THE life of Charlie's Angels star Farrah Fawcett was celebrated at a private, music-filled funeral that one participant called "stirring".
Her long-time companion, actor Ryan O'Neal, was among the pallbearers who accompanied the casket, covered in yellow and orange flowers, into the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.
After the ceremony, mourners said t
hey overheard O'Neal as he tapped on the hearse's back door and said: "So long, babe."
Fawcett's friend, Alana Stewart, and Charlie's Angels co-star Kate Jackson were among the early arrivals before the hearse pulled up, accompanied by ten motorcycle officers.
Two mourners carried copies of Fawcett's iconic poster from the 1970s, showing the actress wearing a red swimsuit, tousled blonde curls and a broad smile. The service, which was closed to the public, lasted more than an hour as fans and the media watched from across a street.
About 500 people were invited to the service, said entertainment journalist Eliot Tiegel, who attended as a guest with his wife Bonnie, a television producer. "It was one of the most musical funerals I've ever been to, and that's what happens when you go to a showbusiness funeral," he said. "Overall, it was very stirring."
The singer-songwriters Carol Bayer Sager and Richard Marx were among the guests, Mr Tiegel said.
Fawcett's and O'Neal's 24-year-old son, Redmond, gave the service's first reading. He had been jailed in a drug case, but received a judge's permission to attend the funeral.
Accompanied by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, he wore a suit and was said to be "sombre".
The funeral programme, which featured a photograph of a smiling Fawcett, also said O'Neal was to read the 23rd Psalm and eulogies were to be given by Ms Stewart and Dr Lawrence Piro, Fawcett's cancer specialist.
A piper was the first to emerge from the cathedral after the service, followed by several priests and the pallbearers carrying Fawcett's casket. Her father was helped into a limousine as dozens of other mourners waited nearby to board several white shuttle buses.
Fawcett died on Thursday, aged 62, after a public battle with cancer. O'Neal and Stewart were at her side. "After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away," O'Neal said in a statement last week.
"Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world."
Diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, Fawcett's battle with the disease was documented in Farrah's Story, which aired last month on American television.
Ms Stewart, a producer of the documentary, said Fawcett was "much more than a friend; she was my sister".
"Although I will miss her terribly, I know in my heart that she will always be there as that angel on the shoulder of everyone who loved her," she said.
O'Neal waved to reporters and fans as he got into a limousine after the service.
