Behind the scenes at Curtis’ funeral
Somewhere up there, Tony Curtis is cracking one-liners about his own funeral.
Did you hear the one about the guy who tried to crash Tony Curtis' last party?
Scores of people were being turned away from the main chapel Monday at the Palm Mortuary & Cemetery on Eastern Avenue as the pallbearers, lined up by the casket, waited for the go-ahead down a long corridor.
Walking toward us was a somber mortuary representative who delivered a request.
He told family spokesman Preston Ahearn "that gentleman up there said he is family clergy and would like to walk in next to the casket."
Ahearn wasn't buying it. The guy who wanted to ride Tony's coattails to fame wasn't getting past the gatekeeper.
But Tony would have loved the guy's chutzpah.
Most of all, though, I think he's smiling down at what happened before his sendoff.
If any of the rumored family friction existed, it melted during their two hours together before the funeral.
Family members were bonding through grief.
The most tender scene I witnessed unfolded in a hallway a couple of feet from the room where Curtis' closed casket sat next to two of his larger paintings.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Jill Vandenberg Curtis appeared to be in a serious conversation, with Curtis' actress daughter gently caressing the young woman who had spent the last 16 years with the film giant.
I chose not to ask either about their conversation. This was new territory as a journalist, and that seemed inappropriate.
It was the first time I covered a funeral in the Twitter era, and I had reservations about how to proceed.
I decided I would cover it sparingly and respectfully.
I posted a total of eight tweets in the three hours. One was of a photo of Tony and Jill early in their relationship. One was of Curtis' casket (which was closed) after receiving family permission. No tweets were sent of family members and none during the service.
A number of reporters were tweeting details during the service, and I would have done the same, had I not been a pallbearer.
Three of my tweets had to do with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his arrival at the funeral.
The last one was at graveside, as members of the Navy honor guard prepared for the flag presentation to Curtis' widow.
Fellow pallbearer Gene Kilroy, the Luxor executive who was a close friend of Curtis for 30 years, leaned over and whispered, "My mother would be so proud." Five years ago, Curtis insisted on showing Kilroy a patch of sidewalk outside the St. Regis Hotel in New York City.
Curtis pointed with pride, "This is where I was a shoeshine boy."
At the reception held by Luxor, I thanked Jill Curtis for the honor of being a pallbearer.
"Tony absolutely loved Las Vegas," she said, "and Las Vegas loved him."
"He loved the desert, the sunsets, the sky and the clouds. Especially the clouds.
"He would be looking out the window and he would say, 'Jilly, come look. It's a good day to be a cloud.' "
She added, "And now he's up there among his beloved clouds."
the SCENE and heard
The talent lineup got deeper for Andre Agassi's 15th Grand Slam for Children with the announcement Tuesday that Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, the Canadian Tenors and Jason Mraz would be joining Elton John and Rob Thomas at the Wynn Las Vegas on Saturday.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime" -- Dean Martin's epitaph
Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.
