Entertainment Industry Figures to Attend John McCain’s Memorial Service
By Ted Johnson
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – WASHINGTON — Actor-director Warren Beatty, and media mogul and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be among the pallbearers at ’s memorial service on Saturday in Washington.
McCain’s memorial service also will feature Renee Fleming singing “Danny Boy,” according to plans released by the McCain family.
Beatty was a longtime friend of McCain’s, and the Arizona senator gave a video tribute to him when he was awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2008. Bloomberg also was a friend of McCain’s.
Other pallbearers include Vice President Joe Biden, former Defense Secretary William Cohen, former Sen. Gary Hart, businessman Stephen Dart, Pegasus Capital Advisors COO Richard Davis, Carla Eudy, former Sen. Russ Feingold, former Sen. Phil Gramm, Vladimir Kara-Murza, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, author Mark Salter, FedEx founder Fred Smith, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.
McCain’s daughter, Meghan, a host on “The View,” will deliver a tribute at the start of the service. Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush are among those who will also speak about McCain.
Also attending the memorial will be Harry Sloan, Platinum Eagle Acquisition Corp. partner and the former CEO of MGM. Sloan hosted a fundraiser for McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and served as a delegate at the Republican National Convention.
Last year, Sloan, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, his wife Linda Bruckheimer, and CBS’ Les Moonves met with McCain at his office on Dec. 1, pictured above. That was the day that the Senate held a key vote on the tax bill. Sloan, the Bruckheimers, and Moonves serve together on the board of ZeniMax Media Inc., a video game publisher headquartered near Washington, and set up a visit following a board meeting, Sloan said on Monday.
Bruckheimer also supported McCain in 2008 and Moonves has been involved in the McCain Institute. He was among the speakers at its Sedona Forum last year, and participated in a dinner to support an anti-human trafficking initiative spearheaded by Cindy McCain. It was unclear if the Bruckheimers will attend the service. Moonves and his wife Julie Chen plan to attend the memorial, Sloan said.
In one of his last public appearances, McCain attended the Saban Forum in Washington on Dec. 2 with media mogul Haim Saban. The forum is held each year in Washington and focuses on issues of national security and foreign policy.
