Mira Sorvino found the Academy’s decision to leave her father, “Goodfellas” star Paul Sorvino, off Sunday night’s In Memoriam airing tribute, “unnerving beyond belief.”
The actress, who won a Best Ensemble Oscar for the 1995 comedy “Mighty Aphrodite,” tweeted her disappointment on Sunday night: “I for one am remembering dad on Oscars tonight.” On Monday, she addressed the omission more directly, tweeting, “It is baffling beyond belief that my beloved father and so many other amazing and brilliant deceased actors were left out. The Oscars forgot about Paul Sorvino, but the rest of us never will!”
Sorvino’s Oscar-nominated “Goodfellas” co-star Ray Liotta, who died on May 26, 2022, was included in the broadcast tribute, but several other admired actors, including Anne Heche, Tom Sizemore, Philip Baker Hall and Cindy Williams, they were not.
Paul’s widow, Dee Dee Sorvino, also criticized the Academy, saying People in a statement Monday, “Paul Sorvino was one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema in Hollywood. It is inconceivable that he would be left out of the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars. It’s a three hour show, can’t you give me a couple more minutes to get it right? Paul Sorvino gave decades to this industry and was loved by all.”
She dismissed the QR code, which connected tech-savvy users to a list of late stars left out of the stream, as “not acceptable.” She added: “The Academy needs to issue an apology, admit wrong and do better. Paul Sorvino deserves better, the public deserves better. Is the Academy so jaded that they forget the people they love, who have given their hearts to this industry? Shame on the Academy if this is not corrected,” she added. “Mistakes are made, this was a big one. Please do something to correct it.”
Earlier on Sunday night, Mira shared her memory of her father’s delight when he won his Oscar.
“On this Oscar night I am so happy for all the nominees and winners, but I am also moved in a thousand different ways when I think about the night I was able to share my Academy Award with my dad, the great actor Paul. Sorvino, who was never nominated,” said wrote On Instagram.
“To be able to share this dazzlingly positive moment with my father… My first and best teacher, my beloved dad who came to every school play and loved from the bottom of his heart, the brilliant actor whom all his colleagues revered as one of the best. the greatest thing, being able to give back what he had been giving me all my life: love, belief, admiration and gratitude. In this first year after his passing it is truly a bittersweet but beautiful memory. I love you dad, I miss you so much, ”he concluded.
Actor Miguel SorvinoMiras’s brother also shared his frustration on Twitter, writing: “Although I’m happy for the nominees and winners of #oscars95 I think it is shameful and insulting to the memory of my father, Paul Sorvino, that the @The academy he left it out of the In Memoriam segment of the broadcast. The man put HIS WHOLE SOUL into practically every role he’s ever played in a movie.”
Sorvino died on July 25, 2022 at age 83 of natural causes. In addition to “Goodfellas”, he was known for his role as Phil Cerreta in “Law & Order” and for films such as “Reds”, “The Rocketeer”, “Romeo + Juliet” and “Nixon”, where he played Henry Kissinger. . He was also the father of Bruce Willis’s character on the 1980s series “Moonlighting” and the father of Jeff Garlin’s character on “The Goldbergs.”
Various other fans, including film critic Richard RoeperHe also took to social media to pay his respects to the late actor.
