Luke Perry, Cameron Boyce omitted from Oscars In Memoriam
The 2020 Oscars In Memoriam honored many of Hollywood’s fallen from the last year, including recent losses Kirk Douglas and Kobe Bryant. But the Academy left out two prominent stars who passed away in 2019 — Luke Perry and Cameron Boyce.
Each year there are always snubs, valued members of the entertainment industry who don’t make it into the limited amount of time allotted fo the segment. But these omissions feel especially perplexing, especially Perry — his final onscreen appearance was one of the Best Picture nominees, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Perry died March 4, shortly after last year’s Feb. 24 ceremony, after suffering a stroke, so many assumed he was an automatic in for this year’s In Memoriam segment.
Boyce was a younger star, one whose life was cut short due to complications from epilepsy before his final appearance in Disney Channel’s Descendants 3 last summer.
The In Memoriam was a beautiful segment otherwise, underscored by a powerful performance of Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday” from record-breaking Grammy winner Billie Eilish and her brother/producer Finneas.
The montage was book-ended by two deaths still very fresh to fans. Kobe Bryant, who died alongside his daughter and seven other people in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, was the first person honored, showcased with a photo of him from his 2018 Oscar win. It featured Bryant’s image alongside one of his most famous quotes, which read, “Life is too short to get bogged down and discouraged. You have to keep moving.”
The tribute — which included John Singleton, Doris Day, Peter Mayhew, and many more — ended with Kirk Douglas, the Hollywood legend who died only this last week at the age of 103.