TORONTO -- A funny thing happened outside the Holy Blossom Temple yesterday. People were laughing.

That's right. As the 1,500 or so mourners at the service for Al Waxman flooded out of the synagogue and onto the front steps, there were faces filled with mirth.

This not to say that the funeral for the iconic Mr. Waxman was not a sad occasion. It was. It was just not a particularly sombre one.

Just as Waxman was a Canadian Everyman in his role as the King of Kensington, his eulogies had something of everything. There was a lot of laughter, more than a few tears, much mention of his many kindnesses and rueful references to his flaws. Most of all, there was the lasting impression of a life well-lived, of a man who loved well and was well-loved in return.

As all of the country now knows, Waxman died suddenly following bypass surgery Wednesday morning. (Every media report has referred to this as a "routine heart operation," although the term seems like an oxymoron.)

And yesterday afternoon, even before the shock had begun to wear off, a star-studded collection of family, friends and fans gathered to say goodbye to a man who many believe is a genuine Canadian hero.

It is fair to say that tout le Toronto was there, not to mention more than a few celebs from south of the border. So, with apologies to the many we've probably missed, here's a partial list of those who wanted to pay their respects to the King:

There was Oscar-nominated film makers Norman Jewison and Atom Egoyan; actors Tyne Daley, Graham Greene, Cynthia Dale, Brent Carver, Gordon Pinsent; entertainers Carla Collins, Jaymz Bee and Maureen Forrester; the Mirvishes, Ed, Anne and David; Yuk Yuk's Mark Breslin; Mayor Mel Lastman and Marilyn, former Premier Bob Rae, former Lieut.-Gov. Lincoln Alexander, Liberal cabinet minister David Collennette; Police Chief Julian Fantino and board chair Norm Gardner; journalists Peter Mansbridge, Brian Linehan and George Jonas; the Abellas, historian Irving and Madam Justice Rosalie; businessfolk Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman, Roots' Michael Budman, Blue Jays honcho Paul Godfrey and wife Gina.

And those are just the folks we could make out from the gallery where it was standing room only.

While it was a solemn occasion, the eulogies were anything but, bordering on the irreverent as Rabbi Elyse Goldstein compared Waxman to Moses, men who both had their share of "strengths and weaknesses, fears and foibles."

Goldstein, who Waxman used to call his "personal and adorable" rabbi, said the actor had grown more spiritual in recent years and began to contemplate Judaism on a deeper level.

That work, she said, culminated in his direction of The Diary of Anne Frank, where Waxman sought to imbue his mainly Gentile cast with a sense of what it actually means to be Jewish.

There is special place in heaven for Waxman, she finished, where he can sit next to Moses and have an honest debate about whether or not Charlton Heston did a good job in The Ten Commandments.

In his eulogy, Waxman's good friend and lawyer Eddie Greenspan brought down the house when he complained about working with him on The Scales of Justice.

Greenspan explained that he had auditioned to play himself in the series while Waxman had tried out for the same role.

"He got the part," said Greenspan.

"And ever since that day when I went to court I would ask myself 'What would Al do?'

"I never imagined that a day would come when I couldn't call him to ask."

While Greenspan may have brought down the house, it was Waxman's son Adam who brought us all to tears. In an industry where marriages are seemingly made and broken overnight, it was evident from everything the young man said that it was family, not career which drove Al W.

Adam talked about the obvious love his parents had for one another, adding: "I was always thinking about how lucky I was to be raised in that kind of home."

He recalled a day when he was forced to get on the school bus and was unable to say goodbye to his dad, who was scheduled to fly to L.A.

Adam remembers glumly looking out the window on the Allen Expressway when he spotted his father frantically waving to get the driver to stop.

"But the bus driver wouldn't pull over because he had a schedule to keep. So my dad cut him off."

And when the boy disembarked, his father stood there to greet him with a smile as wide as his open arms.

"I just wanted to give a hug for my number one son," he recalled his dad saying.

And there wasn't a dry eye left when he talked about how his father will never really leave him or his sister, Tobaron.

"He's in my head, he's in my heart and he's in everything I do from now on."

Life's most bittersweet goodbyes can be the unexpected ones, the ones for which you don't have time to prepare.

Greenspan remembered his 65-year-old friend saying recently that if we were dazzled by his work in the first part of his life, we should stick around for Act Two.

"Act Two was great," Greenspan said. "It just wasn't long enough.

But Waxman, as the consummate entertainer, might have had an appreciation for his final scene, said Rabbi Goldstein.

"Ever the actor, I know you would say, at least you left us wanting more."


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