That’s the wrong woman.

Patterson, who was nominated for four Oscars across her career for her work on The Piano, Portrait of a Lady, Oscar and Lucinda and Bright Star respectively, died last October.

An intensely private woman who preferred to stay behind the scenes of the film industry, Patterson never sought the spotlight and so very few pictures of her are publicly available. That may go some way to explaining how the Academy ended up using the wrong photo to honour her:

It’s the wrong photo.Source:Supplied

That’s not Janet Patterson — it’s Sydney-based film producer Jan Chapman, who at 66 is very much still alive. Eagle-eyed fans and friends of both Patterson and Chapman took to social media to point out the error.

To make matters more confusing, the pair had worked together, with Chapman producing The Piano — and were photographed together around the time of the film’s release, in one of the few pictures of Patterson publicly available:

From left: Producer Jan Chapman, the late Janet Patterson and director Jane Campion. Picture: Berliner Studio/BEImages/australscopeSource:Supplied

The photo mix-up wasn’t the only controversial part of this year’s In Memoriam segment, with many viewers voicing their displeasure at a list of ‘snubs’: Comedian Garry Shandling, Brady Bunch star Florence Henderson and veteran actress Doris Roberts were among the late Hollywood stars many felt had deserved a place in the segment.