Last night, as per every year at the Oscars, they take a brief break from all the self-congratulatory back-patting to acknowledge the deaths in the movie industry over the preceding year. As several of our readers (and Scott Weinberg, who was going ballastic on IM about it) noted, Brad Renfro, who died of a drug overdose on January 15 of this year, was mysteriously excluded. The troubled actor, best known for his work in The Client, Apt Pupil, and Bully, had been known to have a drug problem for years, and had a drunk driving and heroin-possession arrest in May 2006, but was supposedly "working hard on his sobriety" at the time of his death.The In Memorium was supposed to be for everyone who died between February 1, 2007 and January 31, 2008. Heath Ledger, who died a week after Renfro, was included in the montage. No word from the Academy that I've seen yet on why Renfro wasn't included -- an honest oversight? A deliberate sweeping-under-the-red-carpet because heroin was involved? What do you think about Renfro being shut out of Oscar's "In Memorium"?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
2-25-2008 @ 11:43AM
dave said...
I believe it was a combination of heroin and not well known outside of film circles.
Heath was well known.
Brad wasn't.
Both had addiction problems.
End of story.
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2-25-2008 @ 11:47AM
Travis Tidmore said...
I was wondering the same thing. As to Dave, I don't think Brad Renfro wasn't well known. He'd been acting for well over a decade and had been in movies with quite a few famous faces.
His exclusion had best be a simple oversite, otherwise it's a shame, and offense to his family and friends that he was left out.
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2-25-2008 @ 11:53AM
YouFaceTheTick said...
Yeah if you're gonna put Heath Ledger in there, then I don't see why Renfro would be excluded. Hell locking at box office, one can see that Renfro had a few hits, as did Ledger. It's not like Ledger was a household name or even had a career path we could assume would lead to him being a star ever.
And their deaths are pretty much the same... drug overdose (either on purpose or out of stupidity).
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2-25-2008 @ 11:56AM
Martini Agonistes said...
The tribute isn't supposed to be comprehensive. Just compare the finished product to everyone listed in Cinematical's ongoing "Reel Important People" series to see just how many Hollywood notables get left off the list.
Having said that, the omission of Renfro doesn't make a lot of sense except as a whitewash. There were any number of Art Directors and executives who made the cut who are far less known outside film circles (and even in them) than was Renfro.
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2-25-2008 @ 12:00PM
Charles said...
Is it possible that the "In Memormium" is only for Academy members, and Renfro WASN'T a member of the Academy?
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2-26-2008 @ 2:03AM
Bonnie said...
Charles is right, at first I didn't agree, but I looked into it. The memorium is limited to Academy members, however I do have my doubts that Heath was actually a member.
Heath's nomination for Best Actor in Brokeback made him eligible for consideration to bypass their usual method of membership addition. While there's no way to know for sure if he ever did pursue membership, I personally don't believe he did. However since he had been nominated and was very high profile this was probably enough for him to make the list.
Brad on the other hand, 99.9% sure he was not a member. That being said, I still think he should have been included in the memorium.
Those outside the circle certainly weren't aware of this detail about the memorium, and since the Oscars are so much more than just some little association award ceremony I think they need to open it up to include people the public are aware of and would like to see recognized.
Heath's passing overshadowed Brad's already, and I think it's sad that he wasn't given the respect of being included in the memorium simply because he wasn't a member of AMPAS. Problems in his personal life aside, he truly was a brilliant actor and I for one am really going to miss him.
2-25-2008 @ 12:00PM
DAVID F said...
That's really lame
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2-25-2008 @ 12:04PM
dukrous said...
No surprise there...these are the same people who forgot about John Candy when he died.
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2-26-2008 @ 10:22PM
lois said...
I really miss John Candy. He was such a great actor/comedian.
2-25-2008 @ 12:04PM
kevjohn said...
Check your own RIP pages. It's a non-issue. Obviously they can't can't list every single person who died who worked in the film industry, unless they want a 12-hour awards show. Renfro, for whatever reason, didn't 'make the cut'. Neither did Vampira or Tab Thacker.
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2-25-2008 @ 12:12PM
Cathy said...
Also, they need to turn off the microphone and air silence during the montage instead of the applause-o-meter of popularity.
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2-25-2008 @ 12:20PM
jzyjade04 said...
I asked the same question..why wasn't he put in..many people who were there worked with him and Susan Sarrandon and Tommy Lee Jones spoke on his behalf when he had passed away...It was unfair, whether or not he was in recent movies he was still an actor.
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2-25-2008 @ 12:26PM
E said...
I noticed it as soon as it was over. Brad Renfro should have definitely been included if Heath Ledger was. Who gives a shit who was well known or won an oscar or whatever. Everyone in the movie industry who died recently should have been included. And the whole idea that people clap more for some people than others really bugs me as well. Was Heath Ledgers life more important because he won an oscar a few years back? Screw that.
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2-25-2008 @ 12:37PM
Lisa said...
The fact is, Brad Renfro was an actor in some hit movies, and some not so known movies, but he should have been included!!! Are you saying all of these "executives" and producers and all of them are well known? I didn't know the memoriam was about the most known or most popular. He was certainly more known than over 1/2 the people they memoralized. He should have been included, it was completely disrespectful.
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2-25-2008 @ 12:45PM
Ian said...
They even had some "agents" in the tribute, which are basically glorified lawyers.
Renfro was a legit actor. He got rave reviews for his work in The Client.
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2-25-2008 @ 12:50PM
Justin Glow said...
Seems like Renfro was more well-known than some of the "assistants to the traveling secretary for co-sound editors in the 1950s" they included.
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2-25-2008 @ 12:50PM
Kim Voynar said...
kevjohn,
Cinematical did cover Renfro's death.
http://www.cinematical.com/2008/01/15/breaking-actor-brad-renfro-found-dead-at-age-25/
K.
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2-25-2008 @ 3:30PM
kevjohn said...
What I meant was that you should know about the large numbers of cinema-related deaths that occur evey year just going from this site's owo RIP columns. It would not be possible to cover them all. I don't know what the criteria is for inclusion, but apparently Renfro didn't fulfil it. I'd think it's probably what #s 5 and 17 are saying. But it also could be that with the exception of Ledger, most of the people honored had been in the industry for several decades.
As far as those who were included, I'd hope that people here would reserch them before declaring them to be merely glorified lawyers and assistants-to-the-assistant.
2-25-2008 @ 1:01PM
joits said...
what about roy scheider from the jaws movies? he died a few days ago but he was also overlooked. unless his death was too recent that it missed the deadline (no pun intended) for this year's telecast.
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2-25-2008 @ 11:21PM
Kelsey said...
He was uneligible because he died after 31 January. He may show up in the montage next year, though.