Elizabeth Taylor laid to rest at private service

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Elizabeth Taylor was given a small private funeral service in the Los Angeles area yesterday, a day after she died of congestive heart failure, police said.

The Oscar-winning actress, 79, was laid to rest at the Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, outside Los Angeles — the same place where her close friend, singer Michael Jackson, was buried in 2009.

Glendale police spokesman Tom Lorenz told media waiting outside the cemetery that the service was for family only, with about three dozen people attending.

Elizabeth Taylor

Taylor, who married eight times, is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Her representatives did not return calls for comment. They said on Wednesday that details of a public memorial would be announced at a later date.

Forest Lawn is also the burial place of many Hollywood celebrities, including Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Walt Disney.

Lorenz said Taylor was being interred in the Great Mausoleum, but not next to Jackson.

Taylor was was a prominent activist for AIDS victims and raised millions of dollars for research into the disease.