r/todayilearned • u/No-Community- • 1d ago

TIL that Elizabeth Taylor was deliberately late to her own funeral

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elizabeth-taylor-was-late-for-her-own-funeral/#:~:text=The%20private%20service%20was%20set,late%20for%20her%20own%20funeral.%22
6.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

4.6k

u/joe2352 1d ago

My dad was constantly late to everything so we asked the funeral home to show up late to his funeral. They obliged and pulled up with him a few minutes after everyone else and played Bad Company (his favorite band) for the drive.

1.1k

u/murder_hands 1d ago

This sounds like something my own dad would love. I'm so sorry for your loss! But what a meaningful send off.

228

u/scattyshern 1d ago

That's so sweet! I love that. I knew a guy who always got lost, if he was supposed to be in the south east, he was in the northern suburbs. When his mum spoke to the funeral home, the day before his funeral. They said "now we haven't lost him, but he's accidentally gone to a location 45 minutes away. His poor mother just laughed and said, of course he did!

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u/parsley166 4h ago

Wasn't that guy in Ranma ½?

2

u/scattyshern 3h ago

No! It was a friend I had here in Australia, famous for nothing but he was lovely and funny and gone way before his time.

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u/Sunsparc 1d ago

Was the song Feel Like Makin' Love?

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u/joe2352 1d ago

It was about a 30 minute drive from the funeral home to the cemetery so he played Bad Companys 10 from 6 (a greatest hits album)

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u/Independent-Tennis57 1d ago

Good Lovin Gone Bad...

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u/JVM_ 1d ago

My father-in-law's brother, when they were kids, said "they're going to write the late Bob Smith" on your tombstone.

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u/Sir_Encerwal 22h ago

Sorry for your loss but damn if that isn't a hell of a send off.

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u/aztecelephant 1d ago

That's so rad lol

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u/monotoonz 21h ago

He really was bad company until the day he died 🧑‍🎤

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u/joe2352 21h ago

🤟🏻

1.5k

u/talon_262 1d ago

The late Elizabeth Taylor being fashionably late, just one last time.

103

u/ColdBlizzards 1d ago

It’s her trademark move!

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u/So_be 18h ago

I thought that was getting married, or divorced…

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u/MoonWatchersOdyssey 1d ago

Mark Twain once said, "People always say such nice things about you at your funeral. It makes me sad to know that I'll miss my own by just a few days."

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u/Immediate_Bet_2859 1d ago

You notice how everyone always goes to heaven when it is talked about at a funeral?  The preacher never says “we can all feel better knowing that Jim is now burning in eternal hellfire”.  

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u/cyclicamp 6h ago

“I think he's down there right now, screaming up at us. And I think he's in severe pain.”

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u/pobodys-nerfect5 9h ago

Oh I’ve heard of a few funerals where there was nothing nice to say. Though now that I think about it I’m unsure if I’m mistaking media for real life

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u/Deitaphobia 1d ago

That's why I'll hosting my own a month early.

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u/JaegerMeister20 21h ago

My grandfather did this. He was terminally ill so he had a “transition party” once he was told there was nothing left they could do. All three of his ex wives showed up, including my grandmother who paid $5000 (in 1995) for a same-day flight from Germany to California.

She refused to go to his funeral when he actually died - two years later.

839

u/-forbiddenkitty- 1d ago

I was two weeks late to my own birth. I've been trying to catch up ever since. I guarantee you the funeral home will lose my body and I'll be late to my funeral.

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u/No-Community- 1d ago

🤣 it shouldn’t have make me laugh that much

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u/steve_mahanahan 1d ago

Same! It’s very indicative of how I am as a person. It was warm in there and I like to sleep in!

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u/katieorgana 1d ago

I understand completely. I was three weeks late to my own birth and feel my fate will be similar lol

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u/Plantlover3000xtreme 11h ago

Three weeks late is kinda wild. If you don't mind, roughly how old are you? I don't think that's common anymore. 

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u/katieorgana 8h ago

I don’t mind at all! I’m 37 and you are correct, this would almost never happen now. Honestly, from what my mom has told me, it really didn’t happen then, either.

It’s kind of a unique situation. My mom’s doctor wasn’t a fan of inducing patients unless there was an emergency. He didn’t like to do elective cesareans either, as they weren’t quite as common back then. Also, my mom was a labor & delivery nurse who worked practically until I popped out, so I always joke that the doctor let me stay in there because he figured if she went into labor, she was already where she needed to be lol but alas, he finally did have to force me out because apparently I still had no immediate plans of making an appearance and I had gotten so big that they couldn’t wait any longer. And no, my mom still didn’t get the cesarean and I was nearly 11 lbs…my poor mother 🤭

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u/mace30 1d ago

I was 3 weeks late. I'd have been later, but mom decided enough was enough and kicked me out.

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u/-forbiddenkitty- 23h ago

I was evicted, too.

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u/Bile-duck 1d ago

I read this in the dad's voice from Big Fish.

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u/CriticalAd987 1d ago

wow yes 😭

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u/UntappedBabyRage 13h ago

I was also two weeks late! But I like to say I did it as a courtesy to my sister so I wouldn’t be born on her birthday.

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u/-forbiddenkitty- 13h ago

Ironically, my siblings were born on the same day after my brother, too, had to be induced.

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u/darvs7 1d ago

The late Elizabeth Taylor.

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u/Aromatic-Tear7234 1d ago

Bah dum tisssss.

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u/No-Community- 1d ago

An icon til the end

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u/DukeFlipside 1d ago

Isn't everybody "late" at their own funeral?

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u/Gayspacecrow 1d ago

Usually, the body is there before the mourners arrive.

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u/notmentallyillanymor 1d ago

"Late" can be used instead of "dead" to be delicate.

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u/ColdBlizzards 1d ago

Being late is her trademark move. R.I.P 😢🕊️

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u/ranchspidey 1d ago

I should’ve done this with my mom, we always joked she ran on “(her name) time” because her ETA was so wildly inconsistent. Her funeral was actually one year ago today.

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u/RiseOfTheNorth415 1d ago

May Ms Taylor RIP, even a decade plus, on.

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u/Morgue724 1d ago

Can't think of anything better to be late to honestly, she just did it with style.

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u/ktalu 1d ago

This is how I find out. RIP

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u/rozzimos-3 1d ago

She died in 2011

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u/ktalu 1d ago

Guess I shouldve /s

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u/Nr_Dick 1d ago

Everyone's late to their own funeral.

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u/DunderThunder 1d ago

Final act of icon behaviour from a true icon 💅🏼

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u/Sustainable_Twat 1d ago

Talk about an entrance.

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u/alexbouca 14h ago

Of course she was.

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u/Skreamie 1d ago

Oh shit I'm definitely writing this into my funeral plans/will

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u/Keirhan 11h ago

My dad is late to almost everything. I've already told him he'll be late to his own funeral too

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u/Aurhim 5h ago

As a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, this is one of the most Los Angeles things I’ve ever seen.

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u/Sarasha 3h ago

My mom constantly late for everything. I had to lie about the times on stuff if I wanted her to show up on on time. When it came time for her funeral. We got lost because it's been awhile since we had been there. She was buried near my grandmother. We were late. We all had a good laugh. Just the way she would wanted it. She always said she was going to be late for her funeral and she was.