Truman Capote's cremated remains invited to attend 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Broadway premier 
 
 Producers wanted to fly the ashes in from Los Angeles to attend the March 20 opening party 
 
 
 
 Joanna Carson, former wife of comedian Johnny Carson, still keeps the remains in the Bel Air bedroom where the writer died in 1984 
 
 Broadway producers who want big stars at their premier usually want ones with a pulse. 
 
 
 
 But the folks who put Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s on Broadway wanted the late author cremated remains at the play premier’s after party, since Capote himself couldn't make it. 
 
 
 
 They even went so far as to offer the ashes—and their owner—a flight from Los Angeles to New York for the show. 
 
 Odd guest: In honor of the late writer, producers of Broadway's 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' tried to fly Truman Capote's ashes in for their New York premier 
 
 A source of the New York Post confirmed the bizarre offer. 
 
 
 
 ‘We did try to get him here,’ the source said. ‘We thought it would have been poignant for the entire company.’ 
 
 
 
 Former wife of Johnny Carson, Joanne Carson, keeps the In Cold Blood author’s remains in the Bel Air bedroom where he died in 1984. 
 
 
 
 The two were close friends up until his death and Carson has seen the ashes argued over, stolen, returned, and nearly stolen again over the years. 
 
 Old friends: Joanne Carson (here with then husband Johnny in 1969) possesses Capote's remains in her Bel Air home 
 
 The ashes were famously boosted during Carson’s 1988 Halloween party, along with $200,000 worth of jewelry. 
 
 
 
 However, they were mysteriously returned shortly thereafter. 
 
 That’s when Capote’s longtime partner questioned whether the ashes were those of his dead lover at all. 
 
 
 
 Someone again attempted to steal the remains at a showing put on by Carson of the play Tru, which is adapted from Capote’s works. 
 
 Broadway turn: The beloved book was first a film starring Audrey Hepburn (right) as Holly Golightly and saw its big stage debut March 20 with actress Emilia Clarke (left) in the role 
 
 
 
 It was the history of theft that doomed Capote's post-mortem trip to the theater, or so says the Post's source. 
 
 ' Ultimately, the risk of theft was just too high.' 
 
 
 
 In spite of the drama surrounding them, Carson has referred to her cremated friend’s remain as ‘her sanity’ over the years. 
 
 
 
 And Carson claims Capote always wanted to see ‘Holly Golightly open on Broadway.’ 
 
 

 Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) 
 
 For the “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” opening on Broadway this week, the production tried to bring in one secret surprise guest: the ashes of late author Truman Capote. 
 
 Reps for the show — starring “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke, and based on Capote’s 1958 novella — even offered complimentary first-class round-trip airfare for the ashes and their owner, Johnny Carson’s ex Joanne Carson, to travel from Bel Air to New York and appear at an Edison Ballroom after-party. 
 
 But given people’s past predilection for trying to steal Capote’s remains, it was too risky. 
 
 “[Joanne] Carson was Capote’s closest confidante in his later years,” said a source, “and she keeps a portion of his cremated remains in an urn in her Bel Air home, in the room in which he died in 1984.” 
 
 The ashes were infamously stolen from Carson’s house during a 1988 Halloween party — along with $200,000 in jewels — and then the remains were just as mysteriously returned in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, Capote’s late, longtime lover Jack Dunphy openly disputed whether the ashes Carson kept were even Capote’s at all. 
 
 Adding to the intrigue, the same ashes were the target of another thief years later, when Carson brought them to a bash she hosted for a play about Capote, “Tru.” That culprit, says a source, was caught “before he could make it out the door” with a piece of the acclaimed novelist. 
 
 “We did try to get him here,” confirmed a “Breakfast” rep of Capote’s ashes. “Joanne says he always wanted to [see] Holly Golightly open on Broadway, and we thought it would have been poignant for the entire company. I think ultimately the risk of theft was just too high, but he was certainly there in spirit.” 
 
 Joanne has said of Capote, “His ashes were my sanity for . . . years. Truman often referred to me as his very own Holly Golightly come to life. He always told me you could be anything you wanted but, whatever happens, never be boring.” 
 
 The star-studded black-and-white-themed after-party for “Breakfast” was hosted by Debbie Harry and Interview magazine.
– Breakfast at Tiffany's almost had a very high-profile guest mark its opening on Broadway last week: author Truman Capote himself. Producers wanted to fly in Capote's ashes for the after-party, the New York Post reports. They were even willing to pay for first-class airfare for the remains, which are in the possession of Johnny Carson's ex-wife, Joanne (Capote's "closest confidante in his later years," a source explains), but the plan got scuttled over security fears. Carson keeps the ashes in an urn in her Los Angeles home—in the bedroom where Capote died nearly three decades ago, the Daily Mail notes. "We did try to get him here," a rep for the production says. "Joanne says he always wanted to [see] Holly Golightly open on Broadway, and we thought it would have been poignant for the entire company. I think ultimately the risk of theft was just too high, but he was certainly there in spirit." The ashes have already been stolen from Carson's home once, in 1988, and later returned secretly; there was another attempted theft years later at a party.