Two major actresses — Naya Rivera and Jessica Walter — were not included in the 2021 Academy Awards’ “In Memoriam” video segment, according to Variety.
- Walter was a star of the television comedy “Arrested Development.” Rivera starred on the teen dramedy show, “Glee.”
Walter — who once had a Golden Globe nomination for her role in the film “Play Misty Me” — was added to the Academy’s In Memoriam website. Walter died in March 2021 at the age of 80, as I wrote for the Deseret News. According to Deadline, the “Arrested Development” star died in her sleep.
Rivera did not appear on that website, though. Rivera was found dead in a California lake back in July 2020 after she went missing for a couple of days, according to The Associated Press.
Why were they excluded?
It’s unclear. But it might be because the two actresses spent more time working in television than in movies, which has happened before at the award show.
Cameron Boyce, Luke Perry excluded
According to Variety, actor Luke Perry and Cameron Boyce were not included in the “In Memoriam” segment back in 2020, likely because the two actors worked more in television than in movies. Similarly, in 2019, Carol Channing and Stanley Donen were not included in the segment.
The 2021 list of celebrities who died was missing a few other names, too.
- “This past year, several actors, musicians and craftspeople died of COVID-19, such as Broadway actor Nick Cordero and composer and musician Adam Schlesinger, however they were not included,” per Variety.