Oscars 2026 in memoriam snubs James Van Der Beek, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and others

The segment, honouring notable figures from the film industry who have died over the last year, also did not include Eric Dane and Brigitte Bardot, among others.

Billy Crystal remembered his best friend, Rob Reiner, in an extended and emotional in memoriam at the Oscars on Sunday, and legend Barbra Streisand honoured her friend and co-star Robert Redford by singing a snippet from their film The Way We Were.

Canadian actor Rachel McAdams paid tribute to “fellow Canadian” Catherine O’Hara and her The Family Stone co-star Diane Keaton in a heartfelt speech.

Although the Oscars selectively expanded certain in memoriam segments for this year’s ceremony, they still didn’t manage to accommodate everyone the entertainment industry lost between last year’s ceremony and this year’s broadcast.

The in memoriam segment, honouring notable figures from the film industry who have died over the last year — held at every Academy Awards ceremony — did not include James Van Der Beek, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Robert Carradine, George Wendt, Richard Chamberlain, Eric Dane and Brigitte Bardot, among others.

Dawson’s Creek and Varsity Blues star Van Der Beek died on Feb. 11 at the age of 48, just over a year after being diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer. Dane, the celebrated actor best known for his roles on TV shows Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria and who later in life became an advocate for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) awareness, died on Feb. 19 at the age of 53, less than a year after he announced his diagnosis. He starred in movies like Valentine’s Day, Marley & Me and Burlesque.

Robert Carradine, who starred in Lizzie McGuire and Revenge of the Nerds, died at the age of 71 on Feb. 23, his family announced. Carradine’s family confirmed his death in a statement to Deadline, noting that the actor “struggled for two decades with Bipolar Disorder.”

Warner, an ’80s and ’90s television star best known for playing the role of Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, died at the age of 54 on July 20. The actor drowned while on a family vacation in Costa Rica. He had 19 movie roles over his career.

Wendt, who played the affable, beer-loving barfly Norm on the hit 1980s TV comedy Cheers and later crafted a stage career that took him to Broadway in Art, Hairspray and Elf, died on May 20 at the age of 76. He appeared in more than two dozen movies.