Remembering Anthony Quinn

By Stephen M. Silverman

Tuesday June 12, 2001 01:15 PM EDT

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Saturday's memorial service in Providence, R.I., for "Zorba the Greek" star Anthony Quinn brought out family, friends and fans during a service at the historic First Baptist Church in America, reports Reuters. Quinn and his widow, Kathy Benvin, 38, lived on a waterfront estate in Bristol, R.I. The star, 86, died of respiratory failure on June 3 in a Boston hospital. "Anthony was truly a gift to all of us and to millions and millions and millions of people," Quinn's friend, actor Edward James Olmos, said at the service. "He was prolific, outstanding; he gave his life to others." Prolific he was -- a large contingent of Quinn's 13 children (by five women, three of whom he married) and grandchildren attended the service. One of the children died as a youngster in 1941 (he drowned in neighbor W.C. Fields's swimming pool), but the others are still alive. In addition to tributes in New York and Hollywood, Quinn has been mourned in Mexico, the place of his birth, and in Greece, which considered him an honorary citizen thanks to his role as Zorba -- first in the 1964 movie and then in the '80s, in a touring stage musical production.