The biggest Oscars 2022 moment that audiences can’t stop talking about is the time when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock over his joke aimed at Jada Pinkett-Smith. However, it isn’t the first time that an actor wanted to storm the stage. John Wayne almost marched onto the 1973 Oscars stage to drag an actor off, but six security men had to restrain him to keep that from happening.
Marlon Brando‘s extraordinary performance in The Godfather earned him an Oscar win for Best Actor. However, he boycotted the event in response to the way that Hollywood portrays Native Americans. He wanted to draw attention to the Wounded Knee Occupation, which was an ongoing protest to bring global attention to their unsafe living conditions and mistreatment from the government.
Instead of Brando walking onto the stage to accept his award, Sacheen Littlefeather, also known as Marie Louise Cruz, walked onto the stage. She was representing Brando and spoke about “the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry … and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee”.
The Globe and Mail interviewed Littlefeather about the 1973 Oscars and the infamous Wayne encounter that almost happened. She explained that “half booed and the other half listened, and said, ‘Let her speak.’” However, Littlefeather was only given 60 seconds to speak or she would be arrested.
She further noted that Wayne was waiting backstage at the 1973 Oscars to drag her off the stage. However, “he had to be restrained by six security men.”
“I did not put up my fist in protest; I did not use profanity,” Littlefeather said. “I used politeness; eloquence and quiet strength were my tools of delivering a message about the rights of Native American people to be employed in an industry where a stereotype was being put forth that was not healthy for us. We did not have jobs in the industry, we were excluded.”
As a result of Littlefeather drawing attention to Wounded Knee, the FBI came at her “with a vengeance.”
“They boycotted me; they went around to the production companies and said if you hire her we will shut you down,” Littlefeather said. “They planted lies about me and started malicious gossip. I was not allowed to be on any talk shows, Dick Cavett, Merv Griffin, and the like. I was the subject, talked about maliciously, but I was not allowed to be on their shows.”
porc. by Movies
