Paul Sorvino’s family say Oscars ‘In Memoriam’ snub is ‘baffling’ and ‘unconscionable’

Paul Sorvino’s family have called out the Academy Awards for not including the Goodfellas star in its “In Memoriam” segment.

During the ceremony on Sunday (12 March), Lenny Kravitz performed “Calling All Angels” as a screen behind him showed a montage of notable figures from the world of film who have died in the past year.

These included Olivia Newton John, Ray Liotta, Angela Lansbury, Jean-Luc Godard and Irene Cara.

Other stars to be featured in the segment were Burt Bacharach, Nichelle Nichols, Kirstie Alley and Racquel Welch.

Noticeably missing from the tribute was Paul Sorvino, the character actor and opera singer known for his menacing performances in movies such as Goodfellas, The Gambler, and Romeo + Juliet.

The actor died of natural causes in July 2022 at the age of 83.

After the awards show, Sorvino’s eldest daughter, actor Mira Sorvino, tweeted: “I for one am remembering Dad on this Oscars night…”

The post linked to an Instagram reel of her father visibly weeping at the Oscars in 1996, after she won the Best Supporting Actress prize for her role in Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite.

In an amended version of the caption, Mira explained that she’d posted the reel before learning “of Dad’s omission and that of several other incredible artists from the In Memoriam section”.

“Incredibly hurt and shocked that my father’s lifelong, irreplaceable, enormous contribution to the world of cinema was overlooked by whomever made that list,” she stated.

“We his adoring family, and you, his adoring public, know just how unique and incredible he was.”

“We hope @theacademy does something to put this right.”

She later tweeted that it was “baffling beyond belief that my beloved father and many other amazing brilliant departed actors were left out”.

“The Oscars forgot about Paul Sorvino, but the rest of us never will!!” she wrote.

Dee Dee Sorvino, who married Sorvino in 2014, told People: “Paul Sorvino was one of the greatest actors in cinematic history in Hollywood. It is unconscionable that he would be left out of the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars.

“It’s a three-hour show, they can’t give a couple more minutes to get it right?”

She called on the Academy to “issue an apology, admit the mistake and do better”.

An Academy spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the segment’s selection committee “features a representative from each of the organisation’s 17 branches, and some names that are more familiar to audiences cannot be included because all branches are entitled to representation during the limited time allotted for the segment”.

A spokesperson further told Variety: “All the submissions are included on A.frame and will remain on the site throughout the year.”

The statement linked to a site where Sorvino and others are memorialised.

Every year, there is anger over who is omitted from the In Memoriam segment at the Oscars. Others left out this year included Volcano and Donnie Brasco actor Anne Heche, as well as British star David Warner (The Omen, Titanic) and Charlbi Dean, the rising star who was the female lead in Best Picture-nominated film Triangle of Sadness. Dean died suddenly aged 32 last year.