1981 in film
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Events
- January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleagured concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it.
- November 29 - Off Santa Catalina Island, 43-year old actress Natalie Wood drowns during a boating accident.
- Tom Cruise makes his acting debut.
Top grossing films
- North America
- Raiders of the Lost Ark, starring Harrison Ford
- Superman II
- Stir Crazy
- Nine To Five
- Stripes, starring Bill Murray
- Any Which Way You Can
- Arthur
- The Cannonball Run
- The Four Seasons
- For Your Eyes Only
Academy Awards
- Best Picture: Chariots of Fire - Enigma, The Ladd Company/Warner Bros.
- Best Actor: Henry Fonda - On Golden Pond
- Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond
Deaths
- January 1 - Beulah Bondi , actress
- January 10 - Richard Boone, actor
- July 27 - William Wyler, director
- August 4 - Melvyn Douglas, actor
- August 18 - Anita Loos , writer
- September 27 - Robert Montgomery, actor
- October 24 - Edith Head, costume designer
- November 16 - William Holden, actor
- November 27 - Lotte Lenya, actress
- November 29 - Natalie Wood actress
- December 28 - Allan Dwan, pioneer film director
Other movies released
- Deprisa, Deprisa!, Golden Bear winner
- The German Sisters, Golden Lion winner
- Man of Iron, Palme d'Or winner
- Heartland, Sundance Grand Jury Prize
- Gal Young 'Un, Sundance Grand Jury Prize
- Deadly Blessing starring Sharon Stone
- Halloween II, starring Jamie Lee Curtis
- The Fox and the Hound
- Friday the 13th, Part 2
- The Great Muppet Caper
- Mommie Dearest, starring Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid
- Omen III: The Final Conflict, starring Sam Neill, Rossano Brazzi
- Pennies From Heaven, starring Steve Martin, based on the 1978 BBC Television serial by Dennis Potter.
- On Golden Pond, starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda
- Quest for Fire also called La Guerre du feu
- Chariots of Fire
- Tarzan, the Ape Man
- Bustin' Loose
- Excaliber
- Heaven's Gate
- Reds
- The French Lieutenant's Woman
- Pixote
- Stevie
- An American Werewolf in London
- Absence of Malice
- Only When I Laugh
- Ragtime
- The Boat Is Full
- Sogni d'oro
- They Don't Wear Black Tie
