Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know about 1986 as Movie Year
My Oscar Book:
Top-Grossing films of 1986
Rank Title Distributor Box-office gross
1 Top Gun Paramount $176,781,728
2 Crocodile Dundee $174,803,506
3 Platoon Orion $138,530,565
4 The Karate Kid Part II Columbia $115,103,979
5 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Paramount $109,713,132
6 Back to School Orion $91,258,000
7 Aliens 20th Century Fox $86,160,248
8 The Golden Child Paramount $79,817,937
9 Ruthless People Buena Vista $71,624,879
10 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Paramount $70,136,169
Events
January 7 – Lawrence Gordon resigns as president and coo of Fox Entertainment Group, citing poor health
February 3 –
Pixar Animation Studios is founded by Edwin Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith.
April – Guy McElwaine resigns as head of Columbia Pictures.
April 26 – Actor Schwarzenegger marries TV journalist Maria Shriver.
June – First Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankylä, Finnish Lapland.
July 2 – The Great Mouse Detective is released to critical and financial success, just behind An American Tail, saving Disney from bankruptcy after failure of The Black Cauldron. It is now regarded as one of the darkest underrated classics of all time, and has gained a cult following.
August 6 –
Timothy Dalton is the fourth actor to portray James Bond.
September – David Puttnam becomes head of Columbia Pictures.
September 13 –
Film Review TV program Siskel & Ebert premieres in syndication. The 2 critics have been working since 1975, but this will be their longest running program until 2010.
November 21 – The first animated produced by Spielberg, American Tail, is released, and breaks the record once held by Disney’s The Rescuers for largest financial amount made for an animated film on opening weekend.
November 29
Cary Grant, Hollywood greatest star, dies of cerebral hemorrhage in Davenport, Iowa, age 82.
Stuntman Dar Robinson is killed on the set of the film Million Dollar Mystery.
Awards
59th Academy (Oscars) Awards, March 30, 1987
Best Film: Platoon
Best Director: Oliver Stone, Platoon
Best Actor: Paul Newman,, The Color of Money
Best Actress: Marlee Matlin, Children of a Lesser God
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Caine, Hannah and Her Sisters
Best Supporting Actress: Dianne Wiest, Hannah and Her Sisters
Best Screenplay, Adapted, Out of Africa, Kurt Luedtke
Best Screenplay, Original Hannah and Her Sisters, Woody Allen
Best Original Score:
Best Original Song “Take My Breath Away”, Top Gun N/A “Take My Breath Away”
Best Foreign Language Film: The Assault
Palme d’Or (Cannes Film Fest): The Mission, Roland Joffé, UK
Golden Lion (Venice Film Fest): The Green Ray, Éric Rohmer, France
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Fest): Stammheim, Reinhard Hauff, West Germany
1986 films
Deaths
January
Donna Reed 64 US Actress. It’s a Wonderful Life, From Here To Eternity
24 Gordon MacRae 64 US Actor, Singer, Oklahoma! Carousel
27 Lilli Palmer 78 Germany Actress, Body and Soul, The Boys from Brazil
Jan 29 Leif Erickson 74 US Actor, mTea and Sympathy, Kiss Them for Me
February
Feb 2 Donald Eccles 77 UK Actor, The Wicker Man, Young Sherlock Holmes
Feb 6 Ray Moyer 87 US Set Decorator, Sunset Boulevard, Cleopatra
Feb 10
Brian Aherne 83 UK Actor, Juarez, A Night to Remember
16 Howard Da Silva 82 US Actor, 1776, The Lost Weekend
17 Paul Stewart 77 US Actor, Citizen Kane, In Cold Blood
Feb 22
Bill Hickman 65 US Stuntman, Actor, The French Connection, Bullitt
March 6
Adolph Caesar 52 US Actor, A Soldier’s Story (Oscar nominee), The Color Purple
March 10
Ray Milland 77 UK Actor, Director, Dial M for Murder, The Lost Weekend (Hitchcock)
14 Edith Atwater 74 US Actress, Sweet Smell of Success, Strait-Jacket
March 30
James Cagney 86 US Actor, White Heat, Yankee Doodle Dandy
March 23
Harold Arlen 81 US Composer, The Wizard of Oz, A Star Is Born
23 Otto Preminger 80 Austria Director, Producer, Actor, Anatomy of a Murder, Laura
March 26 Broderick Crawford 74 US Actor, All the King’s Men, Born Yesterday
March 26 Bessie Love 87 US Actress, The Broadway Melody. The Lost World
March 30
Robert Stevenson 81 UK Director Mary Poppins, Old Yeller
April
Apr 3 Robert Alda 72 US Actor, Rhapsody in Blue, Imitation of Life
April 9 Herschel Bernardi 62 US Actor, The Front, Irma la Douce
12 Elisabeth Bergner 88 Ukraine Actress, Escape Me Never, Paris Calling
13 George Gaines 52 US Set Decorator, All the President’s Men, Heaven Can Wait
April 22 Martin Gabel 73 US Actor, The Front Page, Marnie (Hitchcock)
April 23
Sterling Hayden 70 US Actor, The Godfather, Dr. Strangelove
April 24 Yakima Canutt 90 US Actor, Stuntman, Director, Stagecoach, Ben-Hur
26 Gunnar Björnstrand 74 Sweden Actor
The Seventh SealFanny and Alexander
28 Lurene Tuttle 78 US Actress
Don’t Bother to KnockPsycho
31 Sylvia Coleridge 76 UK Actress
TessI Met a Murderer
June 3
Anna Neagle 81 UK Actress
Forever and a DayNo, No, Nanette
10 Paul Stevens 65 US Actor
Advise & ConsentBattle for the Planet of the Apes
11 Reed De Rouen 69 UK Actor
The Third ManBillion Dollar Brain
13 Benny Goodman 77 US Musician
A Song Is BornThe Benny Goodman Story
14 Alan Jay Lerner 67 US Screenwriter, Lyricist
An American in ParisMy Fair Lady
17 Ted J. Kent 84 US Film Editor
Creature from the Black LagoonThe Wolf Man
20 Julie Duncan 67 US Actress
Desperate CargoWyoming Wildcat
23 Nigel Stock 66 UK Actor
The Great EscapeThe Lion in Winter
29 Robert Drivas 50 US Actor
Cool Hand LukeThe Illustrated Man
30 Margalo Gillmore 89 UK Actress
Perfect StrangersCause for Alarm!
July 3 Rudy Vallee 84 US Actor, Singer
How to Succeed in Business Without Really TryingUnfaithfully Yours
10 Jody Lawrance 55 US Actress
Mask of the AvengerTen Tall Men
15 Benny Rubin 87 US Actor
Sunny SkiesHot Curves
18 Buddy Baer 71 US Actor
Quo VadisThe Big Sky
19 Daniel L. Fapp 82 US Cinematographer
The Great EscapeWest Side Story
19 Harold D. Schuster 83 US Film Editor, Director
Wings of the MorningLoophole
25 Vincente Minnelli 83 US Director
An American in ParisGigi
28 John Alcott 55 UK Cinematographer
Barry LyndonA Clockwork Orange
August 6 Emilio Fernández 82 Mexico Actor, Director
María CandelariaThe Wild Bunch
10 Jacqueline Gadsden 86 US Actress
Mysterious IslandThe Thirteenth Hour
13 Helen Mack 72 US Actress
The Son of KongHis Girl Friday
15 Waldon O. Watson 79 US Sound Engineer
PsychoThat Touch of Mink
19 Hermione Baddeley 79 UK Actress
Mary PoppinsRoom at the Top
20 Walter Brooke 71 US Actor
LawmanThe Graduate
21 Bruce Cowling 66 US Actor
BattlegroundCause for Alarm!
23 Adrienne Fazan 80 US Film Editor
Singin’ in the Rain, Gigi
26 Ted Knight 62 US Actor
CaddyshackCountdown
September 1 Murray Hamilton 63 US Actor
JawsThe Graduate
6 Blanche Sweet 90 US Actress
Anna ChristieThe Sporting Venus
8 Ray Nazarro 83 US Director
Apache TerritoryThe Tougher They Come
15 Virginia Gregg 70 US Actress
Operation PetticoatSpencer’s Mountain
26 Brian Desmond Hurst 91 Ireland Director
Dangerous MoonlightScrooge
28 Denis Carey 77 UK Actor
PsychomaniaThe Day of the Jackal
28 Robert Helpmann 77 Australia Actor, Director
Chitty Chitty Bang BangThe Red Shoes
October 5 Hal B. Wallis 88 US Producer
CasablancaBecket
11 David Hand 86 US Animator, Director
Snow White and the Seven DwarfsBambi
11 Boris Leven 78 Russia Production Designer
West Side StoryThe Sound of Music
14 Yvette Dugay 54 US Actress
The Cimarron KidFrancis Covers the Big Town
14 Keenan Wynn 70 US Actor
Dr. StrangeloveNashville
14 Spec O’Donnell 75 US Actor
Here’s Flash CaseyBlonde Trouble
17 Leah Rhodes 84 US Costume Designer
The Big SleepStrangers on a Train
25 Forrest Tucker 67 US Actor
Sands of Iwo JimaThe Yearling
28 Robert Arthur 76 US Producer
The Big HeatFather Goose
28 Ian Marter 42 UK Actor
The Medusa TouchThe Abominable Dr. Phibes
31 Marcella Martin 70 US Actress
Gone with the WindThe Man Who Returned to Life
November 2 Harry Brown 69 US Screenwriter
A Place in the SunOcean’s 11
8 Beatrice Kay 79 US Singer, Actress
Diamond HorseshoeUnderworld U.S.A.
11 Roger C. Carmel 54 US Actor
GambitBreezy
21 Jerry Colonna 82 US Actor
Alice in WonderlandRoad to Singapore
21 Dar Robinson 39 US Stuntman
To Live and Die in L.A.Papillon
22 Scatman Crothers 76 US Actor
The ShiningTwilight Zone: The Movie
23 Norman Maurer 60 US Producer
The Three Stooges Meet HerculesWho’s Minding the Mint?
27 Robert Priestley 85 US Set Decorator
PicnicSayonara
29 Herb Vigran 76 US Actor
20,000 Leagues Under the SeaThe Love Bug
29 Cary Grant 82 UK Actor
North by NorthwestTo Catch a Thief
December 1 Frank McCarthy 74 US Producer
PattonDecision Before Dawn
2 Ken Scott 58 US Actor
Fantastic VoyageThe Three Faces of Eve
2 Desi Arnaz 69 Cuba Actor, Singer
The Long, Long TrailerHoliday in Havana
10 Susan Cabot 59 US Actress
GunsmokeTomahawk
11 Carlos Ramirez 70 Colombia Actor, Singer
Anchors AweighNight and Day
12 Clifford Stine 80 US Cinematographer
This Island EarthFollow Me, Boys!
13 Heather Angel 77 UK Actress
LifeboatSuspicion
18 George Amy 83 US Film Editor
Yankee Doodle DandyAir Force
18 Mamo Clark 72 US Actress
Mutiny on the BountyHawaii Calls
22 Harvey Stephens 85 US Actor
Sergeant YorkNorth by Northwest
23 Gerhard Bienert 88 Germany Actor
The Blue AngelThe Testament of Dr. Mabuse
26 Elsa Lanchester 84 UK Actress
Bride of FrankensteinWitness for the Prosecution
28 Andrei Tarkovsky 54 Russia Director, Screenwriter
SolarisAndrei Rublev
Film debuts
Brenda Bakke – Last Resort
Angela Bassett – F/X
Michael Beach – Streets of Gold
Sean Bean – Caravaggio
Ewen Bremner – Heavenly Pursuits
Dan Castellaneta – Nothing in Common
Kim Coates – The Boy in Blue
Margaret Colin – Pretty in Pink
Maddie Corman – Seven Minutes in Heaven
Antoni Corone – Band of the Hand
Brett Cullen – Stewardess School
Béatrice Dalle – Betty Blue
Andrew Divoff – Neon Maniacs
Adrian Dunbar – Sky Bandits
Dale Dye – Invaders from Mars
Carmen Ejogo – Absolute Beginners
Dave Foley – High Stakes
Ariadna Gil – Lola
Annabeth Gish – Desert Bloom
Tony Goldwyn – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
Caroline Goodall – Every Time We Say Goodbye
Paul Guilfoyle – Howard the Duck
Tim Guinee – Tai-Pan
Lauren Holly – Seven Minutes in Heaven
Catherine Keener – About Last Night
Richard Kind – Nothing in Common
Robert Knepper – That’s Life!
Olek Krupa – 91/2 Weeks
James LeGros – The Ladies Club
Ted Levine – One More Saturday Night
Jennifer Lopez – My Little Girl
Jon Lovitz – Hamburger: The Motion Picture
Kelly Lynch – Portfolio
Natasha Lyonne – Heartburn
John C. McGinley – Sweet Liberty
Janet McTeer – Half Moon Street
Ben Mendelsohn – The Still Point
Penelope Ann Miller – Hotshot
Rob Moran – Quiet Cool
Mark Moses – Platoon
Joel Murray – One Crazy Summer
Claire Nebout – Scene of the Crime
Jerry O’Connell – Stand by Me
Kevin J. O’Connor – Peggy Sue Got Married
Miranda Otto – Emma’s War
Adrian Pasdar – Top Gun
Jason Patric – Solarbabies
Vincent Perez – Gardien de la nuit
Elizabeth Perkins – About Last Night
Max Perlich – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Joaquin Phoenix – SpaceCamp
Wendell Pierce – The Money Pit
Jeremy Piven – Lucas
Jason Priestley – The Boy Who Could Fly
Bill Pullman – Ruthless People
Francesco Quinn – Platoon
Shiva Rajkumar – Anand
Keanu Reeves – Youngblood
Ving Rhames – Native Son
Mark Rolston – Aliens
Michael Rooker – Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Vyto Ruginis – 8 Million Ways to Die
Tim Russ – Crossroads
Winona Ryder – Lucas
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón – Romanza final
Kristin Scott Thomas – Under the Cherry Moon
Nestor Serrano – The Money Pit
Tony Shalhoub – Heartburn
Jamey Sheridan – Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Nina Siemaszko – One More Saturday Night
Ione Skye – River’s Edge
Wesley Snipes – Wildcats
Kevin Spacey – Heartburn
Imelda Staunton – Comrades
Brenda Strong – Weekend Warriors
Kristy Swanson – Pretty in Pink
D.B. Sweeney – Power
Tilda Swinton – Caravaggio
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa – Armed Response
Marshall Teague – Vendetta
Robin Thomas – About Last Night
Billy Bob Thornton – Hunter’s Blood
Tony Todd – Sleepwalk
Tamlyn Tomita – The Karate Kid Part II
Jacob Vargas – Last Resort
Paul Walker – Monster in the Closet
Naomi Watts – For Love Alone
Bradley Whitford – Doorman
Michael Shamus Wiles – Terror at Tenkiller
Billy Wirth – Seven Minutes in Heaven
BD Wong – The Karate Kid Part II
Robin Wright – Hollywood Vice Squad
Kari Wuhrer – Fire with Fire
