Farrah Fawcett was not featured in the ‘In Memoriam’ segment of the Academy Awards because she was more renowned as a television star, Oscars’ executive director said.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences executive director Bruce Davis said omitting Fawcett in the segment had been difficult for the segment committee, adding he was not surprised that some family members and fans are upset.
A statement released by Fawcett’s family said they were very saddened and “bereft with this exclusion of such an international icon who inspired so many for so many reasons”.
The academy committee discussed including the actress and another television actor Gene Barry in the segment but finally excluded both, Davis said.
They believed that while they both appeared in films, they were more popular for their television work and would be more appropriately credited at the Emmy Awards.
The committee “was kind of figuring that probably the Farrah Fawcett and Gene Barry omissions would be the ones we’d get the most comments on”, Davis said, acknowledging that he “did get one letter about Miss Fawcett”.
Many distinguished screenwriters passed away this year and they tried to credit several of them in the memorial segment, Davis said.
“In every category, you’re going to miss some wonderful people”, said Davis, who has played a part in assembling the Memoriam montage since it started in 1993.
When asked why the King of Pop was included whereas actors were omitted, the academy director explained that Michael Jackson had been featured in a famous theatrical movie recently.
“Think of all the blogging we would have gotten if we had left him out!” Davis said.
