Oscar officials are facing criticism over failing to include Farrah Fawcett in a list of movie industry personalities who died in 2009.

Veteran film critic Roger Ebert was among the first to note the omission, calling her absence in the annual tribute a “major fail” in a Twitter posting. “They (Oscar officials) have a whole lot of ’splaining to do,” Ebert noted subsequently.

Actor Jane Fonda also expressed outrage.

“Where was Farrah Fawcett? She should have been included?” Fonda wrote on Twitter.com.

Fawcett died last June at the age of 62 after a long battle with cancer, the same day as singer Michael Jackson, who was included in the tribute despite his relative lack of film experience.

Fawcett appeared in a small number of feature films but also received four Emmy nominations, the first for her portrayal of a battered woman who kills her husband in The Burning Bed.

She also achieved iconic status as a result of her role on the television series Charlie’s Angels, with a pin-up poster that became a major best-seller.

The absence of Fawcett and sitcom and stage star Bea Arthur in the tribute was also noted by The Huffington Post.