The Academy just can’t seem to get their In Memoriam — which honors recently deceased filmmakers who departed during the previous year — right. Every year, it seems like there is some glaring omission that somebody by all rights should be fired for leaving off. Last year they even found room for people who were still alive, but couldn’t find room for everybody who had actually died the previous year.
This year, however, the omissions were both numerous and glaring. More than just forgetting some minor technician or long-forgotten character actor, they left off unmistakable icons every bit as notable as Carrie Fischer and George A. Romero. But we remember, even if the Academy can’t be bothered to.
One such omission was John Mahoney, who is probably best known for playing Martin Crane, the well well remembered father of protagonist Dr. Frasier Crane on the hit series Frasier for more than a decade. He was further a TV mainstay, whose roles ranged from appearances on Cheers, The Simpsons and ER. He additionally lent his considerable talents to numerous memorable roles in exceptional films, like General Rogard in The Iron Giant and W. P. Mayhew in Barton Fink.
Another that was notably absent was Michael Nyqvist, whose career was denoted by a healthy mixture of commanding leading roles and mesmerizing supporting parts that extend well into the early 1980s. Most notably, he starred in the Swedish adaptations of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movies as famed journalist Mikael Blomkvist (a character that was portrayed by Daniel Craig in the one-off Hollywood remake of the series). He made memorable appearances in Hollywood blockbusters like Mission: Impossible — The Ghost Protocol and John Wick, becoming a recognizable feature of both European and American cinema.
Powers Boothe also somehow failed to warrant a mention from the industry that he had been a part of for forty whole years, beginning his career with 1977’s Best Picture nominee The Goodbye Girl. As his career blossomed, he began taking on the roles of gruff-voiced tough guys: parts to which he was perfectly suited. He starred in everything from Red Dawn, Con Air and The Avengers. He played the chilling villain Curly Bill Brocius in 1993’s Tombstone, a part which undoubtedly earned him a spot on the celebrated series Deadwood. He was also a notable mainstay of the Sin City franchise, where he played the cold-blooded Senator Roark.
The next two omissions, however, are truly head-scratching ones. While the others had been celebrated and storied actors, they are in every way shadowed by the others, who are certifiable icons: household names that are revered by critics and beloved by fans the entire world over.
Somehow, it didn’t cross the Academy’s minds to give their kind regards to Adam West, the actor best remembered for his unforgettable portrayal of the caped crusader in the 1966 Batman television series and its latter day spinoffs and sequels, such as the recent Return of the Caped Crusaders and Batman vs Two-Face. His subsequent fame from that one role spun off into a career of fondly remembered and campy cameos across American television, ranging from appearances on The Big Bang Theory and The Simpsons. He played the eccentric mayor of Quahog for seventeen years on Family Guy, alongside the also recently departed Carrie Fischer.
And, finally, there was Tobe Hooper: the terrifying genius behind some of the greatest horror movies of the 20th century. He began his career creating the groundbreaking Teas Chainsaw Massacre, a movie that many regard as one of the greatest horror films ever made. Its immediate follow-up, although it failed to capture the same fervent fandom that defined the original, was a refreshingly experimental and off-beat attempt at continuing the franchise. Although Steven Spielberg gets too much of the credit for the film (such is the power of his fame), Hooper was the one who actually directed the now-iconic Poltergeist, whose most visceral and exploitative scenes have unmistakably derived their macabre spark from Hooper’s earlier work. And, of course, he was one of the resplendent Masters of Horror, contributing of the series most iconic episodes to the project. In a year demarcated by such remarkable work in his trademark genre, with so many horror films being acknowledged for their excellence by the film Academy itself, his absence is by far the most unforgivable.