EFE – The Academy, which annually hands out the prestigious Oscars, announced that it sent a letter of apology to Sacheen Littlefeather, the Native American woman who took the stage in Marlon Brando’s place when he won the best actor award in 1973.
“When you took the Oscar stage in 1973 to refuse the Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando in protest of the film industry’s misrepresentation and mistreatment of Native Americans, you made a powerful statement that continues to remind us of the need for respect and the importance of human dignity,” David Rubin, the Academy’s current president, said in the missive.
The letter, although dated last June 18, was made public this Monday as the institution confirmed that on September 17 Littlefeather will be the protagonist of an event organized at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the moment.
In 1973, Brando won the Oscar for best actor for giving life to the iconic Vito Corleone in “The Godfather,” but the actor, known for his activism, did not attend the red carpet and declined to go on stage.
Instead, a 26-year-old woman, known as Sacheen Littlefeather and dressed in Apache garb, appeared to collect the award, which she avoided touching and protest Hollywood’s discriminatory treatment of Native Americans.
Although her brief speech was applauded by some of the audience, it was also met with boos, racist gestures, and subsequent jokes by the gala’s presenters, Raquel Welch and Clint Eastwood.
“The abuse you endured for that statement was unwarranted. The emotional toll you have taken and the damage to your own career in our industry are irreparable,” the president said.
“For too long, the courage you showed has gone unrecognized. For that, we offer both our deepest apologies and our heartfelt admiration,” he added.
For his part, Littlefeather responded with a statement in which she joked about the “patience” of indigenous communities.
“About the Academy’s apology, we are very patient people – it’s only been 50 years! We have to keep our sense of humor at all times, it’s our method of survival,” added the woman, now 75.
For Brando, who already had an Oscar for starring in “On the Waterfront” in 1954, the rejection of the award was not followed by retaliation: the Academy still considers him the winner of that edition and nominated him the following year for “Last Tango in Paris”.
