During the “In Memoriam” segment of the annual show, in which those in the industry who have died during the previous year are mentioned, the Academy Awards included a tribute to costume designer and four-time Oscar nominee Janet Patterson. Unfortunately, the photo they used to depict Patterson was of Australian costume and production designer Jan Chapman, who is very much alive.
— Gerrie Dresser (@gerrie_dresser) February 27, 2017
Chapman and Patterson worked together on the 1993 film “The Piano,” and both received Oscar nominations for their work on that picture. The Oscars are not the first to mix up the two women, as Chapman’s photo has been mislabeled as Patterson in several photo databases.
— Molly McBeal (@MollyMcBeal1) February 27, 2017
“I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and long-time collaborator Janet Patterson. I had urged her agency to check any photograph which might be used and understand that they were told that the Academy had it covered,” Chapman said, in a statement to Variety Magazine. “Janet was a great beauty and four-time Oscar nominee and it is very disappointing that the error was not picked up. I am alive and well and an active producer.”
“Janet had a genius for understanding story, character and her director,” the obituary stated. 'Most importantly she was a visionary.”
The Academy Awards are also receiving criticism for the omission of comic Garry Shandling from the memorial portion. Above and beyond his other numerous show-business credits, he provided voiceover for the porcupine in the Jungle Book, which won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects during Sunday night's show.
