The late actress Farrah Fawcett, shown Aug. 13, 2006, in Los Angeles, was not mentioned during the 'in memoriam' segment of the 2010 Academy Awards. Fawcett died of cancer in June 2009 at the age of 62. (Rene Macura/Associated Press)

Farrah Fawcett wasn't included in the "in memoriam" segment of Sunday's Oscars because the late actress was better known as a TV star, says the executive director of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which organizes the annual awards ceremony.

Bruce Davis said Tuesday that it was a difficult decision for the committee that assembles the segment to omit Fawcett and that he's not surprised some fans and family members are upset.

Actress Jane Fonda and film critic Roger Ebert have both posted tweets lamenting that Fawcett was not included in the segment celebrating prominent people in the film industry who died in the past year.

Fawcett died of cancer in June 2009 at the age of 62.

Actor Gene Barry, the star of Bat Masterson and Burke's Law who died in December 2009, was also omitted from the segment.

Davis says he and his colleagues thought the two were best known for their "remarkable television work" and would be more appropriately honoured by the television academy at the Emmy Awards.

Post-Oscar buzz also criticized the lack of a tribute to late actress and comedian Bea Arthur, who died in April 2009 and was also known primarily for her work on television.

"An unusual number of extremely distinguished screenwriters" died this year, Davis said, and the academy tried to honour many of them in the short memorial.

In addition to TV roles in Charlie's Angels and The Burning Bed, Fawcett earned a Golden Globe nomination for Extremities and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for The Apostle.