Funeral for Depardieu's actor son

Carla Bruni comforted sister Julie Depardieu at the funeral

France's first lady Carla Bruni was among the mourners at the funeral of actor Guillaume Depardieu, son of film star Gerard Depardieu.

His parents and sister bade farewell to Depardieu at a church ceremony in the Paris suburb of Bougival.

Among others attending the funeral were film director Luc Besson and actress Nathalie Baye.

The 37-year-old died in a Paris hospital earlier this week from complications related to pneumonia.

During the hour-long ceremony, extracts were played from an album of recordings made by Depardieu shortly before he died.

Troubled youth

As a teenager and young adult, Depardieu faced problems with drugs, alcohol and violence that led to convictions for traffic violations and narcotics.

In an address at the funeral, his mother Elisabeth spoke of "a child, and then a man, about whom you always wondered would he come home at night".

His father, Gerard, read from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's children's classic, The Little Prince.

"Do you see? It's too far. I can't take this body with me. It's too heavy," he read. Father and son had a public falling out in 2003.

In 1996, Guillaume won the most promising young actor prize at the Cesar awards, for his role in The Apprentices (Les Apprentis).

Other screen credits included Bertrand Bonello's Of War (De La Guerre) and Versailles, currently showing in cinemas in France.