Oscar's Biggest Snub: Not Honoring Don LaFontaine

OH MY GOD! you are so right! wow that is such a shame.

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One other thing where was Jack Nicholson? I did not see him all night, he is always there in the front row with his shades on.

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Good point, glad you pointed that out. I forgot about him, as likely did others.

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In a world devoid of honor, one man rises to the occasion.

Totally agree.

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Eartha Kitt was overlooked as well.

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Oscar not honoring the man = FAIL

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I've always believed that the Oscar Awards show were a feast of such unseemly self-congratulations that it bordered on the masturbatory.

It doesn't surprised me that these egotists would not honor someone not in the club. A real shame , though.

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That is something I never even considered and completely agree with you. He has done so much for the industry over the years, they should have had his picture on screen with the others in the industry who have passed away. Great call, I'm not sure why others haven't picked up on that.

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They didn't honor George Carlin either.

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I didn't think about this either. Now I'm pissed.

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WOW! What a shafting...you're totally right.

When you go back and watch trailers before Don LaFontaine, they seem odd and out of place. The guy was THE voice of the movies for a long time.

Oh, but they were sure to mention agents and studio execs you never heard of.

(Me, I was happy to not see Nicholson. Don't get me wrong, love Jack, but his 'king of the movies' persona was getting REALLY old)

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It's disgusting but are you really that surprised? The "Academy" is an elitist organization that exists solely so actors and directors who think the same way can pat each other on the back. They've been pretty meaningless for everyone except the participants years now. A huge part of movies and entertainment in general died and they don't even mention him, but they can talk about Slumdog Millionaire all night long. It's pathetic. But if LaFontaine campaigned for Obama or adopted 15 kids from foreign countries or even just died of a drug overdose or under suspicious circumstances you can bet they would have put a huge piece in about him.

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This saddens me.

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He wasn't a member of the academy. Elitist or not, that was the sum of it. He wasn't a member, so nobody put his name up for consideration. I doubt it was designed to be a snub.

For what it's worth, imo, someone should have noticed this and gone 'HEY, what a good time to make an exception!' as they did with Gene Siskel, but someone simply missed their chance.

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Don LaFontaine was the first person I thought of when the tribute started and i was still thinking of him when it ended... Hollywood is about who you know but i guess that knowing everyone didn't even help this gem of a man get the credit he deserved...

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Don LaFontaine, aka 'the voice of God' was a huge part of the movie-going experience. We'll never know how many millions he made for the film and tv industries but what we do know is that we often didn't even see a film unless his voice introduced us to it and peaked our interest.

As a close friend of the family I can tell you that many calls were made to have Don included but the producers refused to do so without stating a reason why. No disrespect to Gene Siskel, but if Academy membership was the requirement, God knows it should have been granted to Don posthumously as his contribution was surely greater.

The fact that none of the Academy producers felt him worthy of recognition still makes me ill and I hope that millions of you will write to say how angered you are at his exclusion. It was a real travesty.

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Well said, Kathryn.

In light of your comments that the producers were contacted in advance but refused to mention Don, I am not only astonished but angered and will certainly write to the Academy to express my disgust.

At the very least, one would hope that an award winner would have the balls to mention Don in their acceptance speech at the next awards. We'll see...

I've started a thread over at the Oscars website - if it stays up, maybe we could keep it bumped up and show them how strongly we feel about this issue:

http://forums.oscar.go.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=oscars2009mb&tid=1757

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I AGREE DOUBLE TIMES DOUBLE! THIS WAS TRULY AN AWFUL UNFORGETTABLE FORGET!!. I WATCHED THE SHOW AND WAS SADDEN IN MY HEART THAT THEY DID'NT HONOR "DON" I WAS SO STUNDED I WATCHED AND WAITED FOR ALL THE CREDITS IN HOPES THAT THEY WERE GONNA BLOG SOMETHING BUT NOTHING CAME.

"WE LOVE YOU DON. IN OUR HEARTS"

PRASIE GOD HES IN A BETTER PLACE WHERE HE WONT BE OVERLOOKED AGAIN! (HEAVEN)

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To Whom it May Concern,
As an actress, long time standing member of SAG, and a personal friend of the late Don LaFontaine, I was surprised and saddened to see that his passing was unworthy of recognition by the community he served, his entire life. Many of us are wondering why, the voice that introduced almost every major film and helped to inspire people to see the movies, would be left out. What is most shocking, however, is that calls were made for his participation in the "memory film" and no response was given...just the simple omission.
A man that mentored hundreds, in all the unions, to reach their greatest artistic potential...beginning with their voice...I am writing to "voice" my opinion that this was a most disgraceful decision, that completely ignored the celebration of one the greatest talents that ever lived....and let down all the people that are mourning the loss of a generous and great friend, as well as a Hollywood icon!

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