a recluse, unless you believe that a recluse is simply someone who seldom leaves his house. Stanley saw a lot of people ... he was one of the most gregarious men I ever knew and it didn't change anything that most of this conviviality went on over the phone." LoBrutto states that one of the reasons he acquired a reputation as a recluse was that he insisted in remaining near his home but the reason for this was that for Kubrick there were only three places on the planet he could make high quality films with the necessary technical expertise and equipment: Los Angeles, New York City or around London. He disliked living in Los Angeles and thought London a superior film production center to New York City. As a person, Kubrick was described by Norman Lloyd as "a very dark, sort of a glowering type who was very serious". Marisa Berenson, who starred in Barry Lyndon, fondly recalled: "There was great tenderness in him and he was passionate about his work. What was striking was his enormous intelligence but he also had a great sense of humor. He was a very shy person and self-protective but he was filled with the thing that drove him twenty-four hours of the day." Kubrick was particularly fond of machines and technical equipment, to the point that his wife Christiane once stated that "Stanley would be happy with eight tape recorders and one pair of pants". Kubrick had obtained a pilot's license in August 1947 and some have claimed that he later developed a fear of flying, stemming from an incident in the early 1950s when a colleague was killed in a plane crash. Kubrick had been sent the charred remains of his camera and notebooks which, according to Duncan, traumatized him for life. Kubrick also had a strong mistrust of doctors and medicine. Death On March 7, 1999, six days after screening a final cut of Eyes Wide Shut for his family and the stars, Kubrick died in his sleep at the age of 70, suffering a heart attack. His funeral was held five days later at Childwickbury Manor, with only close friends and family in attendance, totaling about 100 people. The media were kept a mile away outside the entrance gate. Alexander Walker, who attended the funeral, described it as a "family farewell, ... almost like an English picnic", with cellists,