2022-10-04 07:32:16
The Native American who was booed by Oscar audiences 50 years ago, Sacheen Littlefeather, has died at the age of 75.
Sacheen Littlefeather, the Native American actress and activist who turned down the Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando in 1973, died Sunday at the age of 75, as reported The Hollywood Reporter. In March 2018, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, and had metastasized.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which issued a formal apology to him in June and held an event in his honor a few weeks ago, shared the new via social media on Sunday.
In 1973, Marlon Brando asked Littlefeather to refuse his Oscar for The Godfather to protest the way Native Americans were portrayed in Hollywood and to highlight the occupation of Wounded Knee, where hundreds of members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) opposed thousands of U.S. Marshals and others federal officers.
She took the stage and said, ” It is with regret that he cannot accept this very generous prize. And the reasons for that are the treatment of Native Americans today by the film industry…and on television in movie reruns, and also with the recent events at Wounded Knee. »
Her speech at the Oscars, as she will highlight later in the documentary Sacheen : Breaking the Silence (2022), earned him ” blacklisted and not being able to get any more roles as an actress. ” Or, you could say, “redlisted”said Littlefeather. Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett and others didn’t want me on their shows. […] The doors were hermetically sealed, never to be opened again. »
« I was the first woman of color to make a political statement in Oscar history. “, she explains in the document.
Born Marie Louise Cruz in 1946 in Northern California, she was raised in Salinas, mostly by her mother’s parents. Back when she was attending California State University, Hayward, she stood up for her legacy. In particular, she joined other activists during the native occupation to try to recover the island of Alcatraz in 1969.
She also embarked on the theater and obtained a scholarship for the Conservatory Theater of San Francisco. Although she got a few commercials for radio and television, she struggled to land bigger roles. Her speech in favor of Brando at the Oscars put an end to her acting career. Despite this, she appears in a few films, including The Trial of Billy Jack (1974), Johnny Firecloud (1975) et The White Falcon (1975), before giving up acting and earning a health degree to work in the wellness field. She also continued to champion the cause of Native Americans in the arts, co-founding the National American Indian Performing Arts Registry, a non-profit organization.
« Be proud that we are all survivorssaid Sacheen Littlefeather at the ceremony held by the Academy in her honor earlier this month. Please, when I am gone, always remember that every time you stand up for your truth, you will keep your voice and the voices of our nations and peoples alive. »
Althea Legaspi
Translated by the editor
1687888694
#Sacheen #Littlefeather #turned #Oscar #behalf #Brando #dead