Sacheen Littlefeather, indigenous activist who rejected Marlon Brando’s Oscar, dies at 75

Sacheen Littlefeather, il actress and activist known for turning down the Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando in 1973He died at the age of 75. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed the sad news through its social networks, announcing that Littlefeather passed away on Sunday, October 2, 2022.

In 1973, Brando predicted that he would receive the Oscar for Best Actor for his work in “The Godfather” and decided to send Littlefeather, who took the stage to refuse the award on behalf of the actor, delivering a speech of denunciation: “Unfortunately, he cannot receive this generous award. And the reason is the treatment Native Americans receive today from the film industry and in television rerunsin addition to what happened recently in Wounded Knee “.

Sacheen Littlefeather, a Native American civil rights activist who famously turned down Marlon Brando’s 1973 Best Actor Oscar, has died aged 75. pic.twitter.com/OlpsoItlCw

? The Academy (@ the Academy) October 3, 2022

Littlefeather appeared in several films in the 1970s, playing Native American characters, including “The Counselor”, “San Francisco Naked City”, “Odd Couple of Cops”, “Fire Cloud”, “The Winterhawk” and “Hunt in the Sun “. However, she was best known for her work as a civil rights activist for indigenous peoples in the United States, where she belonged to the Indians of All Tribes group. Among other things, she Littlefeather participated in the occupation of Alcatraz Island by activists in 1969. she She later appeared in several documentaries on Native American themes and in 2007 he gave his testimony in the TV documentary film ‘Brando’, on the figure of the legendary actor of ‘The Godfather’.

Retaliation

Recently, Littlefeather broke his silence about what happened after the famous Oscar speech in the documentary short film “Sacheen: Breaking The Silence”, in which the activist revealed that, after what happened at the ceremony, Hollywood blacklisted her and she no longer worked as an actress. “It was the first time anyone had given a political speech at the Oscars”Littlefeather recalls in the documentary (via Deadline). “It was the first Oscars ceremony to be broadcast via satellite worldwide, which is why Marlon chose it for it. I didn’t have a formal suit, so Marlon told me to wear my buckskin.”. In the documentary, Littlefeather also claims that John Wayne was behind the scenes, “wanting to go up on stage to get me out of there”.

In August 2022, the Academy released a statement officially apologizing to her and acknowledged the impact it had on the history of the film industry. She took it with humor: “We Indians are very patient people. It’s only been 50 years!”. In September, Littlefeather was asked to read Brando’s full speech, which was 15 pages long and was turned down at the time by the ceremony’s producer, who threatened to call the police if he spoke for more than a minute during his speech at the gala. .