Bob Saget, Betty White, Sidney Poitier, and Others Honored in Emotional SAG Awards’ In Memoriam Segment
Bob Saget, Sidney Poitier and Betty White were honored at the SAG Awards (Pictures: AP / Getty)
Willie Garson, Michael K. Williams, and Norm Macdonald were among the celebrities honored during the 28th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards’ In Memoriam section, which aired Sunday.
During Sunday’s SAG Awards, the Screen Actors Guild paid tribute to members who died in the previous year.
Bob Saget, Betty White, Sidney Poitier, James Michael Tyler, Willie Garson, Michael K. Williams, and Norm Macdonald were among the late celebrities honored in a moving video montage.
The segment was introduced by Maggie Gyllenhaal and set to the tune of “Sailboat” by Cody Fry and Ben Recor.
“There’s been a lot of painful loss this year,” said Gyllenhaal, 44. “Tonight we honor our peers who have gone before us. To them, we say thank you for your work and inspiration and in some cases, even thank you for being a friend.”
Saget’s passing was the most recent of the bunch. The Full House star was discovered dead in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month. He was 65 years old.
“The authorities have determined that Bob passed from head trauma,” his family said in a statement. “They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it, and went to sleep. No drugs or alcohol were involved.”
As per People, the Saget family said they “felt it only proper that the fans hear those conclusions” from them directly. “As we continue to mourn together, we ask everyone to remember the love and laughter that Bob brought to this world, and the lessons he taught us all: to be kind to everyone, to let the people you love know you love them, and to face difficult times with hugs and laughter,” they added.
White and Poitier died a few days before Saget. (White and Poitier were both SAG Award recipients.)
White passed away on December 31, just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday. Her death certificate states that she died six days after having a cerebrovascular accident, also known as a stroke.
“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” her agent and close friend Jeff Witjas told PEOPLE in a statement. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again. Betty died peacefully in her sleep at her home early this morning.”
Poitier passed away on January 6th, at the age of 94. According to his official death certificate, the trailblazing actor, director, and activist — who was the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for best actor – died of cardiopulmonary failure.
“He was a mentor, needless to say, an example, a friend,” Denzel Washington recently told Entertainment Tonight. “He’s someone who had been there, walked the walk, talked the talk.”
Williams, Garson, and Tyler’s deaths shocked their colleagues and fans.
Williams died suddenly in September at the age of 54 from an accidental overdose of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. While Friends alum Tyler died in October at the age of 59 after a short battle with stage 4 prostate cancer, former Sex and the City star Garson died in September after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.
TNT and TBS Sunday are broadcasting the 28th Annual SAG Awards live.
