Stars gather for Peter O’Toole’s wake and funeral

It was a touching farewell to one of Hollywood’s greatest hell-raisers.

During Friday night’s wake — where Peter O’Toole’s body was laid out in an open coffin — the legendary actor’s cat Sydney climbed on to his chest and stayed there for the evening.

And at his funeral on Saturday there was waltzing in the aisle.

Friends including rock star Sting and the band Alabama 3 attended the wake at O’Toole’s London home.

O’Toole’s first wife Sian Phillips and his daughters Kate and Patricia, and his former partner Karen Somerville and their son Lorcan were among those who attended Saturday’s funeral at Golders Green crematorium in North London.

Kate told mourners: “The world has lost a great actor but I’m not concerned with that. I simply have lost a great dad and the best friend I ever had. Daddy made me laugh more than anyone else I have ever met in my life. He was always there for me in times of crisis and frequently danced with me in times of joy and celebration.”

She recalled how the actor celebrated the life of his own mother Constance by waltzing in the chapel at her funeral service. And when Noel Coward’s Someday I’ll Find You was played at the end of the service, his children and family friend Martin O’Mally waltzed in the aisle. O’Toole, 81, was nominated for an Academy Award eight times and in 2003 received an honorary Oscar for his outstanding contribution to film.

He shot to fame playing T. E. Lawrence in the 1962 classic, and the service ended with a rendition of Maurice Jarre’s unforgettable theme.