The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.

Events

Walt Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died on December 15,1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer. He had been a smoker since the 1940s.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Rank	Title	Studio	Gross
1.	Hawaii	Warner Brothers	$15,553,000
2.	The Bible: In the Beginning	20th Century Fox	$15,000,000
3.	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	United Artists	$14,500,000
4.	The Sand Pebbles	20th Century Fox	$13,500,000
5.	A Man For All Seasons	Columbia	$12,750,000
6.	Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.	Disney	$10,164,000
7.	The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming!	United Artists	$9,771,000
8.	Grand Prix	MGM	$9,389,000
9.	The Professionals	Columbia	$8,800,000
10.	Alfie	Paramount	$8,500,000

source: http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1966.shtml

Awards

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

Musical or comedy:

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 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

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

Films released in 1966

• Agent for H.A.R.M.
• Alfie
• Andrei Rublev
• The Appaloosa
• Around the World Under the Sea
• Batman
• The Battle of Algiers, Golden Lion winner
• Beregis Avtomobilya (Beware of the Automobile)
• The Bible: In The Beginning
• A Big Hand for the Little Lady
• Blood Bath
• Blowup
• The Blue Max
• Born Free
• Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!
• Chappaqua
• Closely Watched Trains (Ostře sledované vlaky), Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1967)
• Cul-de-Sac, Golden Bear winner
• Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD
• Django
• Fahrenheit 451
• The Family Way
• Follow Me, Boys!
• The Fortune Cookie
• Frankie and Johnny
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
• Gamera vs. Barugon
• Georgy Girl
• The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
• Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery
• The Group
• Hawaii
• How To Steal a Million
• Is Paris Burning? (Paris brûle-t-il?)
• It Happened Here
• Judith
• Johnny Reno
• Khartoum
• Kriminal
• Lt. Robinson Crusoe, USN
• Madame X
• A Man and a Woman Palme d'Or winner
• A Man for All Seasons
• "Manos" The Hands of Fate
• Mission to Death
• Morgan!
• The Naked Prey
• Our Man Flint
• Paradise, Hawaiian Style
• Persona
• The Professionals
• The Rare Breed
• Return of the Seven
• Ride in the Whirlwind
• Run, Appaloosa, Run
• The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
• The Sand Pebbles
• The Sandwich Man
• Seconds
• The Shooting
• The Shop on Main Street (U.S. release)
• The Singing Nun
• Spinout
• Three On A Couch, starring Jerry Lewis
• Torn Curtain
• Triple Cross
• Trunk to Cairo
• Way...Way Out, starring Jerry Lewis
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• The Wild Angels
• Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (short subject)
• The Wrong Box

Short Film Series

• Looney Tunes (1930-1969)
• Merrie Melodies (1931-1969)
• Sylvester the Cat (1944-1966)
• Speedy Gonzales (1953-1968)

Births

• January 13 - Patrick Dempsey, actor
• February 11 - Stephen Gregory, actor
• February 7 - Chris Rock, actor and comedian
• May 20 - Helena Bonham Carter, actress
• July 11 - Debbe Dunning, actress
• July 15 - Irène Jacob, actress
• July 29 - Martina McBride, popular country singer
• August 14 - Halle Berry, actress
• September 2 - Salma Hayek, actress
• September 9 - Adam Sandler, American actor
• November 17 - Sophie Marceau, actress
• December 21 - Kiefer Sutherland, actor

Deaths

• January 14 - Barry Fitzgerald, 72, Irish actor
• January 22 - Herbert Marshall, 75, British actor
• January 31 - Elizabeth Patterson, 90, American actress
• February 1 - Buster Keaton, 70, American actor and film director
• February 1 - Hedda Hopper, 80, American gossip columnist and former actress
• February 9 - Sophie Tucker, 82, Russian-born American singer and actress
• June 5 - Natacha Rambova, 69, American actress
• June 19 - Ed Wynn, 79, American actor
• July 23 - Montgomery Clift, 45, American actor
• July 23 - Douglass Montgomery, 59, American actor
• August 15 - Jan Kiepura, 64, Polish tenor and actor
• August 15 - Seena Owen, 71, American actress
• August 23 - Francis X. Bushman, 83, American actor
• October 13, Clifton Webb, 76, American actor
• October 16 - George O'Hara, 67, American actor
• October 24 - Hans Dreier, 81, German art director of European and American films
• December 14 - Richard Whorf, 60, American actor and director
• December 15 - Walt Disney, 65, American producer and cartoonist