The 93rd Academy Awards took place Sunday night and though the ceremony was largely different than that of years past, the Oscars stuck with tradition by airing its In Memoriam video honoring those we’ve lost over the past year. Nearly 100 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have passed since the last Oscars ceremony aired 14 months ago, including Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, Wilford Brimley, Cloris Leachman, and Christopher Plummer.
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As you might expect, all of the aforementioned actors — and dozens more — were featured in the heartfelt video this year. You can see the full video above.
View the entire #Oscars In Memoriam gallery here: https://t.co/9xSUULwz3k
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) April 26, 2021
While some things changed for the ceremony, Oscar producers were adamant the In Memoriam segment would remain a major part of this year’s event. “It’s a segment of the show that, although started later than people probably think in terms of the lengthy history of the awards, is one that I imagine the audiences will expect to see for all eternity,” Academy president David Rubin told the Wall Street Journal. “It has evolved into not just a parade of famous faces but a way of honoring much lesser-known film professionals who are equally important.”
“In many cases you’re seeing a piece of your life go by,” film critic Leonard Maltin told the paper. “You see a shot of Sean Connery, and you breathe a heavy sigh and remember maybe the first time you saw him as James Bond.”
The segment first became an annual event beginning with the 66th Academy Awards in 1994, largely developed by producer Michael J. Shapiro. “There were some people who said they cried when they looked at some of the images,” he told the Journal. “I love that I was able to touch somebody with images of people that we grew up with in darkened theaters.”
Shapiro added, “I said, ‘It should be an affectionate goodbye to all of these people, and we should see them when they were at their very best.’”
If the video clip goes by too fast for you, you can see the entire gallery of those lost in the past 14 months on the official site for The Academy here.
