Los Angeles:
The 88th Academy Awards paid tribute to deaprted souls including Indian-British actor Saeed Jaffrey, Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, music legend David Bowie and “Harry Potter” star Alan Rickman in their ‘In Memoriam’ segment.
A montage played out as Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl took to the stage to perform a soulful tribute as he sang ‘Blackbird singin’ in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly’, The Beatles’ hit “Blackbird.”
Jaffrey, one of the first Indian actors to successfully establish a career in both Hindi cinema and British movies, died at the age of 86 late last year.
Both Rickman and Bowie, British cinema and music’s greatest icons, succumbed to cancer at the age of 69 recently.
The section also featured departed stars like Maureen O’Hara, Christopher Lee, Wes Craven, Patricia Norris, Alex Rocco, Dean Jones, Bob Minkler, Gene Allen, Maureen O’Hara and James Horner.
“The Godfather” star Abe Vigoda, Roddy Piper of “They Live” fame and singer-actor Glenn Frey were excluded from the ‘In Memoriam’, for which the Academy is being criticised.
“In all seriousness, shame on the Academy for snubbing actor Roddy Piper during the In Memoriam segment,” wrote one fan on Twitter.
“Glenn Frey was amazing in Jerry Maguire. Why was he left off the #Oscars in-memoriam?” questioned another user.
“I’m disappointed in the Oscars. The year when Abe Vigoda actually dies and they don’t put him in the In Memoriam video. #Oscars,” read one post.
