1973 in film

This page covers significant events of the year 1973 in film. Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Studios celebrated their 50th anniversaries.

Highest-grossing films

United States and Canada

The top ten 1973 released films by box office gross in the United States and Canada are as follows:

Outside North America

The highest-grossing 1973 films in countries outside of North America.

Worldwide gross revenue

The following table lists known worldwide gross revenue figures for several high-grossing films that originally released in 1973. Note that this list is incomplete and is therefore not representative of the highest-grossing films worldwide in 1973. This list also includes gross revenue from later re-releases.

The year's highest-grossing actor worldwide was Hong Kong martial arts film star Bruce Lee, who died the same year.

Events

• March – Five Fingers of Death is released in the United States and is a surprise success starting a kung fu film craze in North America
• April 11 – Kim Jong-il publishes his film treatise On the Art of the Cinema.
• May 1 – The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely; she will marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra in 1976.
• July 20 – Martial arts legend Bruce Lee dies before Enter the Dragon is released on July 26.
• August 17 – The sci-fi movie Westworld is the first feature film to use digital image processing.
• December 25 – The Sting is released and goes on to become one of the top-grossing films of all time.
• December 26 – The Exorcist reawakens the horror film genre and becomes one of the most popular and controversial films ever released.

Awards

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

The Hireling, directed by Alan Bridges, United Kingdom

Scarecrow, directed by Jerry Schatzberg, United States

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder), directed by Satyajit Ray, India

1973 films

By country/region

• List of American films of 1973
• List of Argentine films of 1973
• List of Australian films of 1973
• List of Bangladeshi films of 1973
• List of British films of 1973
• List of Canadian films of 1973
• List of French films of 1973
• List of Hong Kong films of 1973
• List of Indian films of 1973
• List of Hindi films of 1973
• List of Kannada films of 1973
• List of Malayalam films of 1973
• List of Marathi films of 1973
• List of Tamil films of 1973
• List of Telugu films of 1973
• List of Japanese films of 1973
• List of Mexican films of 1973
• List of Pakistani films of 1973
• List of South Korean films of 1973
• List of Soviet films of 1973
• List of Spanish films of 1973

By genre/medium

• List of action films of 1973
• List of animated feature films of 1973
• List of avant-garde films of 1973
• List of comedy films of 1973
• List of drama films of 1973
• List of horror films of 1973
• List of science fiction films of 1973
• List of thriller films of 1973
• List of western films of 1973

Births

• January 4 - Damon Gupton, American actor
• January 7 – Baiba Broka, Latvian actress
• January 10 – Ryan Drummond, American actor and comedian
• January 14 – Katie Griffin, Canadian actress and singer.
• January 17 - Bob Persichetti, American animator, story artist, storyboard artist, screenwriter and director
• January 18 - Ben Willbond, English actor and screenwriter
• January 23 – Lanei Chapman, American actress
• January 24 – William Gregory Lee, American actor
• January 29 – Arben Bajraktaraj, Korovan-born French actor
• January 30 - Jordan Prentice, Canadian actor
• January 31
• Portia de Rossi, Australian-Canadian actress
• Matthew Faber, American actor (d. 2020)
• February 9 - Colin Egglesfield, American actor
• February 12 – Tara Strong, Canadian-American voice actress
• February 14 - Kristen Dalton, American actress
• February 15 - Sarah Wynter, Australian actress
• February 17 – Lucy Davis, English actress
• February 18 – Tom Wisdom, English actor
• February 20 - Andrea Savage, American actress and comedian
• February 25 – Anson Mount, American actor
• February 27 – Li Bingbing, Chinese actress
• March 1 – Jack Davenport, English actor
• March 3 – Matthew Marsden, English-American actor, producer and singer
• March 4 – Len Wiseman, American director, screenwriter and producer
• March 8 - Boris Kodjoe, German actor and producer
• March 10 – Natasha Alam, Uzbekistani–American actress and model
• March 13 – Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Icelandic-American actor, producer and screenwriter
• March 16 – Tim Kang, American actor
• March 18
• Marcus Chait, American actor and producer
• Luci Christian, American voice actress
• March 19 - Jill Culton, American animator, storyboard artist, director and screenwriter
• March 20
• Jane March, English actress and model
• Cedric Yarbrough, American actor and comedian
• March 21 - Vanessa Branch, English-born American actress
• March 22 - Clay Kaytis, American animator and director
• March 24 – Jim Parsons, American actor and producer
• April 1 - Kris Marshall, English actor
• April 2
• Simon Farnaby, English actor, comedian and writer
• Roselyn Sánchez, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, actress, producer and writer
• April 3 – Adam Scott, American actor, comedian and producer
• April 6
• Lori Heuring, American actress
• Cindy Robinson, American voice actress
• April 10 – Guillaume Canet, French actor
• April 11
• Kris Marshall, English actor
• Alec Musser, American actor and fitness model (d. 2024)
• April 12 - Amr Waked, Egyptian actor
• April 14 – Adrien Brody, American actor
• April 19
• Michael Bacall, American screenwriter and actor
• David Soren, Canadian director, writer, voice actor and storyboard artist
• April 22 – Christopher Sabat, American voice actor
• April 30
• Robyn Griggs, American actress (d. 2022)
• Antonino Isordia, Mexican director
• May 5 – Tina Yothers, American actress
• May 8
• Marcus Brigstocke, British comedian and actor
• Jonathon Young, Canadian actor
• May 10 – Tora Sudiro, Indonesian actor
• May 12 - Mackenzie Astin, American actor
• May 17
• Sasha Alexander, American actress and director
• Matthew McGrory, American actor (d. 2005)
• May 21 - Noel Fielding, English comedian, writer, actor, artist, musician and television presenter
• May 25 - Jossara Jinaro, Brazilian-American actress (d. 2022)
• May 27 - Jack McBrayer, American actor, singer and comedian
• May 30 - Minae Noji, Japanese-American actress
• June 1 - Adam Garcia, Australian actor
• June 2 - Kevin Feige, American producer
• June 4 - Matt Corboy, American actor
• June 8 - Lexa Doig, Canadian actress
• June 9 - Orlando Wells, English actor and writer
• June 12 - Mel Rodriguez, American actor
• June 15
• Neil Patrick Harris, American actor
• Pia Miranda, Australian actress
• June 16 – Eddie Cibrian, American actor
• June 17 - Louis Leterrier, French director and producer
• June 18 - Julie Depardieu, French actress
• June 19 - Leticia Spiller, Brazilian actress
• June 21 – Juliette Lewis, American actress
• June 22 - Tracy Melchior, American actress
• June 24 - Alexander Beyer, German actor
• June 27 - Razaaq Adoti, British actor, producer and screenwriter
• June 29 - Lance Barber, American actor
• June 30 - Jon Gunn, American director and screenwriter
• July 2 - Peter Kay, English comedian and actor
• July 3 - Patrick Wilson, American actor, director and singer
• July 6 - William Lee Scott, American actor
• July 8
• Sebastian Maniscalco, American stand-up comedian and actor
• Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress
• July 9 - Enrique Murciano, American actor
• July 10 - Annie Mumolo, American actress, screenwriter, comedian and producer
• July 11 - Jason Liebrecht, American voice actor
• July 15 - Rachel Pickup, British actress
• July 16 - Robert Jayne, American actor
• July 19 - Saïd Taghmaoui, French-American actor and screenwriter
• July 20
• Omar Epps, American actor, rapper and producer
• Roberto Orci, Mexican-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2025)
• July 22 - Jaime Camil, Mexican actor and singer
• July 23
• Daisy Donovan, English television presenter, actress and writer
• Kathryn Hahn, American actress and comedian
• July 24 - Jamie Denbo, American actress, writer and comedian
• July 25 - David Denman, American actor
• July 26
• Kate Beckinsale, English actress
• Gaetano Bruno, Italian actor
• July 29
• Stephen Dorff, American actor
• Dileep Rao, American actor
• July 31 - Daniel Evans, Welsh actor and director
• August 1 - Eduardo Noriega, Spanish actor
• August 2 - Simon Kinberg, British-born American filmmaker
• August 3 - Michael Ealy, American actor
• August 5 - Michael Hollick, American actor
• August 6
• Asia Carrera, American pornographic actress
• David Campbell, Australian singer, actor and television personality
• Vera Farmiga, American actress
• August 8 – Jessica Calvello, American voice actress
• August 9 - Kevin McKidd, Scottish actor and television director
• August 14 - Jamie Sives, Scottish actor
• August 18 - Carmen Serano, American actress
• August 19 - Ahmed Best, American actor, comedian and musician
• August 22 – Kristen Wiig, American actress and comedian
• August 24
• Dave Chappelle, American actor
• Carmine Giovinazzo, American actor, writer and musician
• Grey Griffin, American actress, comedian and singer-songwriter
• Barrett Oliver, American child actor
• August 25 - Ben Falcone, American filmmaker, comedian and actor
• August 26
• Andy Muschietti, Argentine filmmaker
• Gunner Wright, American actor
• August 28 - Kirby Morrow, Canadian actor, comedian and writer (d. 2020)
• September 1 - Guillem Morales, Spanish director
• September 4
• Jason David Frank, American actor and mixed martial artist (d. 2022)
• Lazlow Jones, American writer, producer, director, voice actor and radio personality
• September 5
• Paddy Considine, English actor, director, screenwriter and musician
• Rose McGowan, American actress
• September 6 - Martin Hancock, English actor
• September 7 – Shannon Elizabeth, American actress
• September 12 –
• Maximiliano Hernández, American actor
• Paul Walker, American actor and producer (d. 2013)
• September 13 - Travis Knight, American animator, producer and director
• September 14 – Andrew Lincoln, English actor
• September 18 – James Marsden, American actor
• September 19 - Nicholas Bishop, English-born Australian actor
• September 25 - Bridgette Wilson, American actress and singer
• September 26 – Julienne Davis, American actress and model
• September 27 - Indira Varma, British actress and narrator
• October 1 – Christian Borle, American actor and singer
• October 2
• Efren Ramirez, American actor
• Verka Serduchka, Ukrainian comedian, actor and singer
• October 3
• Keiko Agena, American actress
• Sasha Alexander, American actress and television director
• Neve Campbell, Canadian actress
• Richard Ian Cox, Welsh-Canadian voice actor
• Lena Headey, English actress
• October 6 – Ioan Gruffudd, Welsh actor
• October 8 - Jan Pavel Filipensky, Czech actor
• October 10
• Mario Lopez, American actor and television host
• S. S. Rajamouli, Indian director
• October 21 - Sasha Roiz, Israeli-born Canadian actor
• October 22 – Carmen Ejogo, British actress and singer
• October 23 - Stéphane Debac, French actor
• October 24
• Burgess Jenkins, American actor
• Kurt Kuenne, American filmmaker
• October 25 - Michael Weston, American actor
• October 26 – Seth MacFarlane, American actor, animator, screenwriter, comedian, director and singer
• October 28 – Kim Seo-hyung, South Korean actress
• October 30
• Adam Copeland, Canadian wrestler and actor
• Kemp Powers, American filmmaker
• November 1
• Robert Luketic, Australian director
• Aishwarya Rai, Indian actress
• November 2 - Marisol Nichols, American actress
• November 3 - Sticky Fingaz, American rapper and actor
• November 4 - Steven Ogg, Canadian actor
• November 11 - Chris McKay, American filmmaker
• November 12 - Radha Mitchell, Australian actress
• November 13
• Jordan Bridges, American actor
• John DeSantis, Canadian actor
• November 14 - Dana Snyder, American actor and voice actor
• November 17
• Leslie Bibb, American actress
• Kerry Godliman, English actress and comedian
• Maurizio Lombardi, Italian actor
• November 21 - Brook Kerr, American actress
• November 24
• J. C. Chandor, American filmmaker
• Lucy Liemann, British actress
• Danielle Nicolet, American actress
• November 26 – Peter Facinelli, American actor
• November 27
• Tadanobu Asano, Japanese actor
• Sharlto Copley, South African actor
• December 1 - Lombardo Boyar, American actor
• December 3
• Bruno Campos, Brazilian-American actor and lawyer
• Holly Marie Combs, American actress and producer
• December 4 - Tyra Banks, American television personality, producer, writer and actress
• December 5 - Shalom Harlow, Canadian actress
• December 11 - Mos Def, American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor
• December 14
• Thuy Trang, Vietnamese-American actress (d. 2001)
• Jan Uuspõld, Estonian actor
• December 17 - Rian Johnson, American filmmaker
• December 27 - Wilson Cruz, American actor
• December 28 - Seth Meyers, American talk show host, actor and comedian
• December 30 - Christian McKay, English actor

Deaths

Film debuts

Notes

References

External links

• List of 1973 films at IMDb
• List of 1973 deaths at IMDb
• List of 1973 births at IMDb