Actor Neil Morrissey was among a host of celebrities to attend the funeral of TV star Michael Elphick yesterday.
About 100 family and friends packed into the crematorium chapel in the former EastEnders actor's home town of Chichester, some spilling out into the grounds.
During the private service, held on the eve of what would have been his 56th birthday, mourners including London's Burning star James Hazeldine and actor Malcolm Tierney were invited to join a rendition of The Great Pretender.
The funeral programme bore the actor's signature and the catchphrase Be Lucky on the front.
Afterwards, mourners went to a wake at the nearby Nag's Head pub.
Elphick, 55, who fought an on-off battle with drink, collapsed on September 7 and died in hospital.
His best-known work was on the television series Boon before his recent return to the small screen as Harry Slater in EastEnders.
Also in the cast of Boon, first screened in 1986, was Morrissey, the future star of Men Behaving Badly.
Elphick's mother Joan, 84, who still lives in Chichester, paid tribute to her son this week.
She said: "He was very quiet and very kind, just like his father."
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