As always, The Academy Awards ceremony this year honored the industry's best artists who passed away over the past year with the In Memoriam segment, but there were some major snubs. The In Memoriam segment pays tribute to filmmakers and actors with a touching two-to-three-minute clip with a stripped-back piano composition played over the top. This year, Lenny Kravitz took to the stage to play a tear-jerking version of "Calling All Angels" as names and images of celebrated filmmakers swiped across the screen. Way more effort was put into it than the previous In Memoriam, which had skipped passed creatives before audiences were able to read their names.
However, while there were predictably so many shocking Oscar 2023 moments, one of the most shocking parts of the three-hour-plus event was all the glaring omissions in this year's In Memoriam. There's obviously a limited amount of time and only so many artists that can be honored, but it's hard to excuse these filmmakers and actors, who have left a huge mark on Hollywood, whether it's something as small as one memorable role or a whole filmography of hits. Though the Academy made more of an effort with the segment this year, these actors and directors were totally deserving of a spot.
12 Albert Pyun
Albert Pyun was a movie writer and director, and even though his schlocky action B-movies might be beneath the Academy and weren't ever going to be nominated for any Oscars, his movies have a huge fanbase and cult following. Pyun's movies are mostly Terminator rip-offs, but with six movies in the franchise, Pyun's films are more exciting than most of the Terminator movies. They are completely unpretentious audience pleasers, as his filmography includes Cyborg, Kickboxer 2, Nemesis, and tens of other popcorn flicks that cross martial arts with sci-fi high concepts. And while studios intentionally try to make B-movies in the style of Pyun's movies, they just aren't the same.
11 Charlbi Dean
While Charlbi Dean is far from the most famous and well-known actor that was absent from the In Memoriam segment during The 95th Academy Awards, her omission is easily the most shocking. The South African actor played a main character in a movie that was in contention for many of this year's major awards. Dean stars in Triangle of Sadness, a Palme d'Or-winning profound satire that was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. In a year when eat-the-rich satires were so popular, Triangle of Sadness was one of the most cutting-edge, and Dean's performance as Yaya was the most entertaining element.
10 Anne Heche
Heche might be more recognizable from the small screen, as she has been in so many television dramas and has an Emmy Award for her role in the soap opera Another World. However, Heche's filmography is huge, and she has stolen the screen from much more popular co-actors on multiple occasions, whether it's acting alongside Johnny Depp in her breakthrough movie Donnie Brasco or Denzel Washington in John Q. But Anne Heche's very best movie is 1997's Wag the Dog, in which she gives an incredible performance alongside Robert de Niro, and she was snubbed by the Academy then too, as she was deserving of a nomination at least.
9 Mike Hagerty
Like Heche, Mike Hagerty had a huge presence on television, and he's likely most recognizable as Mr. Treeger, the building janitor in the hit sitcom Friends. However, Hagerty is an absolute comedy heavyweight. The actor was a part of Jim Belushi's comedy troupe, The Second City, which led to countless bit-part roles in family comedy movies. Hagerty mostly played blue-collar workers like warehousemen, truck drivers, and doormen, and he carved out his own corner in Hollywood. Few other character actors made audiences smile as much as Hagerty, which is why he's deserving of a spot in the In Memoriam segment.
8 Tony Sirico
Sirico is best known for The Sopranos, the incredible HBO drama series, and Sirico was a perfect balance of being the comic relief and a powerful presence in the mafia as Paulie Walnuts. But the actor has a prolific filmography that he'll be remembered for too. Just like many actors in The Sopranos, Sirico had a role in Martin Scorsese's gangster classic, Goodfellas, which cemented him as the go-to Italian-American actor for high-up mobsters. His silver wings, thick accent, and stoic delivery were always fun to watch, and it's why his absence from the In Memoriam section is one of the biggest upsets.
7 Paul Sorvino
Just like Sirico, Paul Sorvino was a major part of Goodfellas, as he played the head of the family Paulie. But Sorvino was in more than just Goodfellas, as he reliably played authoritative figures on either side of the law. Whether it's playing a gangster or a sheriff, Sorvino capitalized on being typecast, and he'd chewed the scenery in every one of his roles. Not only was Sorvino deserving of a place on the In Memoriam segment for these roles, but he had a hugely impressive 52-year run in the industry, and he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role as Henry Kissinger in Nixon.
6 Fred Ward
Ward's omission from the In Memoriam segment is especially surprising because of how many major award contenders he's featured in. Ward starred in The Right Stuff, which was nominated for seven Oscars and won four of them, and The Player, which was nominated for three Academy Awards. And though it wasn't nominated for any Oscars, he had a major role in Escape from Alcatraz, which has become one of the greatest prison break movies of all time. Not only was Ward an actor, but he was a successful producer too, leading to questionable absence in this year's In Memoriam.
5 L.Q. Jones
L.Q. Jones might not be that well known to younger audiences, but the actor has an extensive filmography that includes over a hundred credits. Having the gruff, Sam Elliot-type look, the actor regularly played cowboys and acted in western movies, appearing in everything from The Wild Bunch to The Mask of Zorro. But the surprising high point of the actor's career is the Jones-directed A Boy and His Dog, a sci-fi film from a western actor that is actually a funny and engaging movie about a telepathic dog and his owner. It has become something of a cult classic, even if the Academy doesn't think so.
4 Mike Hodges
Mike Hodges was a British director whose filmography was all over the place, and while he didn't have a great batting average, he directed two outright classics in two different decades. The filmmaker director Michael Caine in the original 1971 movie Get Carter, a quintessentially British mob movie that's one of Caine's best. Hodges also directed 1980s Flash Gordon, and while that might not have been immediately successful, it has since become a cult classic and is firmly cemented in pop culture. Though he wasn't mentioned in 2023's In Memoriam, he beat Sergio Leone and Frederico Fellini to the Flash Gordon director's chair, which is a huge feat in itself.
3 Marsha Hunt
Marsha Hunt had an incredible life, and her last achievement was becoming a centenarian, as she died at the age of 104. She also fought Hollywood blacklisting, she supported same-sex marriage when few people did, and she was heavily involved in so much other philanthropic work. Three of her movies, Pride and Prejudice, Blossoms in the Dust, and The Human Comedy, all won Academy Awards. Hunt is frequently referred to as a legend, and if anything, Hunt is more deserving of her very own segment, not just a few seconds in the In Memoriam segment.
2 Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried has so many iconic performances that it's hard to understand how the Academy overlooked the beloved comedy actor, especially as he was still so active all the way up to his death. However, Gottfried may be best known for his voice acting than his live-action performances. Gottfried has such an enthusiastic and playful voice that it lends itself well to animation, as his most notable movie role is Iago in Aladdin. Given his extensive list of credits, Gottfried deserves to not only be in the Academy Awards In Memoriam, but the Emmy Awards In Memoriam and even a video games In Memoriam.
1 Philip Baker Hall
Philip Baker Hall's absence from The Academy Awards In Memoriam caused a huge upset given that he's been in so many beloved movies, particularly ones directed by celebrated filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. The actor and director had an almost Scorsese/De Niro-like relationship, as Anderson directed most of Philip Baker Hall's best movies. Hall starred in Boogie Nights and Magnolia, but he was the lead in Anderson's criminally overlooked directorial debut, Hard Eight, a crime drama about a retired hitman. Hall's ability to be so stern and deadpan is what afforded him so many roles, but when he's not typecast in small bossy parts, he's the absolute emotional center of the movie.