Jennifer Aniston tried to keep her composure when she introduced the In Memoriam segment at the 2017 Oscars tonight. She talked about some of the actors we lost this year and then paid tribute to Bill Paxton, whose death was announced this morning. Paxton was only 61 years old and passed away from a post-surgery complications.
As photos flashed across a screen on stage, singer Sara Bareilles delivered a beautiful performance of Joni Mitchell’s song “Both Sides Now.”
As the In Memoriam segment played, words from Prince, Mary Tyler Moore, Gene Wilder, and many others were shown, along with photos of makeup artists, writers, actors and other industry elite who died over the last year.
The tribute ended with a clip of Carrie Fisher stating, “May the force be with you.”
Apparently, there was a bit of an error made during the In Memoriam segment, as Australian producer Jan Chapman was included in the tribute … but she is still alive. Variety reports that Janet Patterson, an Australian costume designer, died in October 2015. Her name was included in the segment, but Chapman’s photo was used by mistake. Chapman stated to Variety that:
I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and long-time collaborator Janet Patterson. I had urged her agency to check any photograph which might be used and understand that they were told that the Academy had it covered. Janet was a great beauty and four-time Oscar nominee and it is very disappointing that the error was not picked up … I am alive and well and an active producer.
There is an extended gallery of In Memoriam photos available on the official Oscars website.
Have a listen from the original Joni Mitchell song, which was used in the tribute, in the below audio video as well.
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