Cinema 1987: You Must Remember This–Movies, Events, Stars, Box-Office, Hollywood

Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know about 1987 as Movie Year

My Oscar Book:

Missing: Best Actor, Supp. Actor, Supp. Actress

Top-Grossing Films of 1987

Rank Title Distributor Box-office gross
1 Three Men and a Baby Buena Vista $167,780,960
2 Fatal Attraction Paramount $156,645,693
3 Beverly Hills Cop II $153,665,036
4 Good Morning, Vietnam Buena Vista $123,922,370
5 Moonstruck MGM $80,640,528
6 The Untouchables Paramount $76,270,454
7 The Secret of My Success Universal $66,995,000
8 Stakeout Buena Vista $65,673,233
9 Lethal Weapon Warner Bros. $65,207,127
10 The Witches of Eastwick $63,766,510

Events

January 31 – The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, the world’s longest film per Guinness World Records.

February – Blue Sky Studios is founded by Chris Wedge.

May 23 –

{Starlog Salutes STAR WARS} is held in Los Angeles, the first sponsored Star Wars convention to commemorate the franchise’s 10th anniversary.

June 29 –

James Bond franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary and premieres its 15th film, The Living Daylights.

July 17 –

Disney’s classic masterpiece Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs rereleased worldwide for its 50th anniversary.

Paramount launches new on-screen logo to celebrate the company’s 75th anniversary, a variant used until 1989, and then from 1989 to 2002.

My Osar Book:

Awards

Academy (Osar) Awards:

Best Picture: The Last Emperor, Hemdale, Columbia
Best Director: Bernardo Bertolucci, The Last Emperor
Best Actor: Michael Douglas – Wall Street
Best Actress: Cher, Moonstruck
Best Supporting Actor: Sean Connery, The Untouchables
Best Supporting Actress: Olympia Dukakis, Moonstruck
Best Foreign Language Film: Babette’s Feast, Gabriel Axel, Denmark

Festivals:

Palme d’Or (Cannes Film Fest): Under the Sun of Satan, Maurice Pialat, France
Golden Lion (Venice Film Fest): Au revoir les enfants (Goodbye, Children), Louis Malle, France / W. Germany
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Fest): Tema (1979) (The Theme), Gleb Panfilov, USSR

Births

Deaths
Month Date Name Age Country Profession Notable films

January

Jan 3 David Maysles 55 US Documentarian, Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens

Jan 14 Douglas Sirk 89 German Director, Hollywood based, Imitation of Life, Written on the Wind

Jan 15

Ray Bolger 83 US Actor, Singer, The Wizard of Oz,mBabes in Toylan

Feb 23 William Rose 68 US Screenwriter, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner> The Ladykillers

23 Esmond Knight 80 UK Actor
Henry VThe Red Shoes
25 James Coco 56 US Actor, Only When I LaughWholly Moses!

March 2 Randolph Scott 89 US Actor, The Texans, The Walking Hills

March 3

Danny Kaye 74 US Actor, Singer, White Christmas. The Court Jester
7 Henri Decaë 71 France Cinematographer, The Boys from Brazil, The 400 Blows

March 7 Waldo Salt 72 US Screenwriter, Midnight Cowboy, Serpico

21 Robert Preston 68 US Actor
The Music Man, Victor Victoria
22 Morton Haack 62 US Costume Designer
Planet of the ApesThe Unsinkable Molly Brown
27 William Bowers 71 US Screenwriter
The GunfighterSupport Your Local Sheriff
28 Patrick Troughton 67 UK Actor
Jason and the ArgonautsScars of Dracula

April 6 Philip M. Jefferies 61 US Production Designer
GreaseAn Officer and a Gentleman
11 Kent Taylor 79 US Actor
Half Past MidnightPayment on Demand
17 Dick Shawn 63 US Actor
The ProducersIt’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
19 Milt Kahl 78 US Animator
The Jungle BookOne Hundred and One Dalmatians

May 14

Rita Hayworth 68 US Actress, Gilda, The Lady from Shanghai
21 Alejandro Rey 57 Argentina Actor
Fun in Acapulco, Moscow on the Hudson
24 Hermione Gingold 89 UK Actress
The Music Man, Gigi
29 Howard Shoup 83 US Costume Designer
Cool Hand Luke, The Young Philadelphians

June
June 3 Will Sampson 53 US Actor, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Outlaw Josey Wales
6 Fulton Mackay 64 UK Actor, Local Hero, Gumshoe

June 8

Daniel Mandell 91 US Film Editor The Apartment, The Best Years of Our Lives

June 10

Elizabeth Hartman 43 US Actress, A Patch of Blue, The Secret of NIMH
11 Dan Vadis 49 China Actor
Every Which Way But LooseHigh Plains Drifter

June 13

Geraldine Page 62 US Actress, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Trip to Bountiful

June 22

Fred Astaire 88 US Actor, Swing Time, The Towering Inferno
June 24

Jackie Gleason 71 US Actor, The Hustler, Smokey and the Bandit

July 1 Jerry Livingston 78 US Songwriter
CinderellaCat Ballou
3 Viola Dana 90 US Actress
That Certain ThingThe Show of Shows
5 Phil Abramson 54 US Set Decorator
Close Encounters of the Third KindBullitt
7 Hannelore Schroth 65 Germany Actress
Sweetheart of the GodsBeloved Corinna
12 Harold Goodwin 84 US Actor
All Quiet on the Western FrontThe Wyoming Bandit
15 Alfie Bass 71 UK Actor
The Fearless Vampire KillersMoonraker
17 Yūjirō Ishihara 52 Japan Actor, Singer
Season of the SunCrazed Fruit
20 Richard Egan 65 US Actor
The 300 SpartansA Summer Place
22 Adele Comandini 89 US Screenwriter
Three Smart GirlsChristmas in Connecticut
31 Joseph E. Levine 81 US Producer
A Bridge Too FarThe Lion in Winter

August

Aug 1 Pola Negri 90 Poland Actress, Madame DuBarry, Carmen

Aug 17 Clarence Brown 97 US Director, National Velvet, The Yearling
17 Shaike Ophir 58 Israel Actor
The PolicemanBlaumilch Canal
19 Hayden Rorke 76 US Actor
Pillow TalkThe Barefoot Executive
21 Bombolo 56 Italy Actor
Squadra antitruffaLittle Italy
22 Ted Sherdeman 78 US Screenwriter
Them!A Dog of Flanders

Aug 28 John Huston 81 US Actor, Director, Screenwriter
The Maltese FalconThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Aug 29

Lee Marvin 63 US Actor, The Dirty Dozen. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

September

Sep 1 Philip Friend 72 UK Actor
Buccaneer’s GirlThe Son of Robin Hood
4 Richard Marquand 49 UK Director
Return of the JediJagged Edge
5 Bill Fraser 79 UK Actor
Up PompeiiUp the Chastity Belt
11 Lorne Greene 72 Canada Actor
EarthquakeThe Buccaneer
12 John Qualen 87 US Actor
His Girl FridayThe Grapes of Wrath
13 Mervyn LeRoy 86 US Director
Quo VadisMister Roberts
23 Bob Fosse 60 US Director, Screenwriter
CabaretAll That Jazz
23 Erland Van Lidth De Jeude 34 Netherlands Actor
The Running ManStir Crazy
25 Mary Astor 81 US Actress
The Maltese FalconMeet Me in St. Louis
25 Emlyn Williams 81 UK Actor, Screenwriter
The Man Who Knew Too MuchThe Citadel

October 2 Madeleine Carroll 81 UK Actress, The 39 Steps, Secret Agent (Hitchcock)

21 Bob Simmons 64 UK Stuntman, James Bond, A Touch of Class
22 Lino Ventura 68 Italy Actor
Illustrious CorpsesThe Dictator’s Guns
November 4 Danielle Gaubert 44 France Actress
Flight from AshiyaCamille 2000
5 Georges Franju 75 France Director, Screenwriter
JudexNuits Rouges
11 John ‘Dusty’ King 78 US Actor, Singer
The Range BustersLaw of the Jungle
23 Marcia Henderson 58 US Actress
All I DesireBack to God’s Country
26 Morton Lowry 73 UK Actor
How Green Was My ValleyThe Hound of the Baskervilles
29 Irene Handl 85 UK Actress
The Italian JobI’m All Right Jack

December 4

Rouben Mamoulian 90 Georgia Director, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Mark of Zorro
8 Fay Baker 70 US Actress, Notorious, She Devil
14 Clinton Sundberg 84 US Actor, Annie Get Your Gun, Easter Parade

Dec 21

Ralph Nelson 71 US Director, Charly, Lilies of the Field

Film Debuts:

Patricia Arquette – A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Dylan Baker – Ishtar
Alec Baldwin – Forever, Lulu
Christian Bale – Mio in the Land of Faraway
Jason Bateman – Teen Wolf Too
Paul Ben-Victor – Pass the Ammo
Gil Birmingham – House II: The Second Story
David Bowe – Back to the Beach
Doug Bradley – Hellraiser
Sandra Bullock – Hangmen
Vanessa Bell Calloway – Number One with a Bullet
Patricia Clarkson – The Untouchables
Robert Clohessy – The Believers
George Clooney – Return to Horror High
Chris Cooper – Matewan
John Corbett – Someone to Watch Over Me
Courteney Cox – Down Twisted
Bryan Cranston – Amazon Women on the Moon
Raymond Cruz – Maid to Order
Jim Cummings – The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
Stacey Dash – Enemy Territory
Rossy de Palma – Law of Desire
Stephen Dorff – The Gate
Illeana Douglas – Hello Again
Edie Falco – Sweet Lorraine
Bill Farmer – RoboCop
Thierry Frémont – Travelling avant
Kurt Fuller – The Running Man
James Gandolfini – Shock! Shock! Shock!
Aidan Gillen – The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Gong Li – Red Sorghum
Beth Grant – Under Cover
Richard E. Grant – Withnail and I
Zach Grenier – Radio Days
Peter Haber – Nionde kompaniet
Don Harvey – Creepshow 2
Peter Jackson (director) – Bad Taste
Thomas Jane – Padamati Sandhya Ragam
Cherry Jones – Light of Day
Doug Jones – The Newlydeads
Nathan Lane – Ironweed
Anthony LaPaglia – Cold Steel
Robert LaSardo – China Girl
Jason Scott Lee – Born in East L.A.
Steven Mackintosh – Prick Up Your Ears
Eddie Marsan – Empire State
Holt McCallany – Creepshow 2
Dylan McDermott – Hamburger Hill
Paul McGann – Withnail and I
William McNamara – Opera
Colm Meaney – The Dead
Lance E. Nichols – Project X
Robert Patrick – Equalizer 2000
Sean Pertwee – Prick Up Your Ears
Robert Peters – Pass the Ammo
Brad Pitt – No Man’s Land
Glenn Plummer – Who’s That Girl
Tara Reid – A Return to Salem’s Lot
Julian Richings – Love at Stake
Campbell Scott – Five Corners
Joan Severance – Lethal Weapon
Victor Slezak – Five Corners
David Spade – Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
Ben Stiller – Hot Pursuit
Don Swayze – Shy People
Noah Taylor – The Year My Voice Broke
Lee Tergesen – Mind Benders
David Thewlis – Little Dorrit
Uma Thurman – Kiss Daddy Goodnight
Nancy Travis – Three Men and a Baby
Courtney B. Vance – Hamburger Hill
Pruitt Taylor Vince – Angel Heart
Patrick Warburton – Dragonard
Frank Whaley – Ironweed