Oscars: Tony Todd, Michelle Trachtenberg, Shannen Doherty Left Out of In Memoriam Segment
The In Memoriam portion of the 2025 Oscars telecast on Sunday night paid a moving tribute to several stars and movie industry folk who have died over the last year, but there were some notable omissions that were quickly pointed out on social media.
The In Memoriam segment of the show, that was soundtracked to the “Lacrimosa” portion of Mozart’s “Requiem in D Minor,” featured moving tributes to entertainment industry giants the likes of David Lynch, Maggie Smith, Roger Corman, Shelley Duvall, Bob Newhart, James Earl Jones and Donald Sutherland. Two-time Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, who was found dead inside his Sante Fe home alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa, was given a moving special tribute by his longtime friend Morgan Freeman.
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But as ever with the Academy Awards and the In Memoriam segment, much of the discussion online is who was omitted from the televised tribute. One of the more glaring omissions was actor Tony Todd, the veteran character actor and genre legend who starred in the Candyman horror series and was a prolific voice artist, who died in November at 69.
Mitzi Gaynor, who died in November last year at 93, was also missing. She starred in classic films like South Pacific, My Blue Heaven and There’s No Business Like Show Business. Gaynor’s omission was particularly glaring, as before her death she was considered one of the last surviving members of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Michelle Trachtenberg, who died last week at 39, was also missing. Although Trachtenberg was better known as a TV star through her work in Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, her movie credits include Mysterious Skin, Ice Princess and Black Christmas and the enduring favorite Harriet the Spy.
Shannen Doherty, another actress more closely associated with television, was also omitted. Doherty, who died in July 2024 at 53, still had culturally significant movie roles including Heathers and Mall Rats.
Mexican acting legend Silvia Pinal was also a notable omission, particularly given the more outward looking and international nature of The Academy these days. Pinal, who died in November at 93, toplined three 1960s classics written and directed by Luis Bu?uel: the Palme d’Or co-winner Viridiana (1961), The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Simon of the Desert (1965).
The other big international name left out this year was French movie icon Alain Delon, who died in August at 88. Delon, dubbed “the male Brigitte Bardot,” starred in classic films such as The Leopard, Le Samoura?, The Red Circle and as Tom Ripley in Purple Noon.
British actress Olivia Hussey, who died in December at 73, didn’t make the televised tribute. Hussey gained worldwide fame after starring in Franco Zeffirelli‘s 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. She also had memorable roles in cult slasher Black Christmas (1974) and Death on the Nile.
David Johansen, the gravelly-voiced frontman vocalist of the New York Dolls, who died on Feb. 28 at age 75, was also missing from the segment. In addition to his punk rock bona fides, he had a robust acting career, playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in 1988’s Scrooged and, a year later, appearing in Richard Dreyfuss’ horse-racing comedy Let It Ride. He also took on the role of sociopathic Jewish inmate Eli Zabitz on three episodes of HBO’s Oz in 2000.
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