Oscars Memorial Had No Room For All This Year’s Celebrity Deaths

Video game pundit Geoff Keighley posted on X that he was disappointed with the Academy Awards ceremony’s In Memoriam segment because it excluded his father. David Keighley, he reasoned, made “immeasurable contributions to IMAX and cinema,” and deserved to be recognized among the entertainment industry figures whose deaths were remembered in the famous yearly Oscars tribute.

I spent the In Memoriam segment of this year’s Oscars ceremony on March 15, 2026, looking for Brigitte Bardot. I knew the starlet was controversial in Hollywood because of views about immigration and cultural change that are considered “far right” by some, especially in the entertainment industry. When she wasn’t there, I was about to fume like Keighley, until I followed the link to the 2026 Oscars In Memoriam website.

The Full List Couldn’t Be Covered During Ceremony

James Van Der Beek passed away on February 11, 2026

If Brigitte Bardot was snubbed, then so were thespians of the caliber of Joe Don Baker, Jean Marsh, Loni Anderson, and James Van Der Beek. Robert Carradine of the famous Hollywood dynasty also was not featured in the In Memoriam segment, a fact which cannot have been overlooked, since he is featured on their web page. Famous comedienne Ruth Buzzi died this year, along with famous Musketeer and original Allan Quartermaine, Richard Chamberlain.

We also lost child actor Bud Kort, Star Wars actor Kenneth Colley, and ALS-sufferer Eric Dane. Sitcom stars Wings Hauser and Polly Holliday, who was also in Gremlins, were not featured in the segment, but are listed on the page. Horror movie actor James Ransone, who made his name on the show The Wire, left this mortal coil. Both Zed (Peter Greene) and The Gimp (Stephen Hibbert) from Pulp Fiction also died in the past year, and not because of Marcellus Wallace.

So Much Talent Lost This Year

Rob Reiner in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025)

The In Memoriam segment focused on some of Hollywood’s most famous losses this year. Dedicated speeches were given for Rob Reiner, Robert Redford, and Diane Keaton. Longer clips of actors like Robert Duval and Diane Ladd showcased some of their more famous roles. Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai, star of many films that influenced American culture, was given a moment of silence. However, superstar Val Kilmer barely got a few seconds’ notice, and more behind-the-scenes types, like cinematographers, directors, and even entertainment attorneys were given time in groups of two and three.

We just had too many deaths in the entertainment industry this year for the Academy to pack them all into a segment that could be shown on television during the awards. If they had paid tribute to everyone who is on their web page, the segment might have been almost as long as the ceremony itself.

We lost celebrities this year to a variety of causes (I know this because I wrote a lot of their obituaries… too many). A few committed suicide in tragic ways that reflected inner struggles that may or may not have been public. Some of them succumbed to long-term battles with cancer and other diseases. Famously, the Reiners were murdered by their son during a psychotic episode. The joke that celebrity deaths come in threes worked overtime this year.

Peter Greene and Stephen Hibbert in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Yet they have all been part of our culture and influenced our everyday lives. Zed and The Gimp are instantly identifiable and the lines “Bring in The Gimp” and “Zed’s dead, baby” are as famous as Annie Hall; Robert Carradine is the most famous nerd in the world; Richard Chamberlain sang “Owa Tagu Siam” but also “love Me Tender;” and James Van Der Beek is as well-known for Friday Night Lights as for Dawson’s Creek.

Brigitte Bardot was so influential for dying her hair blonde that the Beatles got their girlfriends to mimic her, and David Keighley did amazing work in IMAX and other cinematic techniques. They all contributed to the zeitgeist in their own ways, and it’s a pity that there wasn’t enough time for them all to be memorialized on television.