There’s always debate over which films and performers went unappreciated on Oscars night, but snubbing performers from the Academy Awards’ annual In Memoriam segment — which simply requires dying between annual ceremonies — never goes over well with fans.
Arguably leading the list of omissions Sunday night was Charlbi Dean, who starred in the 2023 best picture nominee “Triangle of Sadness.” The 32-year-old performer from South Africa died in August after contracting a rare infection called capnocytophaga.
Also snubbed from the In Memoriam rundown was Anne Heche, who died the same month after a car crash. The 53-year-old “Donnie Brasco” actor famously dated comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who hosted the Oscars in 2007 and 2014.
The nominees for best actor left out of Sunday night’s tribute include “Saving Private Ryan” standout Tom Sizemore, “Goodfellas” actor Paul Sorvino and “Fiddler on the Roof” star Chaim Topol, who died last week at 87.
Sizemore, 61, suffered a fatal brain aneurysm last month. Sorvino’s daughter, actor Mira Sorvino, tweeted “the great Paul Sorvino has passed.”
She tweeted Sunday, “I for one am remembering Dad on this Oscars night…”
The Brooklyn native was 83 years old.
Stars including Racquel Welch, Ray Liotta, Angela Lansbury and Kirstie Alley were remembered Sunday, as were composer Burt Bacharach, singer Irene Cara and director Jean-Luc Goddard. The night’s most memorable tribute was John Travolta’s tearful farewell to his “Grease” co-star Olivia Newton-John, to whom the actor said — quoting a song from their 1978 musical — he’d be “hopelessly devoted to.”
Newton-John succumbed to breast cancer in August at the age of 73.
The Academy posted video of the In Memoriam segment on Twitter, where it was met with heavy criticism.
“Where was Leslie Jordan?” asked one viewer, referring to the 67-year-old “The Help” actor who died in an October car crash.
Another Twitter user noted Mexican star Ignacio López Tarso, 98, was persona non grata.
“Missed so many people,” groused one viewer.
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