Brad Renfro, the late actor who played the boy from movie drama “The Client” was omitted from the “In Memoriam” montage, presented yesterday at the Oscars.

Renfro died on January 15 by “acute heroin/morphine intoxication”, according to Los Angeles County Coroner’s office.

A Knoxville native, Renfro had his big break into the Hollywood movie scene when he was just 10 years-old debuting in 1994’s "The Client" with Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Four years later, he was cast the lead role opposite Ian McKellen in "Apt Pupil," and in 2001, he appeared as a convenience store clerk with Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi in "Ghost World."

The Oscars’ “In Memoriam” montage included the actors who'd died from February 1, 2007 to January 31, 2008. Heath Ledger, the Australian actor who died by an accidental drug overdose, was honored in the final part of the montage.

"It was really an editing decision because we can't fit everyone in," a spokesperson at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences told Usmagazine.com. "There was no specific reason."

Meanwhile, there are rumors that Brad Renfro was excluded because he was not an invited member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A spokeswoman admitted for MTV News that might have been a contributing factor to his exclusion.

"We try to represent people — not just actors and actresses — but people who have contributed to film in a variety of different ways," she said. "But [being an Academy member] is certainly one of the considerations that's taken into account, though not exclusively."

However, there are speculations that the manner in which he died might be the factor that contributed to this omission.

Also, Whoopi Goldberg was left out from the montage that presented the previous Academy Awards’ hosts.

In 1994, Whoopi Goldberg became the first African-American actress to host the Oscars and she is the second African-American actress to win an Academy Award. She was invited again to present the awards in 1996, 1999 and 2002. Speaking at her show “The View” about the omission, Whoopi Goldberg noted that Steve Martin was also left out. Steve Martin hosted the Academy Awards twice in 2001 and in 2003.