Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Liz Taylor Fashionably Late to Her Own Jewish Funeral

Even as she made her final exit, Elizabeth Taylor knew how to make an entrance.

At the star’s request, Taylor’s funeral began 15 minutes past schedule yesterday in California, London’s Daily Mail reported. “She even wanted to be late to her own funeral,” the paper quoted her publicist as saying.

Presided over by a rabbi, the private burial included at least one other element of Jewish tradition — but dressed up, of course, in Taylor’s typically extravagant style.

The actress’s $11,000 coffin was “a top of the line, traditional Jewish casket,” TMZ reported — but spruced up with some non-traditional features, including red velvet lining and a pillow to match.

Despite rumors that Taylor would share a cemetery with another bombshell convert to Judaism — Marilyn Monroe — the “Cleopatra” star was buried instead at Glendale’s Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks and Mortuaries. She will spend eternity not far from one of her famous friends, Michael Jackson.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.