Melissa Rivers and Joan Rivers (Photo : REUTERS/FRED PROUSER)
Melissa Rivers, daughter of the deceased comedian Joan Rivers, is quite disappointed. Her deceased mother, a popular figure of Hollywood, was left out of this year's Oscars "In Memoriam" tribute. Joan was a popular comedian, who was known for dissecting celebrities and celebrity culture.
Melissa feels that Joan deserved a place in the 'In Memoriam' portion of the Oscars, TMZ reported. The 47-year-old TV producer feels that not only her late mother's constant presence at red carpet was ignored, her role as Dot Matrix in "Spaceballs" is also not acknowledged.
"It would have been nice, especially considering the impact she had on the awards season," wrote Rivers on Joan's Facebook fan page. "But Cooper and I have been overwhelmed with support and love over my mom's passing and we choose to focus on that."
Joan had a long and interesting association with Hollywood and Oscar like events. The sharp tongued comedian often poked fun at dresses worn by celebrities at such social events and "ridiculed the act of fame," Vox reported.
It's been an Oscar's tradition to pay tribute to the Hollywood personalities, who dies in the year gone by. Every year, almost dozens of such show business' bigwigs passes away, but the management could accommodate only 30 or so names in the "In Memoriam" portion due to time constraint.
"It is a beloved segment, but I would much prefer we didn't do it," said Bruce Davis, the Academy's now retired executive director, Vox reported. "When you sit down to do the list, the last 15 or 20 cuts you make are people with substantial careers."
Joan is not the only personality whose name got missed at "In Memoriam." Besides Joan, other celebs left out of the segment, which was presented by Meryl Streep, included Broadway star Elaine Stritch and actors Richard Kiel, Gottfried John, Taylor Negron and director George Sluizer, New York Daily News reported.
