When it was announced that Billie Eilish was joining the Oscars telecast as a performer, it was clear that the Academy and ABC were hoping that the young singer would attract some viewers that wouldn’t necessarily give the awards show a chance. That is to say, Eilish would bring in the young folks. But for those tweens that were hoping to see the singer perform one of her many hits, they were greeted by Eilish performing a surprisingly moving cover of “Yesterday” during the In Memoriam segment of the telecast.
And as with every year, the Oscars took a moment to slow things down and honor those Hollywood figures that passed away over the last year. Of course, given that the passing of both Kobe Bryant and, most recently, Kirk Douglas happened in close proximity to the show, viewers were waiting for those two gentlemen to get the spotlight. And they did. But also, just like every year, it appears that the Oscars forgot several names that probably should have gotten some recognition.
Perhaps the most well-known name to not get the Oscar In Memoriam recognition is film and TV star, Luke Perry. Now, there are some that might contend that Perry is best known for his TV roles (“Beverly Hills 90210” and “Riverdale,” among others), but the actor has definitely been in a number of feature films, including the 2020 Oscar-winning film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
Other names not remembered in the video montage include Sid Haig (legendary genre actor, who many will remember from his collaborations with Rob Zombie), Robert Conrad (a famous TV actor that, much like Perry, had a pretty decent film career), Cameron Boyce (the young actor who is famous for his Disney work), and Orson Bean (seen in “Being John Malkovich”). However, in the case of the latter person, Bean passed away on Friday and probably was too close to the telecast to be included.
You can view the In Memoriam segment, as performed by Billie Eilish, below.
You can follow our full coverage of the 2020 Oscars here.