Marlon Brando refused not to accept his Oscar for The Godfather, so actor and Native American activist SacheenLittlefeather announced this on stage at the 1973 Academy Awards.
Littlefeather has since passed away. She was 75. She had breast cancer, as reported by the entertainment website Variety.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which only two weeks ago held a celebration in Littlefeather’shonor and apologized to her after nearly 50 years, also expressed their sorrow on Twitter on Sunday night.
Littlefeather, who was named during the capture of Alcatraz Island in 1970, was born Marie Louise Cruz in 1946 in Salinas, California, to a Native American father (Apache and Yaqui) and a European American mother. In college, Littlefeather became passionate about Native American issues.
After graduating from college, she became a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), where she allegedly met Brando, who was interested in Native American concerns, through The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, who also lived in San Francisco.
In order to protest the portrayal of Native Americans in Hollywood and to raise awareness of the Wounded Knee standoff, which pitted 200 members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) against tens of thousands of U.S. marshals and other federal agents in the South Dakota town, Brando, who was the front-runner for the best actor Oscar for his comeback as the mafia patriarch Vito Corleone, skipped the ceremony.
Littlefeather appeared on stage at the 1973 Oscars on Brando’s behalf, and she was given just 60 seconds to read her message for Native American rights.
In order to protest the portrayal of Native Americans in Hollywood and to raise awareness of the Wounded Knee standoff, which pitted 200 members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) against tens of thousands of U.S. marshals and other federal agents in the South Dakota town, Brando, who was the front-runner for the best actor Oscar for his comeback as the mafia patriarch Vito Corleone, skipped the ceremony.
Littlefeather appeared on stage at the 1973 Oscars on Brando’s behalf, and she was given just 60 seconds to read her message for Native American rights.
The depiction of American Indians in the media today—in movie reruns on television, as well as with recent events at Wounded Knee—is one reason for this “In his remarks to the Academy Awards audience, Littlefeather.
The audience’s reaction was split between boos and clapping as she was subsequently led off the stage. Oscar co-host Michael Caine, actor Clint Eastwood, and actress Raquel Welch were among those to publicly chastise the activist for interfering with the ceremony.
At a subsequent press conference, Littlefeather was permitted to read her entire address, which was then published in the New York Times.
Littlefeather claimed that following her Oscars speech, she was blacklisted from Hollywood, despite having a few minor roles in movies like The Trial of Billy Jack (1974) and Shoot the Sun Down (1978).
She eventually relocated back to San Francisco where she continued to engage in theater, medicine, and activism.
Littlefeather received an apology from the Academy in June for how she was treated that evening at the Oscars. On September 17, she went to the Academy Museum to see the apology in person.
The psychological strain it had on you and the damage it did to your future in our firm are both irreversible. It was inappropriate and unjustified for you to receive animosity for making this comment.
“For far too long, your bravery has gone unappreciated. We apologize profusely for this and express our profound respect “She received a letter from David Rubin, the former president of AMPAS, on June 18.
In 2021, Sacheen Breaking the Silence, a documentary on her life and activities, was released.