Whitney Houston Remembered in Oscars Memoriam

Whitney Houston and Dame Elizabeth Taylor were remembered at the Oscars Sunday night (02-26-12).

The 'I Will Always Love You' singer - who died earlier this month and the 'Cleopatra' actress - who passed away last March - were among a host of late stars who were honored at the Academy Awards 'In Memoriam' montage.

Host Billy Crystal introduced the tribute with personal, heartfelt words about two Academy Awards producers who passed away in 2011, one of whom was Laura Ziskin, who produced films like 'Spider-Man' and 'As Good as It Gets'.

Esperanza Spalding, backed by the Southern California Children's Choir, sang a powerful version of 'What a Wonderful World' as the clips played, and the audience waited until the montage ended to applause after being asked to do so.

As well as Whitney and Elizabeth - who would have celebrated her 80th birthday today (02-27-12) - others who were remembered included Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Jane Russell, Farley Granger, Hal Kanter, Jackie Cooper, Sidney Lumet and Oscar-winner Cliff Robertson.

The montage closed with a clip of Elizabeth in arguably her most famous role - as Egyptian queen Cleopatra.

'The Artist' was the big winner at the ceremony - which was held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles - winning five accolades.

The silent black and white film - which tells the tale of an old-Hollywood love story - was named Best Picture, while its main star Jean Dujardin took home the Best Actor gong and Michel Hazanavicius received the Best Director statuette.

©Bang Showbiz