Michael Landon was remembered for his integrity and humor Friday as family, celebrity friends and co-stars from "Little House on the Prairie" attended a private funeral service.
Former President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, were among about 500 mourners at a noon ceremony at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary."I know that Dad wants us to think of him and be filled with love and happiness and laughter," said Landon's daughter, Leslie Landon Matthews.
She read a poem her father wrote for an episode of "Little House."
"Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all," she read. "If you can only remember me with tears, then don't remember me at all."
The 54-year-old actor, familiar to a generation of television viewers as Little Joe on the long-running "Bonanza," died Monday of liver and pancreatic cancer at his Malibu ranch. His body was cremated a day later.
His ashes will be interred at the cemetery, which also houses the remains of Lorne Greene, who played Ben Cartwright on "Bonanza."
Landon, who most recently starred in the TV series "Highway to Heaven," was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in April.