Hundreds of friends, relatives, colleagues and fans gathered Wednesday in the foyer of the National Theatre in Sofia to pay last respects and honor the memory of beloved Bulgarian actor Velko Kanev.

The foyer displayed pictures of the actor from his many roles.

Actors, theater and movie directors, officials, students from the National Academy for Theater and Film Art, bid last farewell to Kanev, who succumbed Sunday night to vocal cords cancer at the age of 63.

The mourners included outgoing President, Georgi Parvanov, Culture Minister, Vezhdi Rashidov, popular actor, former Culture Minister, and left-wing vice presidential candidate at the last elections, Stefan Danailov, the Director of the National Theater, Pavel Vasev, and a number of top Bulgarian movie and drama celebrities. Actors, Georgi Mamalev and Pavel Popandov, with whom Kanev founded the hugely popular pop band and TV show NLO (UFO), were also present.

Many delivered eulogies with eyes filled with tears.

"We are not parting with him; he just went to another dimension," Vasev said.

"The most beloved and the most loving of his colleagues, his theater, and his people actor left us; the greatest Sganarelle of the Bulgarian theater left us senselessly and sadly. We all say we will remember Velko – he will be remembered by people with whom he drank his wine, with whom he laughed. We became orphans today," a moved to tears Danailov told mourners.

According to Rashidov, Kanev was a "text book of how one must love and live."

"He was always kind to others and proved that the talent gets love and fame despite everything," the Culture Minister pointed out.

The wake concluded at 2 pm. The funeral is scheduled for 3 pm at the Central Sofia Cemetery.