This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Oscar segment that celebrates movie industry names who have left us since the last telecast.
The montage is so popular that, since 1994, it has been adopted by every other awards show in the business.
Among the 30 faces featured that year were John Candy, Audrey Hepburn, Federico Fellini, Lillian Gish and River Phoenix. While predominately loaded with actors and directors, the montage also deliberately cited lesser-known artists, such as production designer Ted Haworth (“Some Like it Hot”), in order to provide industry balance.
My Oscar Book:
The montage has since evolved into a high point of the Oscars telecast, often introduced by a regal member of the Hollywood community – Close, George Clooney, Annette Bening and John Travolta have each done so twice – and accompanied by a famous musician performing live. Last year, that was Lenny Kravitz.
Inevitably, the In Memoriam montage is criticized for the deceased people snubbed from the list. That response that occurred from the first time in 1994 and every year since.
Last year’s outcasts, for example, included Paul Sorvino, Anne Heche, Tom Sizemore and two-time nominee Melinda Dillon.
The next-day wave of indignation has been amplified by the Internet. But even back in 1994, There were lengthy and difficult phone conversations with upset family members and friends whose loved ones had been left out.
Among the film industry professionals who died in the last year, the ones never nominated for an Oscar include Harry Belafonte, Chita Rivera, Michael Gambon, Andre Braugher, Paul Reubens, Carl Weathers, Frances Sternhagen, Richard Roundtree, Treat Williams and Tina Turner. Those are examples from the actors’ branch and we are likely missing a lot of names, as would be expected.
