Editing 1961 in film (section)

==Events==
* May 13 – Legendary actor [[Gary Cooper]] dies at the age of 60 in Los Angeles from colon and prostate cancer. Best known for his appearances in classic films such as ''[[Wings (1927 film)|Wings]]'', ''[[Mr. Deeds Goes to Town]]'', ''[[Sergeant York (film)|Sergeant York]]'', ''[[The Pride of the Yankees]]'' and ''[[High Noon (1952 film)|High Noon]]'', Cooper was one of the biggest stars of [[Classical Hollywood cinema|Hollywood's Golden Age]] and won two [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Academy Awards for Best Actor]].
* June 28 – [[Cubby Broccoli]] and [[Harry Saltzman]] sign a multi-picture deal with [[United Artists]] to produce a series of films based on the novels of [[Ian Fleming]] starting with either ''[[Dr. No (novel)|Dr. No]]'' or ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (novel)|Diamonds Are Forever]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=June 29, 1961|title=Cubby Broccoli, Saltzman Close Deal With UA|page=1}}</ref> The series goes on to become the highest-grossing film series of all time.
* July 17 – [[Trans World Airlines]] screens ''[[Come September]]'' to the press aboard one of its jets to introduce [[in-flight movie]]s.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=July 17, 1961|title=Screening 'September' Tonite On TWA Jet|page=3}}</ref>
* October 18 – The film version of the musical ''[[West Side Story (1961 film)|West Side Story]]'' is released. Directed by [[Robert Wise]] and [[Jerome Robbins]] and starring [[Natalie Wood]], [[Richard Beymer]], [[Russ Tamblyn]], [[Rita Moreno]] and [[George Chakiris]], it becomes the year's highest-grossing film and goes on to win ten [[Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] (for Wise and Robbins), [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] (for Chakiris) and [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] (for Moreno).