Marlon Brando was nominated, and won, the award for Best Actor in 1973 for his role as Vito Corleone in The Godfather. Instead of walking to the podium and accepting his award when his name was announced Brando sent Native American actress Sacheen Littlefeather in his place. While onstage she informed the audience Brando was unable to accept the award due to the way Native Americans were treated by the film industry.
Brando’s refusal of the award drew attention to the standoff at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, where a group of Native Americans had occupied the town in protest against failure of the US government to honor signed treaties.
This was the second time an actor had refused the award for best actor. George C. Scott was the first person to reject the award for his role in the 1970 film Patton, his reason being that he disagreed with a competition between actors for title of “best.”
