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Southland Actress Looked Over In Oscars' "In Memoriam"

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The "In Memoriam" bit of the Oscars is an important part of remembering those artists involved in motion pictures who are no longer with us. While the segment does not have enough time to remember every individual in Hollywood who was lost over the course of the previous year, this year's Oscars excluded a well known local actress.

Lupe Ontiveros, best known for her roles in As Good As It Gets (1997), The Goonies (1985), and Desperate Housewives (2004-12), was not included in the "In Memoriam" segment of the show.

Now the Latino community is speaking out about the snub that failed to honor her in the tribute.

The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and the National Hispanic Foundation of the Arts (NHFA) are speaking out in protest.

Ontiveros' son, Nicholas, is among the voices who are outraged that the actress was not mentioned in the tribute.

"My mother deserves to be shown," Nicholas explained. "After 40 years. She worked so hard, with a lot of faith and love."

Member of Ontiveros' family say that she was nominated by her fellow actors for consideration to join the Academy, but was denied.

Alex Nogales, President of the NHMC, spoke of the omission.

"It is astonishing that an actress of Ontiveros' caliber and experience was denied membership to the Academy," Nogales claimed. "We want to know the reasons why."

The NHMC sent a letter to the members of the Academy, which included Ontiveros in a slideshow gallery on the Oscars website.

As to her exclusion from the televised segment of the show, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released a statement.

"Lupe Ontiveros is among the many worthy artists we were unfortunately not able to feature in the In Memoriam segment of this year's Oscar show. She is, however, included in our In Memoriam gallery on Oscar.com."

 

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