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Whoopi Goldberg Among Legion of Celebrities Mourning Joan Rivers at Funeral

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Pam Wright

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There wasn’t the reported red carpet outside New York’s Temple Emanu-El Sunday for the arrival of mourners Sunday, but Joan Rivers’ funeral was very much the star-studded event the legendary comedienne envisioned.

Whoopi Goldberg, who said “Joan made me laugh harder than anyone I’ve ever known,” joined dozens of A-list celebrities from the worlds of Hollywood, theater, fashion and media.

Howard Stern delivered the eulogy, while Broadway singer-actress Audra McDonald offered her rendition of the gut-wrenching song, Smile.

Leading off the service was a men’s choir singing some of Rivers’ favorite Broadway tunes. Hugh Jackman was also expected to sing at the end of the service, according to The Seattle Times.

They were among the many A-list celebrities who came to mourn the 81-year-old trailblazer who died Thursday, a week after she stopped breathing during a routine throat procedure at a Manhattan medical clinic.

Other mourners included Rivers’ dear friend Kathy Griffin; colleague and friend Kelly Osbourne; Sarah Jessica Parker; and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz.

Theater legends, including Bernadette Peters, Alan Cumming and Tommy Tune, were also in attendance.

From the music industry, record producer Clive Davis was in attendance; and from the fashion industry, designers Carolina Herrera and Michael Kors paid their respects.

Television stars Barbara Walters, Geraldo Rivera, Diane Sawyer, Giuliana Rancic, Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb, Andy Cohel, and Late Night band leader Paul Shaffer, as well as moguls Barry Diller, Donald Trump and Steve Forbes, were among the many who came to mourn Rivers.

And as per her wish, a large contingency of paparazzi lined the street across from the temple amongst hundreds of fans from around the world.

The comedian shared her last wishes in her 2012 book I Hate Everyone … Starting With Me:

“When I die — and, yes, Melissa, that day will come; and, yes, Melissa, everything’s in your name — I want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action….I want Craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene! I want it to be Hollywood all the way. I don’t want some rabbi rambling on; I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents. I don’t want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing Mr. Lonely. I want to look gorgeous, better dead than I do alive. I want to be buried in a Valentino gown and I want Harry Winston to make me a toe tag. And I want a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyonce’s.”

Those words were reportedly printed in the funeral program.

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