Sasheen Littlefeather Has Died
By Harrison Smith
October 2, 2022 at 11:55 p.m. MST
Sacheen Littlefeather, a Native American actress and activist who made Oscars history in 1973, declining the best actor prize on behalf of Marlon Brando and jolting the Academy — and an estimated 85 million television viewers — with her speech condemning the mistreatment of American Indians, died Oct. 2 at her home in Marin County, Calif. She was 75.
The cause was breast cancer, said Calina Lawrence, her niece and caregiver. Ms. Littlefeather was diagnosed in 2018 with cancer that spread to her right lung, according to an August article in A.frame, the digital magazine of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
For decades, the Oscars largely steered clear of politics and social issues, acquiring a reputation as Hollywood’s biggest night while serving as a glitzy showcase for the movies and the people who made them. Ms. Littlefeather’s speech helped change that, ushering in an era in which actors and filmmakers increasingly used their acceptance speeches to call out injustice, criticize politicians and urge the industry to diversify its ranks and better represent women and people of color.
The 26-year-old Ms. Littlefeather was the first Native American woman to appear onstage at the Oscars, according to the Academy. Addressing the audience in moccasins and a buckskin dress, she explained that Brando, an activist for Native American rights, had written “a very long speech” but that she was unable to deliver it “because of time.” She later said that the show’s producer, Howard W. Koch, had threatened to have her arrested if she spoke for more than a minute.
Sasheen Littlefeather Has Died
By Harrison Smith
October 2, 2022 at 11:55 p.m. MST
Sacheen Littlefeather, a Native American actress and activist who made Oscars history in 1973, declining the best actor prize on behalf of Marlon Brando and jolting the Academy — and an estimated 85 million television viewers — with her speech condemning the mistreatment of American Indians, died Oct. 2 at her home in Marin County, Calif. She was 75.
The cause was breast cancer, said Calina Lawrence, her niece and caregiver. Ms. Littlefeather was diagnosed in 2018 with cancer that spread to her right lung, according to an August article in A.frame, the digital magazine of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
For decades, the Oscars largely steered clear of politics and social issues, acquiring a reputation as Hollywood’s biggest night while serving as a glitzy showcase for the movies and the people who made them. Ms. Littlefeather’s speech helped change that, ushering in an era in which actors and filmmakers increasingly used their acceptance speeches to call out injustice, criticize politicians and urge the industry to diversify its ranks and better represent women and people of color.
The 26-year-old Ms. Littlefeather was the first Native American woman to appear onstage at the Oscars, according to the Academy. Addressing the audience in moccasins and a buckskin dress, she explained that Brando, an activist for Native American rights, had written “a very long speech” but that she was unable to deliver it “because of time.” She later said that the show’s producer, Howard W. Koch, had threatened to have her arrested if she spoke for more than a minute.