The late Bill Paxton remembered at the Oscars

Bill Paxton's death was announced a few hours before the Oscars took place.

27 Feb – Actor Bill Paxton has passed away following a failed heart surgery, a family representative announced today.

"It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery," the statement read.

Though no exact date of death was mentioned, the actor was believed to have breathed his last on Saturday in the U.S., according to a Rolling Stone report.

His passing was sudden and did not manage to be included in the In Memoriam montage at the recently wrapped up 89th Academy Awards.

But Paxton was not forgotten as Jennifer Aniston, who introduced this year's montage of Hollywood talents that passed away last year, remembered the actor with a heartfelt mention, "As was our beloved friend who left us yesterday, Bill Paxton, all were loved and all will be missed."

Paxton began his acting career in an uncredited role in 1975's "Crazy Mama". Six years later, he played a soldier in 1981's "Stripes" and since then had gone on to make a steady annual appearance in movies throughout the '80s until mid-2000s.

Some of his well-known works include "Apollo 13" (1995) and "Twister" (1996), as well as James Cameron-directed movies "The Terminator," ''Aliens" and "Titanic".

After 2007's "The Good Life", he spent the next decade appearing in several more titles such as "Edge of Tomorrow" (2014), "Nightcrawler" (2014) and 2016 movies "Term Life" and "Mean Dreams".

He will appear in a posthumous role in this year's thriller film "The Circle", alongside the likes of Emma Watson, Tom Hanks and John Boyega.

Fans can also still watch him in CBS TV series, "Training Day", the follow up to the 2001 movie of the same name. Paxton already finished filming season one of the series in December 2016. The future of the new series remains unclear following his death.

Paxton was 61. (Photo source: Pulzo | Getty Images)