By ,
Published January 13, 2015
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences left Brad Renfro out of its Oscar "in memoriam" montage Sunday night, which featured actors who died over the past year.
The tape featured 98 movie types who died in the last year (from Feb. 1, 2007 to Jan. 31, 2008). They included actors, studio executives, makeup artists, agents and more.
As to why Renfro was left out, the Academy told TMZ: "It is simply not possible to include everyone in that segment." The buzz on the Web was that Renfro was left out because he was not a member of the Academy. Others speculated that it was the manner of his death.
Renfro died at age 25 on Jan. 15 of an overdose of heroin and morphine. He had publicly struggled with drugs and alcohol.
Heath Ledger, who died on Jan. 22, one week after Renfro, was the last person in the montage (usually reserved for the most honored spot that will get the greatest level of applause).
Renfro was a street-smart Tennessee schoolboy plucked from obscurity in 1993 to play the title role in "The Client."
Click here to read more on this story at TMZ.com
He followed up with major parts in the 1995 AIDS drama "The Cure," 1997's "Sleepers" and "Telling Lies in America," also in 1997. More recent credits included "Ghost World" in 2001, "Deuces Wild" in 2002 and "The Jacket" in 2005.
Whoopi Goldberg also teared up Monday morning on "The View" over getting left off an Oscar-host clip reel — even though she's hosted the show four times.
Barbara Walters wondered if she was left out because she was included in a reel of Oscar winners, and pointed out that Steve Martin was also left out. Whoopi was the first black woman to host the show.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/brad-renfro-left-out-of-oscar-in-memoriam-montage