In a decidedly low-key and extremely private ceremony, the comic actor of Arthur and 10 fame was laid to rest Tuesday afternoon at the Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains.
About 75 friends and family attended the hourlong services at Higgins Home for Funerals in nearby Watchung before making the trek to the cemetery. Police kept paparazzi and looky-loos at bay, while guest's names were double-checked against an invite list.
There was no sign of his Arthur leading lady Liza Minnelli or his 10 obsession Bo Derek. However, actress Tuesday Weld, one of Moore's four ex-wives and the mother of his adult son Patrick, was among the mourners.
"We just didn't feel it was appropriate at this time to celebrate his celebrity status," Karen Dallow, whose parents, pianists Rena Fruchter and Brian Dallow, were Moore's close friends and caregivers, told the Newark Star-Ledger. "Today was a day to celebrate him as a family."
The British-born, Oscar-nominated actor died March 27 at the Dallows' home in Plainfield of pneumonia--a complication of progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare and incurable brain disorder similar to Parkinson's. He was 66.
Moore's funeral was nothing like the star-laden farewell to Milton Berle earlier this week at a Los Angeles-area cemetery. Berle died the same day as Moore.
A small ensemble played Bach during the service. The actor's casket was covered in red and white rose petals. A floral display in the shape of a piano was placed at the grave site--Moore was equally known for his classically trained piano chops as for his comic stylings. Several of Moore's own compositions were played at the funeral house, according to the Star-Ledger.
Plans are in the works for a public memorial in New York. Additionally, Moore's fourth wife, Nicole Rothschild, will hold a separate ceremony and have a cenotaph placed in a Los Angeles ceremony. Her lawyer says the monument will be for the benefit of Moore and Rothschild's six-year-old son, Nicholas, who lives in Los Angeles.
Moore and Rothschild married in 1994, separated amid charges of spousal abuse, reconciled and finally divorced in 1998.
In addition to his two sons and four ex-wives, Moore is survived by his sister.