Sacheen Littlefeather, the local American actress and activist who made records whilst she declined the best Actor Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando, has died at the age of seventy five.
The Academy of movement picture Arts and Sciences announced her loss of life on Monday in a publish shared on Twitter.
The tweet, observed by way of an picture of the Apache and Yaqui actress, study: “Sacheen Littlefeather, native American civil rights activist who famously declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 nice Actor Academy Award, dies at 75.”
Whilst no motive of dying changed into immediately given, Littlefeather disclosed in a fb post in January remaining 12 months that she had metastasized breast cancer.
Littlefeather made records while she stepped on stage at the 1973 Oscars on behalf of “The Godfather” superstar Brando, who determined to boycott the award rite in protest on the portrayal of native individuals at the huge screen. Brando turned into also reacting to the reaction of federal law enforcement to the occupation of the South Dakota town of Wounded Knee through contributors of the american Indian movement.
Her short speech, for which she wore a buckskin get dressed and moccasins, became met with a mixture of boos and applause. It cost the budding actress, whose film credit blanketed “Winterhawk,” “Shoot the sun Down” and “The Trial of Billy Jack,” her career as she become soon blacklisted from the film enterprise and shunned by the enjoyment international.
In August, the Academy formally apologized to Littlefeather for the mistreatment she skilled at some point of her speech and inside the years that followed.
A letter from former Academy President David Rubin to Littlefeather said the abuse she persevered become “unwarranted and unjustified.”
He added: “The emotional burden you have lived through and the fee for your very own profession in our industry are irreparable. For too lengthy the courage you confirmed has been unacknowledged. For this, we provide each our private apologies and our sincere admiration.”
Describing the apology as a “dream come genuine,” Littlefeather said: “We Indians are very affected person people – it’s only been 50 years!
“We want to keep our humorousness approximately this always. It’s our method of survival,” she brought.
Final month, the Academy hosted an event at its film museum in l. A. That featured Littlefeather as a keynote speaker alongside other Indigenous performers.
