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Elizabeth Taylor mourned by family and fans

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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

This post has been updated. Please see the note below for details.

Elizabeth Taylor was laid to rest Thursday at Forest Lawn in Glendale, with a private service conducted inside the Great Mausoleum where she was to be interred, L.A. Now reports.

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Security had been requested for the three to four dozen family members and friends expected to attend the funeral, Glendale police said. Shortly after 2 p.m., five limousines scooted past the media pack that surrounded the memorial park’s entrance. They left shortly before 4 p.m. without making a public statement.

Family members planned to gather again Thursday night for a private service memorializing the legendary actress, who died at 79 of congestive heart failure.

Fans had been placing flowers at Taylor’s star, near Hollywood Boulevard and Ivar Avenue on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, since word of her 1:28 a.m. death Wednesday began to spread. A candlelit shrine was set up by staff in the VIP room at the West Hollywood bar the Abbey, where Taylor had been known to hang out, according to TMZ. A special ‘Blue Velvet Martini’ was being sold in Taylor’s memory all weekend, with proceeds going to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. At the Newseum in Washington, D.C., a display of front pages of myriad newspapers marked Taylor’s death.

The speedy funeral service and interment — Taylor died at 1:28 a.m. Wednesday — is in line with Jewish tradition; she’d converted to Judaism in the 1950s, before she married Eddie Fisher. The actress’ good friend Michael Jackson, who died in 2009, is interred in a different wing of the Great Mausoleum. See more pictures below.

Updated, 10:40 a.m. March 25: This post originally said Taylor converted to Judaism ‘when’ she married Fisher; that has been changed to ‘before’ for clarity. She converted in March 1959, and they were married in May. Time magazine said at the time that the actress had considered converting from Christian Science to Judaism during her marriage to Mike Todd but didn’t begin studying until after his death in a plane crash in early 1958.

For the record, 3:32 p.m. March 25: This post originally referred to the Great Mausoleum as the Grand Mausoleum. Thanks to commenter @JBohm for flagging the gaffe.

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— Christie D’Zurilla


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