1966 in film

• October 19 – Gulf and Western Industries acquire Paramount Pictures.
• November – Seven Arts Productions reach agreement to acquire Warner Bros. for $32 million, later forming a new company Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.
• December 15 – Entertainment pioneer Walt Disney, best known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, breakthroughs in the field of animation, filmmaking, theme park design and other achievements, dies at the age of 65. He died while he was producing The Jungle Book, The Happiest Millionaire, and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day; the last three films under his personal supervision.

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: A Man for All Seasons – Highland, Columbia

Best Director: Fred Zinnemann – A Man for All Seasons

Best Actor: Paul Scofield – A Man for All Seasons

Best Actress: Elizabeth Taylor – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Best Supporting Actor: Walter Matthau – The Fortune Cookie

Best Supporting Actress: Sandy Dennis – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Best Foreign Language Film: A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme), directed by Claude Lelouch, France

BAFTA Film Awards:

Best Film from any Source: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Best British film: The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: A Man for All Seasons

Best Actor: Paul Scofield – A Man for All Seasons

Best Actress: Anouk Aimée – A Man and a Woman

Comedy or Musical:

Best Picture: The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

Best Actor: Alan Arkin – The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

Best Actress: Lynn Redgrave – Georgy Girl

Other

Best Supporting Actor: Richard Attenborough – The Sand Pebbles

Best Supporting Actress: Jocelyne LaGarde – Hawaii

Best Director: Fred Zinnemann – A Man for All Seasons

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme), directed by Claude Lelouch, France

Signore & Signori (The Birds, the Bees and the Italians), directed by Pietro Germi, Italy

Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, Location: Italy

Silver Ribbon

• Best Actor winner in Questa volta parliamo di uomini (This Time Let's Talk about Men): Nino Manfredi
  • Nominee in The 10th Victim: Marcello Mastroianni
  • A third nominee was not determined.
• Best Actress winner in La fuga: Giovanna Ralli
  • Nominees in Juliet of the Spirits: Giulietta Masina and in The Mandrake: Rosanna Schiaffino
• Best Supporting Actor winner in I Knew Her Well: Ugo Tognazzi
  • Nominees in The Mandrake: Totò and Romolo Valli
• Best Supporting Actress winner in Juliet of the Spirits: Sandra Milo
  • Nominee in Made in Italy Anna Magnani
  • A third nominee was not determined.
• Best Director winner in I Knew Her Well: Antonio Pietrangeli
  • Nominees in Fists in the Pocket: Marco Bellocchio and in Juliet of the Spirits: Federico Fellini
• Best Foreign Director winner in The Servant: Joseph Losey
  • Nominees in Hamlet (1964 film): Grigori Kozintsev and in King and Country: Joseph Losey
• Best Screenplay winner in I Knew Her Well: Ettore Scola, Antonio Pietrangeli and Ruggero Maccari
  • Nominees in Fists in the Pocket: Marco Bellocchio and in Sandra: Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Enrico Medioli, Luchino Visconti
• Best Cinematography, B/W winner in Sandra: Armando Nannuzzi
• Best Cinematography, Color winner in Juliet of the Spirits: Gianni Di Venanzo. In memory of.
• Best Costume Design winner in Juliet of the Spirits: Piero Gherardi
• Best Score winner in Seven Golden Men: Armando Trovajoli
• Best Producer – Short Film winner in Con il cuore fermo Sicilia: Clodio Cinematografica
• Best Short Film winner in Antonio Ligabue, pittore: Raffaele Andreassi
• Best Original Story winner in Fists in the Pocket: Marco Bellocchio
  • Nominees in I Knew Her Well: Ruggero Maccari, Ettore Scola, Antonio Pietrangeli and in Seven Golden Men: Marco Vicario
• Best Producer winner in Seven Golden Men: Marco Vicario
  • Nominee in Fists in the Pocket: Enzo Doria
  • A third nominee was not determined.
• Best Production Design winner in Juliet of the Spirits: Piero Gherardi.

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

The Battle of Algiers (La Battaglia di Algeri), directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, Algeria / Italy

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Cul-de-sac, directed by Roman Polanski, United Kingdom

United States unless stated

United States unless stated

• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Sylvester the Cat (1944–1966)
• Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)
• Daffy Duck (1937–1968)

• January 2 – Kate Hodge, American actress and producer
• January 13 – Patrick Dempsey, American actor
• January 17 – Joshua Malina, American actor
• January 20 – Rainn Wilson, American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer
• January 24 – Julie Dreyfus, French actress
• January 31 – Dexter Fletcher, English film director and actor
• February 1 – Anthony Johnson, American actor and comedian (d. 2021)
• February 4 – Piret Kalda, Estonian actress
• February 12 – Lochlyn Munro, Canadian actor
• February 13 – Neal McDonough, American actor and producer
• February 14 – Kristen Dalton, American actress
• February 15
  • Mo Gallini, American actor
  • Cynthia Lamontagne, American former actress
  • Kim Myers, American actress
• February 19 – Justine Bateman, American actress, writer, director and producer
• February 22 – Rachel Dratch, American actress, comedian, writer and producer
• February 24
  • Ben Miller, English actor
  • Billy Zane, American actor
• February 25
  • Alexis Denisof, American actor
  • Téa Leoni, American actress
• February 27 – Donal Logue, Canadian-Irish actor, producer and writer
• March 1
  • Michelle Berube, American actress
  • Zack Snyder, American director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer
• March 3 – Tone Loc, American rapper and actor
• March 4 – Steve Bastoni, Italian-born Australian actor
• March 5 – Aasif Mandvi, British-American actor and comedian
• March 9 – Alison Doody, Irish model and actress
• March 10 – Stephen Mailer, American actor
• March 14
  • Elise Neal, American actress
  • Gary Anthony Williams, American actor, comedian and filmmaker
• March 22 – Sara Crowe, Scottish actress
• March 23 – Marin Hinkle, American actress
• March 26 – Michael Imperioli, American actor
• April 8 – Robin Wright, American actress
• April 9 – Cynthia Nixon, American actress
• April 13 – Andy Nyman, English actor, director and writer
• April 14 – Lloyd Owen, British actor
• April 22 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor and producer
• April 27 – Matt Reeves, American director, producer and screenwriter
• May 3 – Firdous Bamji, Indian actor and writer
• May 4 - Murray McArthur, English actor
• May 10 – Ilian Djevelekov, Bulgarian film director and producer
• May 12 – Stephen Baldwin, American actor
• May 15
  • Sommore, American comedian and actress
  • Greg Wise, English actor and producer
• May 16 – Scott Reeves, American actor and country music singer
• May 19 – Polly Walker, English actress
• May 20 – Mindy Cohn, American actress and voice actress
• May 23 – H. Jon Benjamin, American actor and comedian
• May 26 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
• June 5 – Dwayne Hill, Canadian voice actor
• June 7 – Tom McCarthy, American director, screenwriter and actor
• June 8 – Julianna Margulies, American actress
• June 10 - Laura Silverman, American actress
• June 16 – Phil Vischer, American filmmaker, animator, musician and voice actor
• June 17 – Jason Patric, American actor
• June 19 – Samuel West, English actor, director and voice actor
• June 22
  • Carlos Gallardo, Mexican actor, producer, screenwriter and director
  • Emmanuelle Seigner, French actress
• June 24 – Adrienne Shelly, American actress, director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
• June 27 – J. J. Abrams, American filmmaker and composer
• June 28
  • John Cusack, American actor, brother of actress Joan Cusack
  • Şenay Gürler, Turkish actress
  • Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress
  • Sara Stewart, Scottish actress
• June 29 – DJ Pooh, American rapper, actor and filmmaker
• June 30
  • Ian Bliss, Australian character actor
  • Marton Csokas, New Zealand actor
• July 5
  • Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, American director
  • Claudia Wells, American actress
• July 6
  • Mark Mitchinson, English-born New Zealand actor
  • Brian Posehn, American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician and writer
• July 7
  • Jim Gaffigan, American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and producer
  • William Haze, American actor (died 2016)
• July 8 – Mike Nawrocki, American director, animator, writer and voice actor
• July 9
  • Pamela Adlon, American actress, voice actress, screenwriter, producer and director
  • Jamie Bartlett, British-born South African actor (d. 2022)
• July 10 – A. O. Scott, American film critic of The New York Times
• July 11
  • Debbe Dunning, American actress
  • Greg Grunberg, American actor
  • Elina Löwensohn, Romanian-American actress
• July 12 – Tamsin Greig, English actress, narrator and comedian
• July 14 – Matthew Fox, American actor
• July 15 – Irène Jacob, French-born Swiss actress
• July 16 – Scott Derrickson, American filmmaker
• July 18 – Lori Alan, American actress and voice actress
• July 19 – Nancy Carrell, American actress, comedian and writer
• July 31 – Dean Cain, American actor, producer and television presenter
• August 1 – Dan Gerson, American screenwriter and voice actor (d. 2016)
• August 5
  • James Gunn, American filmmaker and actor
  • Jonathan Silverman, American actor
• August 8 – Verónica Falcón, Mexican actress
• August 10 – André Sogliuzzo, American voice actor
• August 14 – Halle Berry, American actress
• August 15
  • Con O'Neill, English actor
  • Tasha de Vasconcelos, Mozambican-born Portuguese-Canadian actress
• August 17
  • Tom Gallop, American actor
  • Matt Maiellaro, American actor
• August 18
  • Sarita Choudhury, British actress
  • María Onetto, Argentine actress (d. 2023)
• August 19 - Chris McGarry, American actor
• August 20
  • Colin Cunningham, American actor
  • David Rees Snell, American actor
• August 25 – Julia Davis, English actress, comedian, director and writer
• August 28 – Enzo Squillino Jr., British actor
• August 29 – Stacey Travis, American actress
• August 30 – Michael Michele, American actress
• September 1 – James Nguyen, Vietnamese filmmaker
• September 2 – Salma Hayek, Mexican actress
• September 7 – Toby Jones, English actor
• September 9
  • David Bennent, Swiss actor
  • Adam Sandler, American actor
• September 12
  • Darren E. Burrows, American actor
  • Khaled El Nabawy, Egyptian actor
• September 13 – Louis Mandylor, Australian actor
• September 16 – Sean Frye, American former actor
• September 20 – Niki Caro, New Zealand film director and screenwriter
• September 22
  • Ira Heiden, American actor
  • Ruth Jones, Welsh actress, comedian, writer and producer
• September 25 – Jason Flemyng, English actor
• September 29 – Ben Miles, English actor
• October 6 – Jacqueline Obradors, American actress
• October 9 – Tim Herlihy, American actor, producer and screenwriter
• October 11 – Luke Perry, American actor (d. 2019)
• October 16 – Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, American voice actress
• October 17 – Mark Gatiss, English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director and producer
• October 19 – Jon Favreau, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
• October 24 – Zahn McClarnon, American actor
• October 26 – Steve Valentine, English actor
• October 28
  • Chris Bauer, American actor
  • Andy Richter, American actor, writer, comedian and talk show announcer
• October 31 - Mike O'Malley, American actor, writer and producer
• November 2 – David Schwimmer, American actor, director and producer
• November 3
  • Vincent Franklin, English actor
  • Jonathan Loughran, American actor
• November 5 – Leni Parker, Canadian actress
• November 6 – Peter DeLuise, American actor
• November 11 – Vince Colosimo, Australian actor
• November 17 – Sophie Marceau, French actress and director
• November 19
  • Wolfgang Bodison, American actor
  • Jason Scott Lee, American actor and martial artist
• November 22
  • Nicholas Rowe, British actor
  • Michael K. Williams, American actor (d. 2021)
• November 23 – Vincent Cassel, French actor
• November 25 – Billy Burke, American actor
• November 26 – Garcelle Beauvais, Haitian actress and television personality
• December 1 – Andrew Adamson, New Zealand director, producer and screenwriter
• December 2 – Katherine LaNasa, American actress
• December 4
  • Fred Armisen, American actor and comedian
  • Carey Means, American voice and stage actor
• December 7 – C. Thomas Howell, American actor
• December 8
  • Tyler Mane, Canadian character actor
  • Scott Shepherd, American actor
  • Sinéad O'Connor, Irish actress and singer (d. 2023)
• December 9 – Toby Huss, American actor
• December 12 – Lydia Zimmermann, Spanish filmmaker
• December 14 – Boris Isaković. Serbian actor
• December 19 – Robert MacNaughton, American actor
• December 20 – Paul Ritter, English actor (d. 2021)
• December 21
  • Michelle Hurd, American actress
  • Kiefer Sutherland, Canadian actor
• December 24 – Diedrich Bader, American actor and voice actor
• December 28 - David Fane, New Zealand actor
• December 30 – Akosua Busia, Ghanaian actress and writer
• December 31
  • Bruce Ramsey, Canadian actor
  • Maddie Taylor, American voice actress and comedian

• January 3 – Rex Lease, 62, American actor, Rough Riding Ranger, Borrowed Wives
• January 17 – Vincent J. Donehue, 50, American director, Lonelyhearts, Sunrise at Campobello
• January 22 – Herbert Marshall, 75, British actor, The Letter, The Little Foxes
• January 31 – Elizabeth Patterson, 90, American actress, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, Remember the Night
• February 1
  • Buster Keaton, 70, American actor and director, The General, Sherlock Jr.
  • Hedda Hopper, 80, American gossip columnist and actress, Sunset Boulevard, Topper
• February 9 – Sophie Tucker, 82, Russian-born American singer and actress, Thoroughbreds Don't Cry, Broadway Melody of 1938
• February 18 – Robert Rossen, 57, American writer and director, The Hustler, All the King's Men^[7]
• February 19 – James Edward Grant, 60, American writer and director, Angel and the Badman, The Alamo
• February 26 – Mientje Kling, 71, Dutch actress, The Devil in Amsterdam
• March 3
  • William Frawley, 79, American actor, Miracle on 34th Street, The Lemon Drop Kid
  • Alice Pearce, 48, American actress, On the Town, The Disorderly Orderly
• March 12 – Estelita Rodriguez, 34, Cuban actress, Tropical Heat Wave, Rio Bravo
• March 26 – Cyril Hume, 66, American screenwriter, The Great Gatsby, Forbidden Planet^[8][9]
• April 6
  • Julia Faye, 73, American actress, Chicago, The Ten Commandments
  • Edna Flugrath, 73, American silent-film actress, The Derby Winner, The Pursuit of Pamela
• April 16 – Marjie Millar, 34, American actress, Money from Home, About Mrs. Leslie
• June 5 – Natacha Rambova, 69, American actress, Salomé, Monsieur Beaucaire
• June 11 – Wallace Ford, 68, British-born American actor, Another Face, 3 Ring Circus
• June 19 – Ed Wynn, 79, American actor, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins
• July 5 – John P. Fulton, 63, American special effects supervisor, The Ten Commandments
• July 6 – Anne Nagel, 50, American actress, Under the Big Top, My Little Chickadee
• July 23
  • Douglass Montgomery, 59, American actor, Little Women, Waterloo Bridge
  • Montgomery Clift, 45, American actor, From Here to Eternity, A Place in the Sun
• August 3 – Lenny Bruce, 40, American satirist
• August 15
  • Jan Kiepura, 64, Polish tenor and actor, My Song for You
  • Seena Owen, 71, American actress, Queen Kelly, Victory
• August 23 – Francis X. Bushman, 83, American actor, Ben-Hur, The Phantom Planet
• August 25 – Lance Comfort, 58, British director, Penn of Pennsylvania, Eight O'Clock Walk
• August 26 – Art Baker, 68, American actor, Cover Up, The Farmer's Daughter
• August 29 – Joseph Egger, 77, Austrian actor, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More
• September 14 – Nikolai Cherkasov, 63, Soviet actor, Alexander Nevsky, Ivan The Terrible, Part II
• September 22 – Jules Furthman, 78, American screenwriter, The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not
• October 13 – Clifton Webb, 76, American actor, Laura, The Man Who Never Was
• October 16 – George O'Hara, 67, American actor and writer, Side Street, The Grapes of Wrath
• October 23
  • Eugenio Bava, 80, Italian cinematographer, Cabiria, Quo Vadis
  • Claire McDowell, 88, American actress, The Mark of Zorro, Ben-Hur
• October 24 – Hans Dreier, 81, German art director of European and American films, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity
• November 3 – Byron Barr, 49, American actor, Double Indemnity, Pitfall
• November 9 – James V. Kern, 57, American screenwriter and director, Never Say Goodbye, Two Tickets to Broadway
• December 14
  • Emma Dunn, 91, British actress, Mother, Life with Father
  • Verna Felton, 76, American actress and voice actress, Picnic, Cinderella
  • Richard Whorf, 60, American actor and director, Christmas Holiday, Yankee Doodle Dandy
• December 15 – Walt Disney, 65, American producer, cartoonist and studio executive, Steamboat Willie, Cinderella, Fantasia
• December 19 – Betty Kuuskemaa, 87, Estonian actress, Elu tsitadellis, Pöördel
• December 22
  • Harry Beaumont, 78, American director, The Broadway Melody, Enchanted April
  • Robert Keith, 68, American actor, The Lineup, Written on the Wind

• Héctor Alterio – Todo sol es amargo
• Candice Bergen – The Group
• Peter Boyle – The Group
• Richard Bradford – The Chase
• Roberta Collins – Lord Love a Duck
• Michael Douglas – Cast a Giant Shadow
• Harrison Ford – Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
• Ted Gehring – Swamp Country
• Julien Guiomar – King of Hearts
• Hal Holbrook – The Group
• Paulo José – The Priest and the Girl
• Stuart Margolin – Women of the Prehistoric Planet
• Bette Midler – Hawaii
• Helen Mirren – Press for Time
• Ian Ogilvy – The She Beast
• Alan Oppenheimer – Gammera the Invincible
• Robert Pine – Gunpoint
• Maurice Roëves – The Fighting Prince of Donegal
• Hiroyuki Sanada – Game of Chance
• Anatoly Solonitsyn – Andrei Rublev
• Marco St. John – The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean
• James Tolkan – The Three Sisters
• Natalya Varley – Formula radugi
• Sam Waterston – The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean
• Mary Woronov – The Beard