1947 in film

• February 23 – Ealing Studios release the film Hue and Cry, regarded as the first of the UK's famous Ealing Comedies.^[1]
• April 19 – Monogram Pictures release their first film under their Allied Artists banner, It Happened on Fifth Avenue.
• May 22 – Great Expectations is premiered in New York.
• August 31 – The first Edinburgh International Film Festival opens at the Playhouse Cinema, presented by the Edinburgh Film Guild as part of the Edinburgh Festival of the Arts. Originally specialising in documentaries, it will become the world's oldest continually running film festival.^[2]
• November 24 – The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress votes 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".
• November 25 – The Waldorf Statement is released by the executives of the United States motion picture industry, marking the beginning of the Hollywood blacklist.

The top ten 1947 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

United States unless stated

• The Black Widow, starring Bruce Edwards
• Brick Bradford, starring Kane Richmond
• Jack Armstrong
• Jesse James Rides Again, starring Clayton Moore and Linda Stirling
• The Sea Hound, starring Buster Crabbe
• Son of Zorro, starring George Turner and Peggy Stewart
• The Vigilante, starring Ralph Byrd

• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Donald Duck (1934–1956)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
• The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1964)
• Chip and Dale (1943–1956)
• Red Hot Riding Hood (1943–1949)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• George and Junior (1946–1948)
• Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Goofy (1939–1953)
• Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)

• January 4 – Tim Rooney, American actor (d. 2006)
• January 8 – David Bowie, English singer, songwriter and actor (d. 2016)^[9]
• January 10 – Mario Ernesto Sánchez, Cuban-American actor (d. 2025)
• January 11
  • William Caskey Swaim, American actor
  • Vinny Vella, American actor, talk show host and comedian (d. 2019)
• January 15 – Andrea Martin, Canadian-American actress
• January 17
  • Joanna David, English actress
  • Jane Elliot, American actress
  • Peter Werner, American director (d. 2023)
• January 18 – Takeshi Kitano, Japanese writer-director, actor, comedian, author and video game creator
• January 23 – Joel Douglas, American producer
• January 26 – Richard Portnow, American actor
• January 27 – Peter Burroughs, British actor
• January 29 – Ernie Lively, American actor and acting coach (d. 2021)
• January 31
  • Jonathan Banks, American actor
  • Glynn Turman, American actor, writer, director and producer
• February 2 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (d. 2009)
• February 3
  • Paul Auster, American novelist, screenwriter and director (d. 2024)
  • Stephen McHattie, Canadian actor
  • Tonea Stewart, American actress
• February 5 – David Ladd, American producer, actor
• February 7 – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor (d. 2009)
• February 11 – Brian Capron, English actor
• February 24 – Edward James Olmos, American actor
• February 28 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress
• March 1 – Alan Thicke, Canadian-American actor (d. 2016)
• March 4 – Gunnar Hansen, Icelandic actor (d. 2015)
• March 6
  • Martin Kove, American actor and martial artist
  • Rob Reiner, American actor, comedian, producer and director (d. 2025)^[10]
• March 9 – Frank Grimes, Irish actor (d. 2025)
• March 10 – Colin Stinton, Canadian actor
• March 12 – Rupert Frazer, British actor
• March 18
  • Patrick Barlow, English actor, comedian and playwright
  • Aleksander Krupa, Polish actor
  • Nicholas Le Prevost, English actor
• March 19
  • Glenn Close, American actress
  • Dermot Crowley, Irish stage, film and television actor
• March 20 – Anthony Peck, American actor (d. 1996)
• March 22 – Tony Pope, American voice actor (d. 2004)
• March 23
  • Terry Alexander, American actor
  • Kim Hee-ra, South Korean movie actor
• March 25 – Elton John, English singer and songwriter
• March 26 – John Morton, American movie actor, stuntman and writer
• March 27 – Chick Vennera, American actor (d. 2021)
• April 2
  • Sam Anderson, American actor
  • Ezra Dagan, Israeli actor
• April 6 – John Ratzenberger, American actor
• April 11
  • Peter Riegert, American actor, director and screenwriter
  • Meshach Taylor, American actor (d. 2014)
• April 12 – Dan Lauria, American actor
• April 15 – Lois Chiles, American actress
• April 17 – Charles Frank, American actor
• April 18
  • Cindy Pickett, American actress
  • James Woods, American actor
• April 19 – Gillian Jones, Australian actress
• April 25
  • Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
• April 26 – Ron McLarty, American actor and playwright (d. 2020)
• April 30 – Elizabeth Hawthorne, New Zealand actress
• May 2 - Nirut Sirijanya, Thai actor
• May 4 – Richard Jenkins, American actor
• May 6 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
• May 8
  • Jamie Donnelly, American actress
  • Katia Tchenko, French actress
• May 9 – Anthony Higgins, English actor
• May 13 – Charles Gordon, American producer (d. 2020)
• May 14 – Hans Strydom, South African actor and writer
• May 16 – Bill Smitrovich, American actor
• May 18 – Hugh Keays-Byrne, British-Australian actor and director (d. 2020)
• May 25 – Jacki Weaver, Australian actress
• May 31 – Steven Kampmann, American actor, writer and director
• June 1 – Jonathan Pryce, Welsh actor
• June 6 – Robert Englund, American actor
• June 10 – Fred Asparagus, American comedian and actor (d. 1998)
• June 11 - Ken Bones, English actor
• June 18 – Hanns Zischler, German actor
• June 19 – Youn Yuh-jung, South-Korean actress
• June 20 – Candy Clark, American actress
• June 21
  • Michael Gross, American actor
  • Lex van Delden, Dutch actor and singer (d. 2010)
• June 22 – David Lander, American character actor, comedian, musician and baseball scout (d. 2020)
• June 23
  • Bryan Brown, Australian actor
  • Kerry Rossall, American stunt coordinator, stuntman, actor and producer
• June 24 – Peter Weller, American actor
• June 25 – Jimmie Walker, American actor and comedian
• June 29 - Richard Lewis, American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer (d. 2024)
• June 30 – Tõnis Rätsep, Estonian actor
• July 2
  • Larry David, American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer
  • Stephen Stucker, American actor (d. 1986)
• July 6 – Richard Beckinsale, English actor (d. 1979)^[11]
• July 9 – O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor (d. 2024)^[12]
• July 19 - Rikiya Yasuoka, Japanese actor (d. 2012)
• July 22
  • Albert Brooks, American actor, comedian and director
  • J. Kenneth Campbell, American actor
• July 23 - Mohan Agashe, Indian actor
• July 24 – Robert Hays, American actor
• July 29 – Dennis Cleveland Stewart, American actor and dancer (d. 1994)
• July 30
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-born American actor, bodybuilder and 38th Governor of California
  • William Atherton, American actor
• July 31 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)
• August 3 – John Wesley, American actor (d. 2019)
• August 5 – Angry Anderson, Australian singer-songwriter, television personality and actor
• August 6 - Oliver Tobias, English actor
• August 8 - George Costigan, English actor
• August 15 – Jenny Hanley, English actress
• August 17 - Jennifer Rhodes, American actress
• August 19 – Gerald McRaney, American actor
• August 20 – Ray Wise, American actor
• August 22 – Cindy Williams, American actress (d. 2023)
• August 24 – Anne Archer, American actress
• August 27 – Barbara Bach, American actress
• August 28 - Alice Playten, American actress (d. 2011)
• August 31 – Mona Marshall, American voice actress
• September 4 - David St. James, American character actor and comedian
• September 6
  • Jane Curtin, American actress and comedian
  • Keone Young, American actor and voice actor
• September 7 – David McGillivray, British screenwriter
• September 12 – Bjørn Floberg, Norwegian actor
• September 14 – Sam Neill, New Zealand actor
• September 15 – Sandra Prinsloo, South African actress
• September 21 – Stephen King, American author
• September 23
  • Caroline Lagerfelt, French-born American actress
  • Mary Kay Place, American actress
• September 24 – R. H. Thomson, Canadian actor
• September 27
  • Denis Lawson, Scottish actor and director
  • Meat Loaf, American singer and actor (d. 2022)
• September 29 – Martin Ferrero, American actor
• October 1
  • Stephen Collins, American actor
  • Richard E. Council, American actor
• October 7 - Jill Larson, American actress
• October 13 – Susan Blommaert, American actress
• October 16 – David Zucker, American director, producer and screenwriter
• October 17
  • Simi Garewal, Indian actress and talk show host
  • Rajendra Gupta, Indian actor and director
  • Michael McKean, American actor and comedian
• October 18 – Joe Morton, American actor
• October 23
  • Miles Anderson, British actor
  • Frank DiLeo, American actor (d. 2011)
• October 24 – Kevin Kline, American actor
• October 26 – Ene Järvis, Estonian actress (d. 2025)
• October 27 - Angus MacInnes, Canadian actor (d. 2024)
• October 29 – Richard Dreyfuss, American actor
• November 7 - Holmes Osborne, American character actor
• November 9 - Robert David Hall, American actor
• November 11 - Roberto Nobile, Italian actor (d. 2022)
• November 13 – Joe Mantegna, American actor
• November 17 - Steven E. de Souza, American screenwriter, producer and director
• November 21 – Tiny Ron Taylor, American actor (d. 2019)
• November 24
  • Sasson Gabai, Israeli actor
  • Dwight Schultz, American actor and voice actor
• November 25
  • Jonathan Kaplan, American producer and director (d. 2025)
  • John Larroquette, American actor
  • Tracey Walter, American character actor
• November 30
  • Stuart Baird, English editor, producer and director
  • Jude Ciccolella, American actor and singer
  • David Mamet, American filmmaker and screenwriter
• December 4 – Tõnu Kark, Estonian actor
• December 5 – JoBe Cerny, American actor
• December 8 – Bruce Kimmel, American actor, director, writer
• December 10 – Kathy Lamkin, American actress (d. 2022)
• December 12 – Wings Hauser, American actor, screenwriter, director and musician (d. 2025)^{[citation needed]}
• December 13 - Darlene Cates, American actress (d. 2017)
• December 16 – Ben Cross, English actor (d. 2020)
• December 17 – Wes Studi, Cherokee American actor and film producer
• December 25
  • Twink Caplan, American actress, comedian and producer
  • Michael D. Roberts, American actor
• December 26
  • Trina Parks, American actress
  • Peter Sattmann, German actor (d. 2025)
• December 28 – Peter MacGregor-Scott, British producer (d. 2017)
• December 29 – Ted Danson, American actor
• December 31 – Tim Matheson, American actor, director and producer

• January 26 – Grace Moore, 48, American opera singer and actress, One Night of Love, The King Steps Out, When You're in Love
• February 12 – Sidney Toler, 72, American actor, Charlie Chan in the Secret Service, The Chinese Cat^[13]
• March 8 – Victor Potel, 57, American actor and comedian, Sullivan's Travels, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The Palm Beach Story, The Egg and I
• May 18 – Lucile Gleason, 59, American actress, I Like It That Way, A Successful Failure, Should Husbands Work?, The Clock
• May 31 – Adrienne Ames, 39, American actress, The Death Kiss, You're Telling Me!, Slander House, Gigolette
• June 1 – Anna Hofman-Uddgren, 79, Swedish director and actress
• June 5 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, 63, Swedish actor and director
• July 15 – Henry Kolker, 72, American actor and director, Baby Face, Holiday, The Great Swindle, The Parson of Panamint
• July 28 – Robert Homans, 69, American actor, Suicide Squad, The Grapes of Wrath, Night Monster, The Scarlet Clue
• August 30 – Gunnar Sommerfeldt, 56, Danish actor and director
• September 21 – Harry Carey, 69, American actor, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Angel and the Badman, Red River, Beyond Tomorrow
• October 1 – Olive Borden, 40, American actress, 3 Bad Men, Half Marriage, Leave It to Me
• October 13 – LeRoy Mason, 44, American actor, The Painted Stallion, Silver Stallion
• October 17 – John Halliday, 67, American actor, The Philadelphia Story, Intermezzo
• October 18 – Harry C. Bradley, 78, American actor, Beyond the Law, Sing While You're Able
• October 24 – Dudley Digges, 68, Irish actor, The Maltese Falcon, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Fight for Life^[14]
• November 10 – Jack Rockwell, 57, American actor
• November 26 – Ernie Adams, 62, American actor The Pride of the Yankees, Invisible Ghost
• December 21 – Mark Hellinger, 47, American producer, High Sierra, They Drive By Night, The Two Mrs. Carrolls
• December 26 – Urban Gad, 68, Danish director and screenwriter, The Abyss, Little Angel, The Island of the Lost