81st Oscars: In Memoriam

[Greg]

I checked in imdb; and, the Paul Newman quote at the end of the montage is from Sweet Bird Of Youth.

[dws1982]

Overall his movie career was undistinguished, to put it kindly.

[Greg]

Harvey Korman was a movie star?

He was in Blazing Saddles.



Edited By Greg on 1235765808

[Big Magilla]

Harvey Korman was a movie star?

[MovieWes]

They also forgot Harvey Korman, and so has everyone at this board apparently. For shame.

[Big Magilla]

While Beverly Garland may be best known to people under 35 as everyone's mother in sitcoms, she made her first impression as Beverly Campbell in the classic noir, D.O.A., but became a star as Beverly Garland in Roger Corman's films, Swamp Woman, Not of This Earth and others. When she died headlines screamed "Star of B-movies has died!"

Whoever decides who is included in the segment ought to take into consideration their place in film history not just whether they would be recognizable to contemporary audiences as as film stars.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1235751864

[OscarGuy]

I can entirely understand the exclusion of Beverly Garland. While I'm sure a lot of people worked in film, like Kitt, the exclusions of those two individuals probably were due largely to their noteworthy accomplishments in other media. Kitt will be a guaranteed inclusion at the Tonys and the Emmys this year while Garland will certainly be included at the Emmys.

[ITALIANO]

I worked some on In Memoriam, and there were close to 100 people on the short list to be included, of which, for time purposes only a small percentage could be included. I would have loved to have seen Edie Adams, Beverly Garland, Hazel Court, Anita Page, Olga San Juan, Ann Savage, Dino Risi, Youssef Chahine and Alain Robbe-Grillet included, to name a few, but it wasn't practical to have every beloved and worthy person included. I suspect Eartha Kitt didn't make the cut-off because movies were just a tangential part of her career.

Thanks Damien. Dino Risi's (and Robbe-Grillet's) absence from this segment was noticed by most Italian newspapers.

[Sonic Youth]

I didn't know Kitt had a film career of note. Maybe if she had Walter Cowan as a publicist, she'd be in the In Memorium? (And where was Bernie Brillstein?)

I doubt Bernie Mac was an Academy member either.

[Big Magilla]

Warren Cowan may not have been more of a household name but he was more of a Hollywood insider. His first wife was Barbra Rush, his second was Melissa Glbert's stepmother. I'll bet his Academy dues were paid up. I doubt that Eartha Kitt was even an Academy member, but I do believe she should have been included in the segment along with Edie Adams, Beverly Garland, Hazel Court, Anita Page and Olga San Juan even so. Queen Latifah could have sung another chorus of "I'll Be Seeing You" or they could have cut the added footage of Paul Newman and treated them all as equals.

[Damien]

From the NY Post's Page Six:

The former publicist of late actress/singer Eartha Kitt is outraged that Kitt wasn't included in the Oscars' tribute to recently deceased stars. She died on Christmas of colon cancer at age 81. "The producers are either 12 or have been living under a rock for the past 60 years. It's clear that they thought that publicist Warren Cowan was more of a household name." Go figure.

[Damien]

I worked some on In Memoriam, and there were close to 100 people on the short list to be included, of which, for time purposes only a small percentage could be included. I would have loved to have seen Edie Adams, Beverly Garland, Hazel Court, Anita Page, Olga San Juan, Ann Savage, Dino Risi, Youssef Chahine and Alain Robbe-Grillet included, to name a few, but it wasn't practical to have every beloved and worthy person included. I suspect Eartha Kitt didn't make the cut-off because movies were just a tangential part of her career.

[Reza]

I wonder if Eartha Kitt wasn't a big enough star to warrant a spot on this segment...

She WAS big, it's the damn pictures that were too small to contain her immense talent.

[Franz Ferdinand]

I wonder if Eartha Kitt wasn't a big enough star to warrant a spot on this segment...

[Damien]

Does anyone know what movie has the Paul Newman quote used at the end of the montage, about the two kinds of people being those who've loved and expreienced joy and those who haven't? It looked like Cool Hand Luke; but, I'm not sure.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof?

I thought it was Mr. and Mrs. North, but maybe that's only because it's my favorite Newman performance (that and Blaze -- late in his career, he convinced me he really had become a great actor).