As every year, the 95th Academy Awards honored greats from the film world who passed away in the past year in a special “In Memoriam” segment. In the commemorative video played for a performance by Lenny Kravitz (58), prominent names such as “Grease” star Olivia Newton-John, Ray Liotta, Jean-Luc Godard or the German master director Wolfgang Petersen were also there. In addition, however, some extremely prominent deceased were missing in the traditional Oscar commemorative video.
This was particularly striking in the case of actress Anne Heche (1969-2022), who died in August 2022 after a car accident, and whose extremely tragic accidental death moved people all over the world. While the talented actress is featured on the official Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences memorial page, she was not part of the “In Memoriam” memorial video announced by John Travolta, 69.
In addition to Heche’s absence, a number of observers criticized the fact that the South African actress Charlbi Dean (1990-2022) was apparently forgotten by the Academy. Dean also died last August at the age of just 32 – and is the leading actress in the Cannes-winning “Triangle of Sadness film”, which was nominated for “Best Picture” at this year’s Oscars. Another glaring omission by the Oscar Academy.
The lack of other names in the “In Memoriam” segment was also criticized by many. For example, actor Paul Sorvino (1939-2022), who shone in Martin Scorsese’s (80) “GoodFellas” from 1990, was missing, or the “Saving Private Ryan” star Tom Sizemore (1961- 2023).
