Sacheen Littlefeather, who declined Marlon Brando’s Oscar, dies at 75 – Nationwide

Sacheen Littlefeather, the actor and activist who declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Academy Award for The Godfather on his behalf in an indelible protest of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native People, has died. She was 75.

Littlefeather’s niece, Calina Lawrence, confirmed that she died peacefully Sunday, surrounded by family members at her Marin County, California, dwelling. The trigger was breast most cancers, the household stated.

Littlefeather’s look on the 1973 Oscars would grow to be one of many award present’s most well-known moments. Clad in buckskin gown and moccasins, Littlefeather took the stage when presenter Roger Moore learn Brando’s identify because the winner for finest actor.

Chatting with the viewers, Littlefeather cited Native American stereotypes in movie and the then-ongoing weekslong protest at Wounded Knee in South Dakota as the explanation for Brando’s absence. She stated Brando had written “a really lengthy speech” however she was restricted by time to temporary remarks. Producer Howard Koch had allegedly warned Littlefeather, then 26, that he would have her arrested if she spoke for greater than a minute.

“I encourage right now that I’ve not intruded upon this night and that we are going to sooner or later, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity,” Littlefeather stated, changing into the primary Native American lady to seem onstage on the Oscars.

Though temporary, simple and courteous, Littlefeather’s look was contentious, receiving a mixture of applause and boos from the viewers. Within the years after, Littlefeather endured appreciable scorn and abuse for her speech, she stated.

“I spoke from my coronary heart,” she instructed The Related Press days after the Oscars. “These phrases have been written in blood, maybe my very own blood. I felt about like Christ carrying the load of the cross on his shoulders.”

Solely not too long ago did the Academy of Movement Photos Arts and Sciences formally deal with the remedy Littlefeather obtained following her look. In August, the movie academy apologized to Littlefeather. Two weeks in the past, it held a night of “dialog, therapeutic and celebration” in her honor.

“The abuse you endured due to this assertion was unwarranted and unjustified,” the academy’s president, David Rubin, wrote in a letter to Littlefeather. “The emotional burden you could have lived by and the fee to your individual profession in our business are irreparable. For too lengthy the braveness you confirmed has been unacknowledged. For this, we provide each our deepest apologies and our honest admiration.”

Littlefeather responded in an announcement: “We Indians are very affected person individuals — it’s solely been 50 years!”

“We have to preserve our humorousness about this always,” she added. “It’s our technique of survival.”

Littlefeather was born Marie Cruz on Nov. 14, 1946, in Salinas, California. Her father was from the White Mountain Apache and Yaqui tribes and her mom was white. Each have been saddle makers. They separated when Littlefeather was 4, after which she was raised largely by her grandparents. She took the identify Sacheen Littlefeather after highschool. Sacheen, she stated, was what her father had known as her; the surname got here from a feather she typically wore in her hair.

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Littlefeather’s entry into performing corresponded together with her activism. She was a part of the Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969, she stated, and started performing with San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater within the early ’70s.

Littlefeather met Brando by her neighbor, Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. She had recognized Brando for a couple of 12 months earlier than he known as her the evening earlier than the 1973 ceremony, invited her to his home and requested her to attend in his place.

Political speeches on the Oscars have been then nonetheless a rarity, and a few in attendance noticed the temporary deal with as a break in decorum — and one which raised a topic not everybody was keen to think about.

“I don’t know if I ought to current this award on behalf of all of the cowboys shot in all of the John Ford Westerns over time,” Clint Eastwood stated later within the night, whereas presenting the award for finest image. Presenting finest actress, presenter Raquel Welch cracked: “I hope they haven’t received a trigger.”

“I went up there considering I may make a distinction,” Littlefeather instructed Folks journal in 1990. “I used to be very naive. I instructed individuals about oppression. They stated, ‘You’re ruining our night.’”