1980 in film

The following is an overview of events in 1980 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1980 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Rank	Title	Distributor	Box-office gross
1	The Empire Strikes Back	20th Century Fox	$209,398,025
2	9 to 5	20th Century Fox	$103,290,500
3	Stir Crazy	Columbia	$101,300,000
4	Airplane!	Paramount	$83,453,539
5	Any Which Way You Can	Warner Bros.	$70,687,344
6	Private Benjamin	Warner Bros.	$69,847,348
7	Coal Miner's Daughter	Universal	$67,182,787
8	Smokey and the Bandit II	Universal	$66,132,626
9	The Blue Lagoon	Columbia	$58,853,106
10	The Blues Brothers	Universal	$57,229,890

Worldwide gross revenue

The following table lists known worldwide gross revenue figures for several high-grossing films that originally released in 1980. Note that this list is incomplete and is therefore not representative of the highest-grossing films worldwide in 1980.

Title	Gross	Source	Country
The Empire Strikes Back	$538,375,067		United States
The Gods Must Be Crazy	$200,000,000		South Africa
Airplane!	$130,000,000		United States
The Blues Brothers	$115,229,890		United States

Events

April 29 – Sir Alfred Hitchcock, known as "The Master of Suspense", dies at his home in Bel Air, California, at the age of 80.
May 21 – The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the highest-grossing film of the year.
June 9 – Richard Pryor sets himself on fire while free-basing cocaine and drinking 151-proof rum. Pryor ran down his street in Northridge, California, until subdued by police.
June 20 – The Blues Brothers is released, and in addition to becoming one of the top-grossing films of the year, it also became the first feature film to be based on characters created on Saturday Night Live.
November 4 – Former Screen Actors Guild president and film actor Ronald Reagan wins the 1980 United States presidential election in a landslide victory.
November 7- Legendary actor Steve McQueen dies at the age of 50 after surgery to remove tumours in his neck after previously been diagnosed with lung cancer.
November 19 – Heaven's Gate becomes one of the biggest box office bombs of all-time and its colossal failure bankrupts United Artists.
Allied Artists is sold to Lorimar Productions.

Context

Industry professionals predicted comedy films and upbeat entertainment to dominate theaters in 1980. This was a response to poor morale in a nation suffering through economic recession, which generally increased theatrical visits as audiences sought escapism and ignored romantic films and depictions of blue-collar life. The financial success and low cost of production cost of comedies such as Blazing Saddles and Animal House, had further driven demand for comedies; Airplane!, The Blues Brothers, Caddyshack, and The Jerk, were all scheduled for release that year. The average cost of making films had risen to $6million which had reduced the number of films being made for niche audiences. Some studios continued to release a wide variety of films, hoping that few significant successes would compensate for other failures.
A surge of interest in science-fiction following Star Wars release had led to many low-budget entries in the genre attempting to profit by association, and big budget entries such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Black Hole, both of which were released in late 1979, just months before The Empire Strikes Back.

Awards

Palme d'Or :
Golden Lion :
Golden Bear :
'''People's Choice Award :'''

Births

January 2 - David Gyasi, British actor
January 4
*June Diane Raphael, American actress and comedian
*D'Arcy Carden, American actress and comedian
*Greg Cipes, voice actor
January 7
*Hele Kõrve, Estonian actress and singer
*Simon Woods, English actor and writer
January 8
*Sam Riley, English actor and singer
January 10
*Katie Dippold, American actress, writer and screenwriter
*Sarah Shahi, American actress and former model
January 16 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, American singer-songwriter and actor
January 17 – Zooey Deschanel, American singer-songwriter and actress
January 18
*Estelle, British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress
*Jason Segel, American actor, comedian, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, author and producer
January 19 – Luke Macfarlane, American actor
January 21
*Nana Mizuki, Japanese singer and voice actress
*Kim Sharma, Indian actress
January 22 - Christopher Masterson, American actor
January 29 - Jason James Richter, American actor and musician
January 30 – Wilmer Valderrama, American actor
February 2 – Zhang Jingchu, Chinese actress
February 3 - Ben Turner, British-Iranian actor
February 6 - Ben Lawson, Australian actor
February 8
*William Jackson Harper, American actor
*Sinead Matthews, English actress
February 9 - Margarita Levieva, Russian-American actress
February 11 – Matthew Lawrence, American actor
February 12
*Christina Ricci, American actress
*Enver Gjokaj, American actor
*Sarah Lancaster, American actress
February 14 – Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress and producer
February 17 - Jason Ritter, American actor, voice actor and producer
February 21
*Justin Roiland, American voice actor, animator, writer, and producer
*Brendan Sexton III, American actor
February 25
*Chris Knowings, American actor
*Christy Knowings, American actress and comedian
*Rashaan Nall, American writer, director, screenwriter and actor
February 26 - Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Icelandic actor
February 27 - Stephen Wight, English actor
February 28
*Denise Gough, Irish actress
*Charles Halford, American actor
February 29
*Steven Cree, Scottish actor
*Peter Scanavino, American actor
March 2 - Rebel Wilson, Australian actress, comedian, writer and producer
March 3
*Meiling Melançon, American actress and screenwriter
*Katherine Waterston, American actress
March 5 - Jessica Boehrs, German actress and singer
March 7
* Laura Prepon, American actress
* Mart Toome, Estonian actor
March 9 – Matthew Gray Gubler, American actor
March 13 - Nathan Phillips, Australian actor
March 17 - Katie Morgan, American pornographic actress
March 18 - Sophia Myles, English actress
March 20 - Mikey Day, American actor and comedian
March 23 - Itay Tiran, Israeli actor and director
March 25 - Tinsel Korey, Canadian actress and singer-songwriter
March 30 - Fiona Gubelmann, American actress
March 31
*Christine Barger, American actress
*Kate Micucci, American actress
*Maaya Sakamoto, Japanese singer and voice actress
April 4 - Collette Wolfe, American actress
April 8
*Carrie Savage, American voice actress
*Katee Sackhoff, American actress
April 10 – Charlie Hunnam, British actor and screenwriter
April 11 - Julia Chantrey, Canadian actress
April 13
* Colleen Clinkenbeard, American voice actress
* Kelli Giddish, American actress
April 14
*Tom Franco, American actor
*Claire Coffee, American actress
April 15 - Arian Moayed, Iranian-born American actor, writer and director
April 17
*Nicholas D'Agosto, American actor
*Samantha Soule, American actress
April 21 - Hadley Fraser, English actor and singer
April 22 - Rodrigo Hilbert, Brazilian television presenter, actor, and former model
April 24 - Reagan Gomez-Preston, American actress
April 25
*Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor and television presenter
*Céline Sallette, French actress
April 26
*Jordana Brewster, American actress
*Anna Mucha, Polish actress
*Marnette Patterson, American actress
*Channing Tatum, American actor
*Damien Dante Wayans, American actor, screenwriter, producer and director
April 30 - Sam Heughan, Scottish actor
May 2 - Ellie Kemper, American actress and comedian
May 5 - Zach McGowan, American actor
May 8
* Jasen Fisher, American former child actor
* Kimberlee Peterson, American actress
May 14 - Sérgio Guizé, Brazilian actor
May 18 - Matt Long, American actor
May 19 - Chris Jarvis, English actor
May 20 - Cauã Reymond, Brazilian actor
May 22
*Nazanin Boniadi, British actress
*Lucy Gordon, English actress and model
*Evelin Võigemast, Estonian actress
May 23
*D. J. Cotrona, American actor
*Chris Gethard, American actor, comedian and writer
May 25 - Will Janowitz, American actor
May 27 - Ben Feldman, American actor and producer
May 28 - Kelly Fremon Craig, American screenwriter, producer and director
May 29 - Adam Brown, English actor and comedian
June 1 - Oliver James, English musician and former actor
June 3 - Billy Slaughter, American actor
June 10 - Jessica DiCicco, American film, television and voice actress
June 15 - Candace Brown, American actress and comedian
June 16 – Sibel Kekilli, German actress
June 18 - David Giuntoli, American actor
June 19
*Neil Brown Jr., American actor
*Lauren Lee Smith, Canadian actress
June 20 - Tika Sumpter, American actress, singer, producer, television host and model
June 21 - Preeya Kalidas, British singer and actress
June 22 - Javone Prince, British comedian and actor
June 23
*Heath Freeman, American actor
*Melissa Rauch, American actress and comedian
June 24 – Minka Kelly, American actress
June 26 - Jason Schwartzman, American actor, producer and musician
July 1 - Fortune Feimster, American comedian
July 3 – Olivia Munn, American actress
July 4 - Max Elliott Slade, American former child actor
July 6 – Eva Green, French actress
July 7 - Marika Domińczyk, Polish-American actress
July 10
*James Rolfe, American filmmaker, actor, YouTuber and online personality
*Jessica Simpson, American singer and actress
*Thomas Ian Nicholas, American actor
*Aaron Staton, American actor
July 12
*Kristen Connolly, American actress
*Mylène Jampanoï, French actress
*Tom Price, Welsh actor and comedian
July 15 – Jasper Pääkkönen, Finnish actor and film producer
July 17 – Brett Goldstein, British actor and comedian
July 18 – Kristen Bell, American actress
July 19
*Mark Webber, American actor, screenwriter and director
*Chris Sullivan, American actor
July 27 - Ewen Leslie, Australian actor
July 29 - Rachel Miner, American actress
July 30 - April Bowlby, American actress
August 3
*Hannah Simone, Canadian actress
*Teuku Rifnu Wikana, Indonesian actor
August 5 - Sophie Winkleman, English actress
August 6
*Monique Ganderton, Canadian stunt performer and actress
*Rory Scovel, American actor and comedian
August 8 – Marisa Quintanilla, American actress
August 9 - Stephen Schneider, American actor
August 10
*Pua Magasiva, New Zealand actor
August 11 - Merritt Wever, American actress
August 12 - Dominique Swain, American actress and producer
August 13 - Álex González, Spanish actor
August 14 - Adrienne C. Moore, American actress
August 15 - Natalie Press, English actress
August 18 – Preeti Jhangiani, Indian actress
August 19
*Adam Campbell, English actor
*Aaron Horvath, American animator, screenwriter, producer and director
August 20 - Corey Carrier, American former child actor
August 21 - John Brotherton, American actor
August 23 - Joanne Froggatt, English actress
August 25 – Jackie Tohn, American actress and singer
August 26
*Macaulay Culkin, American actor
*Chris Pine, American actor
August 31 - Leo Bill, English actor
September 1 - Lara Pulver, English actress
September 7
*J. D. Pardo, American actor
*Alex Hassell, English actor
September 9 – Michelle Williams, American actress
September 12 - Hiroyuki Sawano, Japanese music composer
September 13 – Ben Savage, American actor
September 13 – Cristiana Capotondi, Italian actress
September 18 - Charity Wakefield, English actress
September 19 - Benjamin Davies, Scottish actor
September 21
*Kareena Kapoor, Indian actress
*Autumn Reeser, American actress
September 25
*T.I., American actor and rapper
*Chris Owen, American actor
September 29
*Zachary Levi, American actor and singer
*Chrissy Metz, American actress
September 30 - Toni Trucks, American actress
October 1 - Sarah Drew, American actress
October 3 - Daniel DeSanto, Canadian actor and voice actor
October 4
*Nick Mohammed, English actor, comedian and writer
*Morgan Spector, American actor
October 6
*David Alpay, Canadian actor, musician and producer
*Jenny Wade, American actress
October 8
*Nick Cannon, American comedian, rapper and television host
*Nathan Head, British actor
October 14 – Ben Whishaw, English actor
October 18
*Erin Dean, American former actress
*Natasha Rothwell, American writer, actress and comedian
October 19 – Benjamin Salisbury, American actor
October 21
*Kim Kardashian, American media personality, model and actress
*Lino Musella, Italian actor
October 23 - Robert Belushi, American actor
October 24
*Casey Wilson, American actress and comedian
*Monica, American singer-songwriter, producer and actress
October 25 - Mehcad Brooks, American actor
October 28 - Wes Ball, American film director and artist
October 29 – Ben Foster, American actor
October 30 - Sarah Carter, Canadian actress
October 31
*Samaire Armstrong, American actress
*Eddie Kaye Thomas, American actor
November 1 - Dani Rovira, Spanish comedian and actor
November 2 - Kim So-yeon, South Korean actress
November 5 - Luke Hemsworth, Australian actor
November 8 - Brooke Lyons, American actress
November 9 - Vanessa Lachey, American actress, fashion model and television host
November 10 - Alberta Mayne, Canadian actress
November 12
*Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor
*Gustaf Skarsgård, Swedish actor
November 13 - Monique Coleman, American actress
November 17 - Stuart Stone, Canadian actor
November 18 - Mathew Baynton, English actor, writer, comedian, singer and musician
November 23 - Tannishtha Chatterjee, Indian actress and director
November 29 - Jason Griffith, American actor and voice actor
December 3
*Anna Chlumsky, American actress
*Jenna Dewan, American actress and dancer
December 5 - Jessica Paré, Canadian actress
December 8 - Juliette Danielle, American actress
December 9 – Simon Helberg, American actor and comedian
December 13 - Satoshi Tsumabuki, Japanese actor
December 15 - Yuri Kolokolnikov, Russian actor
December 16 - Michael Jibson, English actor, director, writer and voice over artist
December 18
*Christina Aguilera, American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality
*Neil Fingleton, English actor
*Kirsty Strain, Scottish actress
December 19
*Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor
*Marla Sokoloff, American actress
December 22 - Chris Carmack, American actor
December 26 - Jared Van Snellenberg, American former actor
December 27 - Elizabeth Rodriguez, American actress
December 30 – Eliza Dushku, American actress
December 31 – Rosanne Mulholland, Brazilian actress

Deaths

Month	Date	Name	Age	Country	Profession	Notable films
January	1	Adolph Deutsch	82	US	Composer, Arranger
January	3	Ivan Triesault	81	Estonia	Actor
January	14	Robert Ardrey	71	US	Screenwriter
January	17	Barbara Britton	59	US	Actress
January	18	Cecil Beaton	76	UK	Costume Designer, Production Designer
January	22	Iris Meredith	64	US	Actress
January	23	Leonard Strong	71	US	Actor
January	24	Lil Dagover	92	Germany	Actress
January	24	James Poe	58	US	Screenwriter
January	27	Peppino De Filippo	76	Italy	Actor
January	28	Erle C. Kenton	83	US	Director
January	29	Jimmy Durante	86	US	Actor, Singer
February	1	Romolo Valli	54	Italy	Actor
February	3	Ray Heindorf	71	US	Composer
February	9	Renée Houston	77	UK	Actress
February	13	David Janssen	48	US	Actor
February	17	Jerry Fielding	57	US	Composer
February	17	Ed Graves	62	US	Art Director
February	18	Gale Robbins	58	US	Actress, Singer
February	26	Mario Mattoli	81	Italy	Director, Screenwriter
February	27	George Tobias	78	US	Actor
March	5	Jay Silverheels	67	Canada	Actor
March	8	Frank McDonald	80	US	Director
March	17	Farciot Edouart	85	US	Special Effects Artist
March	27	Philip W. Anderson	64	US	Film Editor
March	27	Steve Fisher	67	US	Screenwriter
March	28	Dick Haymes	61	Argentina	Actor, Singer
March	30	David Sharpe	70	US	Stuntman, Actor
April	3	Mary McCarty	56	US	Actress
April	6	John Collier	78	UK	Screenwriter
April	9	Kathleen Burke	66	US	Actress
April	10	Kay Medford	65	US	Actress
April	11	Charlotte Henry	66	US	Actress
April	14	Tom Fadden	85	US	Actor
April	15	Raymond Bailey	75	US	Actor
April	17	Alf Sjöberg	76	Sweden	Director
April	19	Tony Beckley	50	UK	Actor
April	25	Mario Bava	65	Italy	Director, Screenwriter, Cinematographer
April	26	Cicely Courtneidge	87	Australia	Actress, Singer
April	29	William Clemens	74	US	Director
April	29	Alfred Hitchcock	80	UK	Director
May	1	Henry Levin	70	US	Director
May	1	Gene Markey	84	US	Screenwriter
May	2	George Pal	72	Hungary	Producer, Director
May	4	Kay Hammond	71	UK	Actress
May	12	Lillian Roth	69	US	Actress
May	14	Hugh Griffith	67	UK	Actor
May	15	Gordon E. Sawyer	74	US	Sound Engineer
May	16	José Calvo	64	Spain	Actor
May	19	Ray Rennahan	84	US	Cinematographer
May	21	Ida Kamińska	80	Ukraine	Actress
May	26	Franz Bachelin	84	Germany	Art Director
June	4	Gloria Saunders	52	US	Actress
June	12	Milburn Stone	75	US	Actor
June	18	Terence Fisher	76	UK	Director
June	22	Monang Carvajal	82	Philippines	Actress
June	23	John Laurie	83	UK	Actor
June	23	Odile Versois	50	France	Actress
June	24	Boris Kaufman	73	Poland	Cinematographer
June	28	José Iturbi	84	Spain	Conductor, Actor
June	30	Thomas Browne Henry	72	US	Actor
July	6	Frank Cordell	62	UK	Composer
July	6	Gail Patrick	69	US	Actress
July	7	Reginald Gardiner	77	UK	Actor
July	7	Dore Schary	74	US	Producer, Screenwriter, Executive
July	11	Peggy Knudsen	57	US	Actress
July	24	Peter Sellers	54	UK	Actor
July	30	Charles McGraw	66	US	Actor
July	31	Bobby Van	51	US	Actor, Dancer
August	1	Strother Martin	61	US	Actor
August	2	Donald Ogden Stewart	85	US	Screenwriter
August	9	Elliot Nugent	83	US	Director
August	14	Dorothy Stratten	20	Canada	Actress
August	17	Harold Adamson	73	US	Lyricist
August	24	Yootha Joyce	53	UK	Actress
August	25	Gower Champion	59	US	Actor, Dancer, Director
August	25	Lester Dorr	87	US	Actor
August	26	Tex Avery	72	US	Animator, Director
August	27	Douglas Kenney	33	US	Screenwriter
September	3	Barbara O'Neil	70	US	Actress
September	4	Duncan Renaldo	76	Romania	Actor
September	5	Barbara Loden	48	US	Actress, Director
September	12	Lillian Randolph	81	US	Actress
September	17	Michael Strong	62	US	Actor
September	19	Sol Lesser	90	US	Producer
September	25	Lewis Milestone	84	Moldova	Director
October	6	Hattie Jacques	58	UK	Actress
October	10	Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas	49	US	Actor
October	28	Leon Janney	63	US	Actor
November	4	Noel Langley	68	South Africa	Screenwriter
November	7	Emilio Cigoli	70	Italy	Actor
November	7	Steve McQueen	50	US	Actor
November	9	Carmel Myers	81	US	Actress
November	9	Victor Sen Yung	65	US	Actor
November	14	Nick Dennis	76	US	Actor
November	15	Bill Lee	64	US	Actor, Singer
November	16	Imogen Hassall	38	UK	Actress
November	22	Mae West	87	US	Actress, Screenwriter
November	24	Nancy Hsueh	38	US	Actress
November	24	George Raft	79	US	Actor
November	26	Conrad A. Nervig	91	US	Film Editor
November	26	Rachel Roberts	53	UK	Actress
November	28	Sarah Y. Mason	84	US	Screenwriter
November	29	Edith Evanson	84	US	Actress
December	8	John Lennon	40	UK	Singer, Actor
December	12	Urie McCleary	75	US	Art Director
December	16	Peter Collinson	44	UK	Director
December	20	Ben Sharpsteen	85	US	Director, Producer
December	21	Marc Connelly	90	US	Actor, Screenwriter
December	22	Lesser Samuels	86	US	Screenwriter
December	23	Memmo Carotenuto	72	Italy	Actor
December	28	Sam Levene	75	US	Actor
December	31	Raoul Walsh	93	US	Director, Actor