In Memoriam 2020

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The world will forever remember 2020 as a year of terrible loss and sacrifice.

The Cosmos lost five of its alumni this year, actors who had been nominated for at least one individual award over the years. We also lost others who received ensemble nominations without an individual nod, and others who appeared in nominated films.

Of special note: we lost our dear friend Lisa Canjura-Clayton to her battle with cancer. Lisa was a Cosmo voter from the very beginning of the awards who was prominently featured in the Cosmo-nominated documentary American Mullet.

Individual Nominees We Lost

On June 19th, we lost Ian Holm, a celebrated actor who won the award for Best Villain in a 2001 Film for his performance in From Hell. Holm may be best remembered for his performance as the older Bilbo Baggins in the three Lord of the Rings films as well as in two of the three Hobbit films, for which he shares several ensemble nominations and awards. He also appeared in the Cosmo-awarded Alien as the cyborg Ash. At one point, we calculated that he had been in more Cosmo-nominated films than any other actor. That record might still be true; we haven’t recalculated this recently, and though Holm did appear in at least one more nominated film since that list was compiled, we now have to factor in all of those Marvel superhero films.

Then on August 28th, we lost the tragically young Chadwick Boseman, who received three personal nominations for his titular performance in Black Panther. Boseman is getting posthumous Oscar buzz for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which may well also receive Cosmo consideration.

On September 10th, we lost Dame Diana Rigg, known to Cosmo voters for her performance as Emma Peel in the 1960s British espionage television show The Avengers as well her delicious performance as Lady Olenna Tyrell in the HBO series Game of Thrones. Rigg was nominated at the 2019 Awards for the Best Actresses of All Time Hall of Fame, which she lost to Madeline Kahn.

Perhaps most devastating to the world was the September 18th loss of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She received an individual nomination, Favorite Female Heroic Character of a 2018 Film, for her appearance as the subject of the documentary RBG. Though she did not win, the film did win Best Documentary and Best Female Empowerment Film. That same year, she was also depicted in the biopic On the Basis of Sex, where she was portrayed by Felicity Jones in the starring role.

On November 28th, we lost David Prowse. Though not known to most Cosmo voters by sight, Prowse shares in the nomination for Darth Vader in Star Wars as Best Villain of All Time with James Earl Jones. Prowse provided Vader’s body while Jones provided the voice. (The nomination was for Darth Vader; we chose to attribute it to Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, as that was our first introduction to the character. Many would argue that Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back was the best for both the character and the franchise.)

Quasi-Individuals

Actor Sean Connery, who passed away on October 31, occupies a special place in the Cosmo family. Though he has never received an individual nomination, nor shared in any ensemble nominations, he was the first actor to portray James Bond, which was named Movie Character Whose Life You Would Most Want to Live at the first awards. By the time the award was given, Pierce Brosnan was still appearing as the fifth actor to portray James Bond on the silver screen. We chose Sean Connery as the award’s placeholder, as he originated the role on the big screen and helped establish the character.

Ensemble Nominees We Lost

We also lost two actors who share in ensemble nominations but never received individual nominations.

Carl Reiner (March 22, 1922 – June 29, 2020) shares in Ocean’s Eleven’s nomination for Best Ensemble Cast for a 2001 Film (which was won by Gosford Park). He went on to reprise his role of Saul Bloom in Ocean’s Twelve (2004) and Ocean’s Thirteen (2007). He also appeared the Cosmo-nominated Toy Story 4.

In addition, Lynn Cohen (August 10, 1933 – February 14, 2020) shares in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’s nomination for Sexiest Ensemble Cast of a 2013 Film.

Others in Nominated Films

We also lost several people who, though they never received individual or ensemble nominations, were in nominated films.

Olivia de Havilland (July 1, 1916 – July 26, 2020), who until her death was the last living member of Hollywood’s Golden Age and the oldest surviving Oscar winner, is best remembered for costarring as Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind, which was inducted into the Cosmique Movie Awards’ Best Films Hall of Fame at the second awards. She won Oscars for To Each His Own (1946) and The Heiress (1949).

Actor Kirk Douglas (December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) appeared in the Cosmo-nominated Spartacus (1960) as well as in A Letter to Three Wives (1949), which was recently inducted into the Cosmo’s Best Films Hall of Fame.

Openly-gay producer/director Joel Schumacher (August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020), known for films like St. Elmo’s Fire, The Lost Boys, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin, directed the Cosmo-nominated Phantom of the Opera, though he himself was not nominated for it.

Honor Blackman (August 22, 1925 – April 5, 2020) is best remembered for playing Pussy Galore in the Cosmo-nominated James Bond film Goldfinger (1964). She also appeared in the Cosmo-nominated Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Comedic actor Fred Willard (September 18, 1933 – May 15, 2020) appeared in the next-most Cosmo-nominated films of any of this year’s departed (second to Ian Holm), including Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, A Mighty Wind, 50 Shades of Black, For Your Consideration, and Date Movie.

Max von Sydow (April 10, 1929 – March 8, 2020) appeared in Cosmo-nominated Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Shutter Island, and Minority Report.

Character actor Irrfan Khan (January 7, 1967 – April 29, 2020) appeared in Life of Pi, Jurassic World, and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Although Congressman John Lewis (February 12, 1940 – July 17, 2020) has never appeared in a Cosmo film, Stephen James played him in the 2014 Cosmo-nominated film Selma.

Others lost this year include Shirley Knight (Paul Blart: Mall Cop), Jerry Stiller (Zoolander 2), Kevin Conway (Mystic River; Gods and Generals), and Kelly Preston (Battlefield Earth).

Special Mention

Though they weren’t directly involved in Cosmo-nominated films, and many are better known for their television roles, there are several others who passed in 2020 whom we’d like to remember.

Among them, Quaker Oats pitchman Wilford Brimley (September 27, 1934 – August 1, 2020), who was younger than I am now when he appeared as a geriatric retiree in Cocoon (1985).

From television, we want to remember Dawn Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020), whose Mary Ann Summers from Gilligan’s Island was many a heterosexual teenage boy’s dream girl. David Lander (June 22, 1947 – December 4, 2020), best remembered as Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley, lost his longtime battle against Multiple Sclerosis. Glee’s Naya Rivera (January 12, 1987 – July 8, 2020) tragically drowned after getting her son safely back to their boat. And Alex Trebek (July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020), 37-year host of the game show Jeopardy!, lost his long battle with cancer.

And lastly, we choose to remember his victim, Andre “Angel” Melendez (May 1, 1971 – March 17, 1996) upon the OD death of Club Kid turned murderer Michael Alig on Christmas Day. Angel was portrayed by Wilson Cruz in the 2003 film Party Monster. Alig was portrayed by Macauley Culkin.

In Memoriam