The 2026 Oscars honored several late figures from the film industry during its annual In Memoriam segment. However, the televised tribute omitted several notable names that appeared on the Academy’s official online memorial list.
Oscars In Memoriam excludes James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane & More from TV broadcast
The 2026 Oscars In Memoriam segment honored several major figures from the film industry but left out several actors and entertainment figures during the television broadcast.
Those not included in the televised tribute were James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Robert Carradine, June Lockhart, Bud Cort and Brigitte Bardot. The ceremony expanded the segment because of a large number of deaths over the past year, including Robert Redford, Diane Keaton and Rob Reiner.
Barbra Streisand performed part of The Way We Were, the film she starred in with Robert Redford. Actors including Kiefer Sutherland and Meg Ryan appeared on stage to honor Rob Reiner. Rachel McAdams, who starred in The Family Stone, hosted an extended segment remembering Diane Keaton. Despite expanding the tribute, the broadcast did not include every person who died between the 2025 and 2026 ceremonies.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences listed several excluded figures on its official In Memoriam webpage. The online list includes James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Robert Carradine, June Lockhart and Brigitte Bardot. The page also recognizes other figures from across the film industry. These include actors, filmmakers, producers and technical professionals who died during the eligibility period.
The Academy also listed additional names on its website that did not appear in the broadcast segment. These include George Wendt, Julian McMahon, James Ransone, Danielle Spencer, Loretta Swit and Demond Wilson. Some omitted figures, including Van Der Beek and Dane, built their reputations mainly through television roles. Many of them also appeared in films during their careers.
Gene Hackman was also not mentioned during the 2026 Oscars In Memoriam segment. However, he had been included in the 2025 ceremony, when Morgan Freeman introduced the tribute and said, “Well, this week, our community lost a giant, and I lost a dear friend, Gene Hackman.”
David Keighley, IMAX’s first chief quality officer, also did not appear in the televised segment. His son Geoff Keighley responded on social media, writing, “So incredibly disappointed and heartbroken that the #Oscars and AMPAS chose not to include my father, David Keighley, and his immeasurable contributions to IMAX and cinema in the In Memoriam segment in the broadcast.”
