At Stephen Hawking Funeral, Eddie Redmayne and Astronomer Royal Give Readings.
LONDON Hundreds of people lined the streets of the British city of Cambridge on Saturday, breaking into applause as the hearse carrying the remains of the famed scientist Stephen Hawking arrived at a local church for a private funeral for 500 invited guests.
Dr. Hawking died on March 14 at age 76 after capturing popular imagination with his writings about space and time.
His book A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, published in 1988, has sold more than 10 million copies and inspired a documentary film by Errol Morris. His own story was the basis of an award-winning 2014 feature film, The Theory of Everything.
The actor Eddie Redmayne, who portrayed Hawking in the 2014 biographical drama, gave a reading from Ecclesiastes during the service at St. Mary the Great Church. There was also a reading by Martin Rees, Britains Astronomer Royal, and eulogies by one of Hawkings children and a former student.
The service was officiated by the Rev. Cally Hammond, the dean of Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge University, where Dr. Hawking was a fellow for 52 years.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/31/world/europe/stephen-hawking-funeral-eddie-redmayne.html?