Nicole Kidman Says Goodbye To Beloved Father, ‘I’m So Lucky To Be His Daughter’
On Friday, Nicole Kidman joined with family and friends for the funeral of her father, Dr. Antony Kidman. In a moving eulogy, the Australian actress said she was “lucky to be his daughter.” Nicole Kidman’s husband Keith Urban and close friend Russell Crowe were there serving as pallbearers at the event.
Dr. Antony Kidman, age 75, was a respected psychologist in Sydney. While visiting Nicole’s sister in Singapore, Dr. Kidman reportedly fell in his hotel room after breakfast.
The death occurred a week ago and it sent the family into a state of shock, according to close friend Wendy Day who said, “I think that some time and privacy is needed to deal with this shock and tragedy.”
Country star Keith Urban canceled his shows last weekend to spend time with his grieving family. Nicole and Keith’s two children, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret, were also in attendance to mourn their grandfather’s passing. Russell Crowe came to support the family.
The funeral was held at St Francis Xavier Church in Sydney. Nicole Kidman’s eulogy underlined the important role her father played in the actress’s life.
“I’m so lucky to be his daughter and that he chose my mother to make me with. The only regret he’d have is that he’s not here to see his beautiful grandchildren grow up.”
After Nicole Kidman’s divorce with Tom Cruise in 2001, Anthony was the first one to be at the actresses side.
“He was the father that was on a plane, hours after I got divorced, to come and take care of me, staying with me for weeks for as long as I needed. He was also the father who would, when I was crying, always tell me ‘Nicki, it’s going to be OK’.”
Kidman described her late father as a man of enormous compassion and an outgoing spirit, saying,
“Anthony had a zest and enthusiasm for life – That wonderful vibrant man who bounded out of the house to fly to Singapore. Every little mundane task and action that I do is a constant reminder – making a cup of tea, taking out the trash – he’d say you’re the foreman, I’m the labourer. A man of enthusiasm and of passions once he’d committed to something he stuck to it… Night before he left he wept about a woman suffering ovation cancer he genuinely felt empathy. He was a good man in the sense of the word.”
Nicole Kidman clearly loved her father a great deal.
[Image Credit: Reuters/Fred Prouser/Files]
