The 2026 Academy Awards ceremony broadcast featured an extended in memoriam segment to acknowledge the unfortunately high number of actors, artists, and filmmakers who have died over the past 12 months.
The ceremony featured tributes to Rob Reiner, Diane Keaton, and Robert Redford, while also remembering similarly iconic Hollywood personalities, including Robert Duvall, Val Kilmer, Michael Madsen, Diane Ladd, Graham Greene, Terence Stamp, Robert Carradine, Udo Kier, and more.
However, the Academy is attracting some criticism for a number of omissions from the broadcast in memoriam. While it’s certainly accurate that actors like James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner are far more widely associated with their work in television, it’s equally true that they weren’t total strangers to film. Van Der Beek was the star of 1999 cult teen comedy-drama Varsity Blues, as well as The Rules of Attraction – a 2002 black comedy based on the novel by American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis that has also attracted a cult following. For his part, films featuring performances from Dane include X-Men: The Last Stand, Marley & Me, and Bad Boys: Ride or Die, amongst others.
