TEHRAN -- Thousands of fans and friends gathered in the courtyard of the Iranian Artists Forum in Tehran on Tuesday to take part in the funeral procession of Homa Rusta, the veteran Iranian actress and stage director who died of breast cancer at the age of 69 in Los Angeles last week.

She was also the widow of director and playwright Hamid Samandarian, who died in summer 2012.

Some of her colleagues and friends delivered speeches during the ceremony.

“Homa Rusta couldn’t bear to live without Hamid… and at last, angels took her hand on the other side of the globe, leading her to ‘The Cherry Orchard’ where Hamid was waiting for her,” graphic designer Ebrahim Haqiqi said in his speech.

With a lump in his throat, actor and director Hassan Majuni said, “Today, I shall read part of a play that Mohammad Charmshir wrote for you and wished you would have played in it.”

“I had hoped for the full half of the glass, but I no longer am able pretend that I can easily come to terms with life. When my dreams are full of people who have died, I cannot live comfortably.”

She played the role of Madame Lyubov Andreievna Ranevskaya in Anton Pavlovich Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” directed by Majuni in Tehran’s Iranshahr Theater Complex in April 2013.

Rusta is survived by her son, Kaveh, and her mother, both of whom spoke at the funeral.

“Thank you for being nice to my mother; she returned home to be with you,” said Kaveh.

“Homa was always far from me,” said Rusta’s mother who lives in the United State.

“She went away from me forever and I leave her with God and Hamid Samandarian,” she added.

She was laid to rest beside her husband in the Artists Section of Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery.

Rusta made her debut in cinema with “The Glass Wall” by director Samuel Khachikian in 1971.

Her other credits include “A Report of a Murder” directed by Mohammad-Ali Najafi, “Passengers” by Bahram Beizai and “From Karkheh to Rhine” by Ebrahim Hatamikia.

She was nominated for a best actress award for her role in “From Karkheh to Rhine” at the 11th Fajr International Film Festival.

The organizers of the 32nd edition of the festival awarded her a Golden Simorgh for her lifetime achievements in 2014.

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