As usual, one of the major complaints about the Oscars was the In Memoriam omissions. Donen, the filmmaker behind Singin' in the Rain and On the Town, died on Saturday -- likely too late to be included in Sunday's ceremony. (Bill Paxton died the day before the 2017 Oscars, and was only honored when Jennifer Aniston introduced that year's In Memoriam segment.) Donen was honored during a commercial break with the replaying of his 1998 honorary Oscars speech. Another major snub was Carol Channing, who died last month and who was an Oscar nominee. "I am inconsolably heartsick that the Motion Picture Academy would ignore one of its own members and an Academy award nominee," said Channing's publicist, B. Harlan Boll, in a statement posted the Facebook. Other snubs included Sondra Locke, Ricky Jay, Verne Troyer and Dick Miller. There was also a last-minute attempt to get ER and Stand and Deliver star Vanessa Marquez included. As Deadline points out, the Oscar cameras spent an unusual amount of time during the In Memoriam focusing on the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing the accompanying music, with more than 20 seconds elapsing after the last honoree, Albert Finney.
TOPICS: 91st Academy Awards, ABC, Carol Channing, Stanley Donen , Vanessa Marquez, Award Shows