‘Very Private’ Funeral Planned for Bette Davis Later This Month

A “very private” funeral will be held sometime later this month for Bette Davis, the screen legend who died at age 81 in France, her lawyer said Monday.

Miss Davis, who had breast cancer, died Friday night at the American Hospital in Paris. She was en route to her West Hollywood home from the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, where she had been honored for her 60-year acting career that included two Oscars and 10 nominations.

Her body is to be flown to Los Angeles this week, her attorney, Harold Schiff, said, adding that the funeral service will be held somewhere on the West Coast.

Schiff said arrangements to return Miss Davis’ body to the United States could not be made until government offices in France opened Monday.

He said he and her son, Michael Merrill, planned to arrange a “very private funeral and a memorial service in a week or two.”