Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather, who turned down Marlon Brando’s Oscar, dies aged 75 |All Social Updates

Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather, who turned down Marlon Brando’s Oscar, dies aged 75

Sacheen Littlefeather, a Native American activist who declined Marlon Brando’s Oscar for The Godfather on his behalf at the 1973 Academy Awards, died Sunday at the age of 75, according to the Academy of Motion Pictures. Variety says she battled breast cancer.

Littlefeather received an apology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June for the way she was treated at the Oscars that night. On September 17, Littlefeather went to the Academy Museum to see the apology in person.

Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather, who turned down Marlon Brando’s Oscar nomination, has died.

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A still of Sacheen Littlefeather from the OSCARS

She had just 60 seconds to read her message for Native American rights at the Oscars before she was dragged from the stage to audience jeers.

Addressing the Oscars crowd, Littlefeather said, “He’s reluctant to receive this very big award.”

And the reasons for this include how Native Americans are treated in the media today, including in television reruns and the recent events at Wounded Knee.

Born Marie Louise Cruz in Salinas, California, Littlefeather developed a passion for Native American issues in college and took part in the occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1970, adopting the nickname Littlefeather. She is said to have met Brando, who was interested in Native American issues, through Francis Ford Coppola, who, like Littlefeather, was living in San Francisco after graduating from college. She then moved to SAG.

Littlefeather spoke about her experience representing Brando at the Oscars in a recent interview with Variety.

I had never been to the Academy Awards before. By assuring Marlon Brando that I would not touch that Oscar, I overcame my first obstacle. However, I did it with courage, honor, elegance, dignity and truthfulness as I left this stage. I achieved it in a similar way as the indigenous women and my ancestors did.

“And I was greeted with the traditional tomahawk chop and people calling me, but I ignored everyone. I held my head high and was delighted to be the first Indigenous woman in Oscars history to make that political statement as I continued straight ahead with a couple of armed guards at my side.

In 1973 there was a media blackout at Wounded Knee and the American Indian Movement based there. They watched the Oscars after Marlon called them ahead of time and asked to do so.

“The media boycott would end as soon as they saw me on stage, turning down the Oscar for film business stereotypes, and dealing with Wounded Knee in South Dakota.”

Sacheen Breaking the Silence, a documentary about her life and work, was released in 2021.

biography

Things Littlefeather is an American actress and activist for Native American rights. She is best known for representing Oscar-nominated actor Marlon Brando at the 45th Annual Academy Awards in 1973 while protesting the entertainment industry’s stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans. After the Oscar speech, she continued her activism and actively worked to solve a number of issues facing Native Americans. Born Marie Louise Cruz in Salinas, California to a leather stamp mother, Littlefeather had a difficult childhood.

Her father, who was himself the child of an alcoholic father, often abused alcohol and beat the children. He died of terminal cancer at the age of 44. After graduating from California State College in Hayward, Littlefeather joined Indians of All Tribes and later participated in the occupation of Alcatraz in 1969. After changing her first name to Sacheen, she took on radio and television commercials before eventually landing roles in films. The actress currently resides in Northern California. In 2018, it was discovered that she had developed stage 4 breast cancer.

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acting career

Radio and television commercials served as Sacheen Littlefeather’s entry into the world of the stage. In 1973, she played Maggie in the Italian-Spanish crime drama Counselor at Crime. Her uncredited roles in the 1974 films Freebie and the Bean and The Laughing Policeman, released in 1973 and 1974 respectively, followed Dies.

Also, actress portrayed Patsy Littlejohn in the action sequel to the 1971 film Billy Jack, The Trial of Billy Jack, starring Delores Taylor and Tom Laughlin. In the years that followed, she worked on the films Winterhawk and Shoot the Sun Down.

Littlefeather made contributions to several PBS programs in the 1990s, such as The Americas Before Columbus and Remember Me Forever. She appeared as herself in the 2009 documentary Reel Injun. In 2018 she released a documentary of the same name.

activism

Sacheen Littlefeather joined the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz, a 19-month demonstration against the American government’s rejection of Native American land claims organized by LaNada Means and Richard Oakes. She co-founded the National American Indian Performing Arts Registry in 1979 after working at St. Mary’s Hospital and the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Littlefeather persevered in his efforts and later rose to prominence in the Native American community in California. In 1988 she assisted Mother Teresa in hospice care for AIDS patients. She later founded the San Francisco-based American Indian AIDS Institute. In 2010 she was appointed Executive Director of Kateri Tekakwitha San Francisco Prayer Groups.

The 45th Oscar Speech

Marlon Brando was represented by Sacheen Littlefeather at the 45th Annual Academy Awards on March 27, 1973 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. As part of an AIM-organized boycott against the portrayal of Native Americans in the American film industry, Brando, who received a Best Actor nomination for his performance as Vito Corleone in the 1972 film The Godfather, abstained from the ceremony. Littlefeather, posing as Brando’s representative, entered the room but turned down the Oscar, which Roger Moore and Liv Ullmann held out to her.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was moved by its speech to ban the future acceptance of Oscars by proxy. Littlefeather was blacklisted in Hollywood.

family & private life

On November 14, 1946, Sacheen Littlefeather was born Marie Louise Cruz in Salinas, California to a Native American father and a mother of French, German, and Dutch descent. Your sister number two. Her early years were particularly difficult as she endured her father’s abuse.

She studied at California State University (today – California State University). She then studied acting at the American Conservatory Theatre.
Littlefeather was reported to have been diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2018. Northern California is her current home.

Fast Facts

Also known as: Marie Louise Cruz

Age: 75 years, 75-year-old women

country of birth: United States

models actresses

US state: California

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