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Prosecutors are ready to charge Michael Jackson's doctor with causing the star's death, it was reported last night.
Dr Conrad Murray could be facing prosecution for involuntary manslaughter as soon as today.
The physician has already admitted injecting Jackson with the powerful sedative propofol in the hours before his death and investigators allegedly believe his gross negligence was to blame for the tragedy. Jackson died of heart attack caused by 'acute propofol intoxication', according to the Los Angeles coroner, who ruled the death was a homicide.
Website TMZ, which first reported Jackson's death last June, last night claimed Los Angeles County district attorney Steve Cooley is ready to go ahead with criminal action against Murray. *
The 50-year-old doctor denies any wrongdoing and his lawyer yesterday said Murray wanted to hand himself in to police if charges are pressed - rather than face a humiliating arrest.
Jackson died after allegedly requesting an array of sedatives from Murray in Los Angeles after returning home following rehearsals for his shows at The O2 in London.
The doctor is thought to be the last person to see the star alive and has been almost the sole focus of police inquiries.
Officers who searched the star's home the day after he died found an array of drugs including valium and propofol, which is normally administered in hospital.
Dr Conrad Murray could be charged with the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson within days
Jackson and DiLeo in the late Eighties said Micheal was not frail and not drug addict.He was in charge , having fun and fully involved.Dance like 15 years younger.
Ortega and Jackson put the dancers through their paces
Stage equipment for the rehearsals in Burbank, California, for the doomed This Is It
Jackson filming with choreographer Kenny Ortega
Dance and song rehearsh in This is It concerts.
'When you see Michael in the film you will see why none of us knew anything was wrong. He dances like a man 15 years younger,' said Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo Ortega scrutinises Jackson's every move during rehearsals for This Is It 'The Michael who turned up for rehearsals wasn't a frail addict,' said DiLeo Jackson wanted to perform for a new generation of fans and his three children
Jackson leaving his doctor's office in Beverly Hills
Highest Security guarding the 110 hours footage of Michael Jackson final That is it.
Even by Hollywood standards, the secrecy surrounding the release of This Is It is extraordinary. Rings of armed guards, body scanners and a nerve-racking multimillion-dollar auction for the rights to show Michael Jackson's intense preparation for his doomed O2 concerts. Caroline Graham talks exclusively to the men turning the King of Pop's last days into the biggest money-spinner of all time.
For the pizza boy carrying his Domino's white cardboard box with its trademark red logo, it felt like any typical working day in Hollywood. He arrived at the entrance to Sony studios and passed the security guard at the gate. He was pointed in the direction of a nondescript building, towards the back of the Culver City lot; he parked his scooter, walked across the car park and headed towards a steel door.
Which was when he realised that this was no ordinary delivery.
For one thing, eight armed guards ringed the brick building. He wondered whether he had come to the right place. But then one waved at him and passed a hand-held electronic scanner over him before ushering him through a door. Once inside, his pizza rapidly cooling, the delivery boy underwent a full airport-style security check. He turned out his pockets and put the contents, including his mobile phone, into a plastic container that was run through a scanning machine. The pizza was placed in a plastic basket and scanned, too.
Now he was accompanied by another guard, who escorted him into a lift. The guard used his pre-programmed card to take them up to the second level of the building. Out of the lift he walked across a small walkway to another door, where another guard checked his credentials again, until finally, at a reception desk, he was allowed to hand over the pizza.
After leaving his pizza the delivery boy was then accompanied back down the lift, and scanned once more before being allowed out of the building.
This was not the end of the journey for the pizza, however. After the contents were consumed the box was placed with all the other rubbish collected from this building and the whole lot scanned to make sure that no USB memory chips had been smuggled out.
This is how security works at 'Project Love', the codename given to Hollywood's most closely guarded project of the year - Michael Jackson's This Is It film. With $1 billion at stake, the paranoia may be understandable. Nothing is allowed in or out of this building without all these checks. So tight is security that the 35 people who work here are not allowed out until the end of their shift. Food is brought in from the Sony campus and supplemented with regular pizza deliveries.
On the second floor are six editing bays, where some of Sony's top technicians and editors are busily finessing the 108-minute documentary.
Jackson had always filmed his rehearsals so that he could pore over the footage, often through the night, deciding what was working and what needed correcting or modifying. More than 130 hours of high-definition film had been recorded and upon Jackson's death these hours of footage suddenly took on a profound new significance.
As Randy Phillips, the CEO of the star's concert promoter AEG Live, puts it bluntly in an exclusive interview with Live, 'It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we were sitting on a goldmine. Not only in financial terms but also in terms of what this footage shows.
'Here, on film for all posterity, we have the greatest pop artist of all time showing his every move and thought process as he goes from describing his vision of the show to rehearsing the band and the dancers, to running through on stage what he told me was going to be his finest performance ever.'
There has never been a film launch like the one we are to see in ten days' time. This Is It will debut at 30,000 screens around the world. Simultaneous premieres will be held in 15 cities, including London, Los Angeles, New York, Berlin, Seoul and Rio de Janeiro. A two-disc CD featuring original album masters of the late singer's biggest hits and the new single This Is It will be released before the film goes out. It is all being as carefully choreographed as any of Jackson's dance routines.
Moreover, the DVD of the movie will be released after the cinema release. But the unique aspect of the venture's projected $1 billion revenue is how much will be profit. The studio heads were fighting over it. They went nuts
Compared to the $200 million or so it cost to film box-office runaways like Titanic and The Lord Of The Rings, This Is It cost very little to make. In death, Jackson is going to earn hundreds of millions of dollars - more than he ever would have dreamed of making from the O2 concerts.
On Tuesday June 30, just five days after Jackson died, Randy Phillips locked himself into an editing suite in AEG's headquarters on the third floor of the massive entertainment campus LA Live. This complex is just opposite the Staples Centre in LA where Jackson was rehearsing in the final days of his life.
Together with three editors from AEG, he scanned through the hours and hours of footage.
'I didn't really know what we'd captured, but when I saw a rough cut of some of the footage I had the editors put together 15 really compelling scenes from a bunch of different songs,' says Phillips.
The material was dynamite.
5 Chairman of Hollywood four key studios Fox,Universal,Sony and Paramout fight for it.
'I knew that some people would beg, borrow or steal to get their hands on this footage and put it on the internet. It has been under Fort Knox-style security ever since he died.'
A few days later, with a slick 15-minute cut in the can, Phillips invited the chairmen from Hollywood's four key studios - Fox, Universal, Sony and Paramount - to his office.
'These are guys who are used to things coming to them. But that footage was not leaving my office. They all came. By the time the screening was over, the studio heads were fighting each other to get it. They all went nuts. They all had to have it.'
The studio heads put in their offers.
'We went with a $60 million deal with Sony in the end, not because it was the highest offer but because it made good synergy - Michael's music catalogue is with Sony. It just made sense.'
It certainly made sense for Sony. More advance tickets were sold in the first 24 hours of their release three weeks ago than have ever been sold for any previous film. In the UK, Vue Entertainment has sold more than 30,000 tickets. Michael Jackson leaving his doctor's office in Beverly Hills
Jackson leaving his doctor's office in Beverly Hills
In its first weekend, This Is It is expected to take £188 million ($300 million). The film isn't going to challenge Titanic's $1.84 billion, the promoters have decided to give it a two-week run. But this is part of the strategy. With the hype around the film fresh in shoppers' minds, Sony will be able to halve the money it would usually spend to support a big DVD release.
This Is It is a money-making machine. Revenues are almost guaranteed to crash through the $1 billion barrier. And that leaves a lot of profits for the three organisations involved: Sony, AEG and the Jackson estate.
Under an agreement approved by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Becklo, once the film has passed the $135 million mark, the Jackson estate gains 90 per cent of the additional box-office earnings, while AEG takes the remaining ten.
AEG has already covered the $50 million losses it racked up after Jackson died, out of the $60 million it has received from Sony, so any other gains will be pure profit. The income from DVD sales is being shared equally between AEG, Sony and the Jackson estate. And Sony will capitalise on a huge jump in record sales that it hopes the film will generate.
So while This Is It is not going to be the biggest-grossing film in history, the whole project is certainly going to be one of the most profitable. Frank DiLeo said Michael Jackson is doing it for his children for one last time.He is fit , having fun and in charge. Not a drug addict.
Frank DiLeo is a character seemingly plucked from central casting as a music manager. A cigar between his teeth, he greets me on the sun-decked patio of his room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, his shirt open to the waist, a large gold Rolex (a gift from Jackson) prominently displayed on his tanned wrist.
It was DiLeo who masterminded Jackson's 'glory days', from the Bad, Thriller and Victory tours through to negotiating his $10 million Pepsi advertising deal. It was while filming the Pepsi commercial in 1984 that Jackson's hair caught fire, prompting his first use of the prescription painkillers and sleeping medication that would lead to his death at 50.
It was during rehearsals for his Bad tour that the idea of videoing his preparations first came up.
'Michael liked to go through the footage at night,' says DiLeo.
'He'd see places he could improve his routine or notice things like how a back-up dancer blocked him from the crowd in a certain song.'
For the O2 gigs, all the sessions were filmed from the start and they were still shooting the day before Jackson died.
'We captured Michael talking about his creative vision and then the dancers come in and the band members. The dancers had already been whittled down from hundreds to 50. Michael did what he would always do. He sat quietly at the back of the studio. He never really liked the kids knowing he was there because if they did it would throw them.'
The footage shows Jackson's perfectionism.
'You see him going to wardrobe to discuss every item of clothing, not just for him but for the backing dancers. I remember him looking at a costume and noticing that a button had been stitched on cross-ways and he wanted it on a diagonal. He was that precise.' Michael Jackson and his manager Frank DiLeo in the late Eighties
Jackson and DiLeo in the late Eighties
By the time the rehearsals were in full flow there were 80 people in the venue - a band of eight, 12 dancers, the crew and backstage staff.
'The thing that struck me was how sharp his memory was. It wasn't like he had to consciously remember any of the steps. It was like they were ingrained in him. As the music started, this wasn't a 50-year-old man; this was the old Michael, running through the familiar steps, totally in control.'
It all sounds a long way from the frail, emotionally fragile, heavily doped-up Jackson that others have portrayed. Surely DiLeo must have had some inkling that his friend was heavily drugged up, as the toxicology tests have since revealed?
'No, no,' the manager says. 'I know you won't believe me but Michael compartmentalised his life. I was his manager, his friend. The only time I ever saw him on drugs was during the second trial when he started acting weird and dancing on cars. I told him, "Michael, you need to get off this stuff" and he said he was hooked on prescription pills for the pain. He went to rehab to kick it.
'The Michael who turned up for rehearsals wasn't a frail addict. Michael was a professional. Whatever was or wasn't going on in his home, when he showed up to work, he was on.'
Randy Phillips, who attended many of the rehearsal sessions, also denies Jackson displayed any health woes: 'He would turn up to rehearsals between 2pm and 4pm. Most days he would be there until midnight. He was thin, but not anorexic. He drank a lot of juices and ate salads that his personal chef made and he'd bring with him. There were some days he didn't show but that's because he didn't need to be there.
'When you see Michael in the film you will see why none of us knew anything was wrong. He dances like a man 15 years younger. He didn't dance and sing at full strength during many of the rehearsals but he didn't have to. This was the process of putting a show together.
'When he was talking, he was present and not slurring his words. He acted fit and well. He seemed engaged in the people around him. He was happy. There were no outward signs of drug use that I could see. The Michael you will see in our footage is healthy, vibrant, alive.'
'The one thing that comforts me,' adds DiLeo, 'is something Michael said to me when we started working on the concert. He wanted to do it for his new generation of fans. He said: "Frank, I want my kids to see me perform, just one last time."
'He was doing it for his kids.'
At the moment there are three different openings for the movie - one which begins with footage of Jackson's funeral, one which starts with the 'tap, tap, tap' of his foot at the first rehearsal, and one which opens with a full-blown production number.
DiLeo says: 'I am sure we'll be editing right up to the last minute. We are trying to hit a fine balance between this being a tribute to Michael and also a showcase for his genius. The hard part in the editing process is not what to put in; it's what to leave out.'
Jackson is going to get a bigger send-off than he could possibly have imagined. DiLeo is sitting on hundreds of hours of film from previous concert preparations, as well as several dozen songs that are locked away in his vault - all songs that Jackson recorded but decided not to release.
This Is It? Actually, this is just the start. ------------
Dame Elizabeth used Twitter to praise Michael Jackson's new film
Tweeting: Dame Elizabeth used Twitter to praise the new Michael Jackson documentary This Is It. She said his lyrics were those of a 'modern day prophet'
Premiere: A preview of This Is It was shown at the end of the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards last month. The full documentary will premiere tonight
'It is the single most brilliant piece of film-making I have ever seen. It cements forever Michael's genius in every aspect of creativity.
'To say the man is a genius is an understatement. He cradles each note, coaxes the music to depths beyond reality. You owe it to yourselves and your loved ones to see this again and again.
Taylor, who recently broke the news about her minor heart surgery on Twitter, said she wished her vocabulary 'encompassed' what she felt.
'If you listen to his lyrics, they are those of a modern-day prophet and it beseeches us to listen to him and what he sang,' she wrote.
'We must take his words of responsibility seriously. We cannot let his life be in vain.'
Taylor's messages went out to her 174,526 Twitter followers. This Is It, showing Jackson's rehearsals for his planned O2 arena concerts before his death in June, has its premiere tonight in screenings worldwide, including one in Leicester Square, London.
The documentary was put together from 100 hours of footage of Jackson and his team rehearsing in Los Angeles.
But the film has already sparked a backlash from fans, who have accused the firms behind the video of hiding the stress Jackson was under before the 60 planned London shows. The star died of an overdose of prescription medicine on June 25.
The group of followers have set up a protest group in a bid to raise awareness about the true state of Jackson's health in the last few weeks of his life.
Protest website this-is-not-it.com says people should watch the film 'with different eyes', although it stops short of calling for a boycott.
Michael Jackson fans dance outside before a screening of the film "Michael Jackson's This Is It" at the Regal E-Walk Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 in New York.
A general view of a large billboard on display in London's Leicester Square at the UK Premiere of Michael Jackson's 'This Is It', Tuesday Oct. 27, 2009
Michael Jackson look alike performers talk to the media ahead of the premiere screening of the documentary "This Is It" in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. The Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It" has snapped up one of the last of China's 20 annual foreign movie import slots. Chinese censors approved the film , clearing it in time for the global release date of Oct. 28
In this film publicity image released by Sony Pictures, the movie poster for Michael Jackson's "This is It," film, is shown.
Michael Jackson look alike performers, rest after dancing in the style of the late singer, ahead of the premiere screening of the documentary "This Is It" in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. The Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It" has snapped up one of the last of China's 20 annual foreign movie import slots. Chinese censors approved the film , clearing it in time for the global release date of Oct. 28.
A Michael Jackson look alike dances in the style of the late singer to the tune of "Smooth Criminal" ahead of the premiere screening of the documentary "This Is It" in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009.The Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It" has snapped up one of the last of China's 20 annual foreign movie import slots. Chinese censors approved the film , clearing it in time for the global release date of Oct. 28
A Michael Jackson look alike dances in the style of the late singer to the tune of "Smooth Criminal" ahead of the premiere screening of the documentary "This Is It" in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009.The Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It" has snapped up one of the last of China's 20 annual foreign movie import slots. Chinese censors approved the film , clearing it in time for the global release date of Oct. 28.
Fans of Michael Jackson hold a poster of the late singer ahead of the premiere of the documentary "This Is It" in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009.The Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It" has snapped up one of the last of China's 20 annual foreign movie import slots. Chinese censors approved the film , clearing it in time for the global release date of Oct. 28.
Actor Jamie Kennedy and actress Jennifer Love Hewitt arrive to the premiere of "Michael Jackson's This Is It" on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009, in Los Angeles.
A fan wears a Michael Jackson T-Shirt in London's Leicester Square at the UK Premiere of Michael Jackson's This Is It, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009.
Actor Jamie Kennedy takes a photo of actress Jennifer Love Hewitt as they arrive to the premiere of "Michael Jackson's This Is It" on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009, in Los Angeles.
Jermaine Jackson, left, arrives to the premiere of "Michael Jackson's This Is It," Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009, in Los Angeles.
The mood was bittersweet yet triumphant Tuesday night as fans, friends and colleagues of the late Michael Jackson attended the premiere for what would be his final bow — a music extravaganza that captures rehearsals for his aborted concert stand last summer.
From evening and midnight screenings in North America to middle-of-the-night and morning showings in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, "Michael Jackson's This Is It" arrived simultaneously worldwide in the biggest cinematic blowout ever for a music film.
At the Los Angeles premiere near the arena where much of Jackson's rehearsal footage was shot, celebrities attending included Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, Neil Patrick Harris, Katy Perry, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr.
Michael Bearden, musical director and associate producer of filmmaker Kenny Ortega's "This Is It," said that making the film was the most "bittersweet" project of his career, but he was happy "the world will see (Jackson's) triumph."
"I know he would have liked it," Bearden said. "Kenny Ortega and I, we considered Michael in every aspect of the movie. We were with him every day for the last three or four months of his life at least, so we know he would have liked what we did."
Opening in 99 countries Tuesday and Wednesday, the film expands to 110 territories by this weekend, with distributor Sony putting 15,000 prints of "This Is It" into circulation. The studio paid $60 million for the film rights.
The simultaneous showings around the globe was anchored by a star-studded premiere at the Nokia Theatre, a concert venue across the street from Staples Center, where many of Jackson's rehearsals — and his high-profile public memorial — were held.
The plaza in front of the Nokia Theatre was transformed into an elegant red-carpet arrivals area, with a dozen crystal chandeliers, displays of Jackson's past costumes and "This Is It" spelled out in giant letters.
Jackson memorabilia was on sale inside, from T-shirts proclaiming "I Love MJ" to key rings reading "King of Pop."
A few lucky fans won seats along the red carpet, while others filled the surrounding area, cameras in hand. Jackson's hits played on a loudspeaker.
Johnny Kuhn of San Pedro, Calif., won tickets to the premiere and came downtown early with his wife and two sons to take in the scene. He said he expected "This Is It" would be "happy and sad."
"We've lost a legend," Kuhn said.
Many fans waited in line for days to buy tickets for advance screenings of "This Is It" at the new Regal Cinemas on site, which was showing the film to sold-out audiences for its grand opening Tuesday on all 14 of its screens.
"For that to be our first movie ... the energy and excitement in the auditorium tonight is going to be phenomenal," said Russ Nunley, spokesman for Regal Entertainment Group.
The film, culled from more than 100 hours of rehearsal footage, shows an enthusiastic King of Pop meticulously crafting his moves and performing some of his most beloved hits.
Some of Jackson's family members and friends saw "This Is It" in advance. Elizabeth Taylor, a longtime friend of the pop star, posted her thoughts Monday on Twitter.
"It is the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking I have ever seen," she wrote on the micro-blogging site. "It cements forever Michael's genius in every aspect of creativity."
The 77-year-old actress added that she "wept from pure joy at his God-given gift" and urged her fans to see the film "again and again."
The film has potential all-ages appeal, with the Motion Picture Association of America giving it a family-friendly PG rating for "some suggestive choreography and scary images."
Clocking in at one hour, 51 minutes, "This Is It" plays in a limited run of just over two weeks, lending it some of the exclusivity that had been intended for the concerts Jackson had planned in London.
"We think the 16 days is right. It's sort of a special event that you want to frame in a special way," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony.
Jackson died June 25 at age 50. The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled the death a homicide, caused primarily by the powerful anesthetic propofol and another sedative. Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, has not been charged with a crime but is the focus of the police investigation.
Jackson's 50 comeback concerts at London's O2 arena were to have begun in July.
The Rev. Al Sharpton said it was a "personal honor" to be invited to the service.
"I talked about how it's harder traveling east to west because you face a headwind," Sharpton said. "Michael, coming from Gary, Indiana, always had to battle headwinds, face some accusation. But he landed well. I told the children they crowned their father for all eternity."
Above, Rev. Al Sharpton arrives. Katherine Jackson and Joe Jackson mourn at the service.
Jackson's brother and his two sons all wore black suits and red ties and sported purple arm bands embroidered with gold crowns as they filled the front rows.
Two color photos of Jackson sat on easels in front of the crowd.
Pictured above, Tito, Jermaine, Jackie, and Randy Jackson.
Joe Jackson, Prince Michael and Prince Michael II (Blanket)
Jermaine Jackson arrives at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
The producers Berry Gordy and Suzanne De Passe were among the music luminaries in attendance. Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson's first wife Lisa Marie Presley also paid their respects.
The service took place exactly 10 weeks after the music superstar unexpectedly died at his Beverly Hills mansion from an overdose of sedatives allegedly given by his doctor.
Macaulay Culkin, above with actress Mila Kunis
Above, La Toya Jackson sits with other mourners. They filled more than 200 white chairs set up outside the Great Mausoleum.
The high-security structure is filled with reproductions of Michelangelo statues and a stained-glass replica of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper," according to Forrest Lawn's Web site.
The graves of Hollywood legends Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Red Skeleton and Nat King Cole dot the heavily guarded mausoleum's dim hallways - as do 24-hour security cameras.
Chris Tucker
Jackson's three young children poured their hearts out in personal letters that were placed in their father's gold-plated coffin along with one of his signature gloves. They placed a crown on top of a bed of flowers on the casket.
actor Mike Brando, seen above arriving at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor, who was dressed in black and arrived in a wheelchair, was one of Jackson's many celebrity friends who attended the service . . .
Pictured, the hearse bearing the remains of US pop icon Michael Jackson arrive for his burial ceremony.
Maria Martinez, Riverside, Calif., is seen holding a Michael Jackson poster one city block away from the controlled entrance to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Michael Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields
The hearse carrying Michael Jackson is seen at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Elizabeth Taylor arrives to Michael Jackson's funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Michael Jackson fans offer gifts to the Jackson family prior to Michael Jackson's funeral at the family residence in the Encino section of Los Angeles for his son's funeral on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
In this handout photo provided by Harrison Funk/The Jackson Family, Janet Jackson, Randy Jackson, Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson and Marlon Jackson attend Michael Jackson's funeral service held at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park on Sept. 3, 2009 in Glendale, Calif.
Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson leaves the family residence in the Encino section of Los Angeles for his son's funeral on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson leaves the family residence in the Encino section of Los Angeles for his son's funeral on Thursday Sept. 3,2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Members of the media gather outside Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Michael Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson, center, leaves the family residence in the Encino section of Los Angeles for his son's funeral, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields. Jackson died June 25.
In this image made from video, Joe and Katherine Jackson are seated outside the Great Mausoleum where Michael Jackson will be interred, prior their son's funeral in Glendale, Calif. on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009.
The massive marble and concrete Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park was slightly accessible by the public before Michael Jackson was entombed somewhere in its maze of floors and hallways.
Tell the entrance guard you were there to see the "Last Supper" stained-glass window show, and you were allowed to roam a portion of the catacombs for about 10 minutes before anyone hassled you.
But those open sections are only a fraction of the sprawling building that rises many stories and plunges deep underground.
So wherein lies the King of Pop in the monolith? That may be a secret for the ages.
On Friday, a tourist family asked a guard whether the superstar's tomb was private. The guard said it was.
"Private ... forever?" one of them asked.
"Private forever." he said.
No fans, no paparazzi, and so far no one trying too hard to steal a glimpse of the vault containing Jackson's golden casket.
The exact location may forever remain unknown to all but a select few: A guest who attended the Jackson ceremony told The Associated Press the casket had not been put into the vault by the time mourners left.
The funeral began Thursday night nearly two hours after its scheduled 7 p.m. time. Some 200 mourners, including 77-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and other celebrities associated with Jackson, showed up promptly, only to wait at the outdoor seating area, under a withering late-summer sun that pushed temperatures to 90 degrees even as it was going down.
The ceremony began with remarks and song after the family arrived to fill the front five rows of white folding chairs.
Mourners then followed Jackson's brothers as they carried the casket into the mausoleum. The singer's daughter, 11-year-old Paris, cried and was comforted by her aunt, LaToya.
Paris and brothers Prince Michael, 12, and Prince Michael II, 7, known as Blanket, began the service by placing a bejeweled crown on their father's casket. They were composed through most of the 90-minute ceremony, the guest said.
Once inside, Gladys Knight performed the hymn "Our Father" (The Lord's Prayer) and moved many to tears, according to the guest. When it was over, many of the 200 mourners hugged each other. Among them were Taylor, Jackson's ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, Barry Bonds and Macaulay Culkin.
As it ended, Katherine Jackson appeared extremely weary and had to be helped to her car, according to the guest. Earlier, she had a difficult time going into the mausoleum; she was overcome and turned back, making it unclear if she went in at all, the guest said.
More than 400 media credentials were issued to reporters and film crews who were kept behind barricades. The few clusters of fans who gathered around the secure perimeter encircling the cemetery entrance struggled to see.
Jackson will share eternity at Forest Lawn with the likes of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields, entombed alongside them in the Great Mausoleum. The level of security and secrecy about the location of Jackson's vault all but guaranteed it won't be turned into a shrine or tourist stop.
The entombment also ends months of speculation that the singer's body would be buried at Neverland Ranch, in part to make the property a Graceland-style attraction.
The King of Pop died a drug-induced death June 25 at age 50 as he was about to embark on a comeback attempt. The coroner's office has labeled the death a homicide, and Jackson's death certificate lists "injection by another" as the cause.
Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told detectives he gave the singer a series of sedatives and the powerful anesthetic propofol to help him sleep. Prosecutors are still investigating, and no charges have been filed.
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Michael Jackson's outdoor funeral service began at Forest Lawn Glendale Thursday after a more than hour delay, keeping Elizabeth Taylor and other celebs waiting in the stubborn L.A. heat.
