The Academy Awards ceremony does not only honour the best of the best in film each year but highlights those who have passed during that time.
While a sombre part of the ceremony, the “In Memoriam” gives Hollywood — and the world — a chance to reflect and remember some of the creatives we have lost.
According to Variety, seven individual artists may well be in the running for an Oscar at next year’s event, including the late Chadwick Boseman.
Boseman’s turn in Netflix and George C Wolf’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom has already received Oscar buzz for his final performance. He may also see another opportunity for his role in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods as Stormin’.
Alongside Boseman, the late screenwriter Jack Fincher may get a nod for Netflix’s Mank, while the late screenwriter Audrey Wells may be nominated for her screenplay for the animated feature Over the Moon.
For his role in Driveways, the late 81-year-old actor, Brian Dennehy, may also receive a nomination and artist Curtis Mayfield for a song he wrote in 1999 for the film Soul — which was covered by John Batiste.
Other posthumous honours may go to Robb Gibbs, an animation artist on Onward and hairstylist Charles Gregory Ross for The United States vs Billie Holiday.
The current record of most posthumous nominations in a single year was in 1991. Composer Howard Ashman was awarded three separate nominations for Beauty and the Beast and Carol Sobieski, who adapted the screenplay for Fried Green Tomatoes.
In Australia, Peter Finch became the first actor to be awarded an Oscar posthumously, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Network in 1976. Following that, Heath Ledger won an Oscar for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight in 2008.
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