Funeral and Legacy
Pickford brought her body back to the United States. Several accounts state Pickford tried to commit suicide en route but was talked out of it. According to Mary Pickford's autobiography, "Jack crossed the ocean with Ollie's body. It wasn't until several years later that he confessed to Mother how one night during the voyage back he put on his trousers and jacket over his pajamas, went up on deck, and was climbing over the rail when something inside him said: 'You can't do this to your mother and sisters. It would be a cowardly act. You must live and face the future.'"
On September 29, 1920, an Episcopal funeral service was held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York for Thomas. According to the New York Times a police escort was needed, and the entire church was jammed. Several women fainted at the ceremony, and several men had their hats crushed in the rush to view the coffin. Thomas was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York. Her effects were later sold off for her estate on November 20, 1920. The sale netted $26,931, with Mabel Normand and Lewis Selznick buying several items.
Read more about this topic: Olive Thomas
Famous quotes containing the words funeral and/or legacy:
“That poor little thing was a good woman, Judge. But she just sort of let life get the upper hand. She was born here and she wanted to be buried here. I promised her on her deathbed she’d have a funeral in a church with flowers. And the sun streamin’ through a pretty window on her coffin. And a hearse with plumes and some hacks. And a preacher to read the Bible. And folks there in church to pray for her soul.”
—Laurence Stallings (1804–1968)
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)