney - (U.S.A./Ireland)
Sleeping Beauty (Walt Disney animation)
Solomon and Sheba, starring Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida
Some Like It Hot, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien, George Raft
SOS Pacific, starring Richard Attenborough - (Britain)
The Sound and the Fury, starring Yul Brynner and Joanne Woodward
Stars (Sterne) - (East Germany/Bulgaria)
A Stranger in My Arms, starring Jeff Chandler, June Allyson, Mary Astor, Sandra Dee
Suddenly, Last Summer, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn
A Summer Place, starring Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee
T
Tarzan's Greatest Adventure, directed by John Guillermin, starring Gordon Scott, Anthony Quayle, Sean Connery
Telegrame - (Romania)
Ten Seconds to Hell, directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Jack Palance
Terror Is a Man, starring Francis Lederer - (U.S./Philippines)
That Kind of Woman, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Sophia Loren and Tab Hunter
The Giant Behemoth, starring Gene Evans and André Morell
There Will Be No Leave Today (Segodnya uvolneniya ne budet), directed by Andrei Tarkovsky - (USSR)
These Thousand Hills, starring Richard Egan, Don Murray, Lee Remick
They Came to Cordura, starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin, Richard Conte, Dick York, Tab Hunter
Third Man on the Mountain, starring Michael Rennie
Tiger Bay, starring John Mills and Hayley Mills - (Britain)
The Tingler, starring Vincent Price
Tommy the Toreador, starring Tommy Steele - (Britain)
Too Many Crooks, starring Terry-Thomas and George Cole - (Britain)
Train Without a Timetable (Vlak bez voznog reda) - (Yugoslavia)
The Trap, starring Richard Widmark, Lee J. Cobb, Earl Holliman, Tina Louise
U-V
Up Periscope, starring James Garner and Edmond O'Brien
Il vedovo (The Widower), directed by Dino Risi, starring Alberto Sordi - (Italy)
La vida alrededor (Life Around Us) - (Spain)
Violent Summer (Estate violenta), starring Jean-Louis Trintignant - (Italy/France)
W-X
Warlock, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, Anthony Quinn, Dorothy Malone, Dolores Michaels, DeForest Kelley
The Wasp Woman, starring Susan Cabot
We are Altogether Crazy (Vi er allesammen tossede) - (Denmark)
Westbound, starring Randolph Scott and Virginia Mayo
When the Woman Butts In (Kam čert nemůže) - (Czechoslovakia)
The Wild and the Innocent, starring Audie Murphy, Joanne Dru, Sandra Dee
Woman Obsessed, starring Susan Hayward
The Wonderful Country, starring Robert Mitchum and Julie London
The World, the Flesh and the Devil, starring Harry Belafonte and Inger Stevens
The World of Apu (Apur Sansar), directed by Satyajit Ray - (India)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare, starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston - (Britain/U.S.)
Y-Z
Yellowstone Kelly, starring Clint Walker and Edd Byrnes
Yesterday's Enemy, directed by Val Guest, starring Stanley Baker - (Britain)
The Young Philadelphians, starring Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Brian Keith, Alexis Smith, Robert Vaughn
Zorro, the Avenger
Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
Terrytoons (1930–1964)
Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)
The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
January 5 – Clancy Brown, American actor & voice actor
January 17 - Momoe Yamaguchi, former Japanese actress & singer
January 22 - Linda Blair, American actress
February 2 - Laine Mägi, Estonian actress & dancer
February 4 - Pamelyn Ferdin, American actress
February 22 - Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
March 5 - Darío Grandinetti, Argentinian actor
March 6 - Tom Arnold, American actor & comedian
March 7 - Donna Murphy, actress & singer
March 8 - Aidan Quinn, Irish/American actor
March 15 - Renny Harlin, Finnish director & producer
March 18
Irene Cara, American actress & singer
Luc Besson, French director & producer
March 22 - Matthew Modine, American actor
March 23 - Catherine Keener, American actress
April 15 - Emma Thompson, English actress
April 17 - Sean Bean, English actor
April 20 - Clint Howard, American actor
June 11 - Hugh Laurie, English actor
June 22 - Wayne Federman, American actor & comedian
June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor
July 26 - Kevin Spacey, American actor
August 10 - Rosanna Arquette, American actress
August 14 - Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
August 29 - Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
September 23 - Jason Alexander, American actor
October 21 - Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
November 14 - Paul McGann, British actor
November 19 - Allison Janney, American actress
November 28 - Judd Nelson, American actor
December 13 - Johnny Whitaker, American actor
December 29 - Patricia Clarkson, American actress
December 31 - Val Kilmer, American actor
January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille, 77, American director and producer, The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Show on Earth
February 1 - Madame Sul-Te-Wan, 85, American actress, King of the Zombies, In Old Chicago
February 4 - Una O'Connor, 78, Irish actress, Witness for the Prosecution, The Adventures of Robin Hood
February 5 - Gwili Andre, 51, Danish actress, Secrets of the French Police, No Other Woman
February 22 - Helen Parrish, 34, American actress, Too Many Blondes, X Marks the Spot
March 2 - Eric Blore, 71, British actor, Top Hat, The Lady Eve
March 3 - Lou Costello, 52, American comedian and actor, half of Abbott and Costello comedy team, Africa Screams, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
March 26 - Raymond Chandler, 70, American author and screenwriter, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity
March 27 - Grant Withers, 54, American actor, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache
April 12 - James Gleason, 76, American actor, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Bishop's Wife
April 17 - Cecil Cunningham, 70, American actress, The Awful Truth, Monkey Business
April 18 - Irving Cummings, 70, American director, Louisiana Purchase, The Dolly Sisters
May 3 – Troy Sanders, 57, American score arranger and composer, White Christmas, Going My Way
June 4 - Charles Vidor, 58, Hungarian director, Gilda, Love Me or Leave Me
June 16 - George Reeves, 45, American actor, Gone with the Wind, So Proudly We Hail!
June 18 - Ethel Barrymore, 79, American actress, Portrait of Jennie, The Spiral Staircase
August 6 - Preston Sturges, 60, American writer, director, Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve
September 6
Edmund Gwenn, 81, British actor, Miracle on 34th Street, Mister 880
Kay Kendall, 32, British actress, Genevieve, Les Girls
September 11 - Paul Douglas, 52, American actor, A Letter to Three Wives, It Happens Every Spring
September 14 - Wayne Morris, 45, American actor, Kid Galahad, Paths of Glory
September 25 - Helen Broderick, 68, American actress, Top Hat, Swing Time
October 3 - William Bishop, 41, American actor, Harriet Craig, Top Gun
October 7 - Mario Lanza, 38, American singer and actor, The Great Caruso, Winged Victory
October 14 - Errol Flynn, 50, Australian actor, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood
October 23 - Gerda Lundequist, 88, Swedish actress, Gosta Berlings Saga
November 7 - Victor McLaglen, 72, British actor, The Quiet Man, Gunga Din
November 20 – Sylvia Lopez, 26, French actress, Hercules Unchained, Son of the Red Corsair
November 21 - Max Baer, 50, American boxer and actor, The Prizefighter and the Lady, The Harder They Fall
November 25 - Gérard Philipe, 36, French actor, Fan-Fan the Tulip, Beauties of the Night
December 24 - Edmund Goulding, 68, American director, Grand Hotel, The Razor's Edge
James Coburn - Ride Lonesome
Mia Farrow - John Paul Jones
Richard Harris - Shake Hands with the Devil
Martin Landau - Pork Chop Hill
Martin Scorsese - Vesuvius VI
George C. Scott - The Hanging Tree
Steven Spielberg - The Lost Guy
