RIP Charlton Heston

[Big Magilla]

Ebert has a nice tribute to both Heston and Widmark here:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps....3773696

[Big Magilla]

She was probably already here, staying with her daughter in Malibu.

[Damien]

HESTON: THE FUNERAL

I'm trying to figure out why Olivia de Havilland would have traveled all the way from Paris for this. Unless it was a case of, to quote Red Skelton on Harry Cohn's well-attended funeral, Give the people what they want and they'll show up.


FRIENDS, FAMILY MOURN HESTON AT FUNERAL

LOS ANGELES (April 12) - Charlton Heston, one of the last lions of Old Hollywood, was remembered at his funeral Saturday as devoutly religious and patriotic — a man who was an imposing figure both in his politics and on the big screen.

Heston died April 5 at age 84 in his Beverly Hills home with his wife, Lydia, at his side following a battle with Alzheimer's disease. The service was held at the Episcopal Parish of St. Matthews, a church in a wooded canyon above Pacific Palisades.

"Charlton sat every Sunday morning right there," said Rev. Michael Scott Seiler, pointing to a front pew in the modernist wooden church shaped with seats arranged in a half moon.

About 250 people attended the funeral, including family members, politicians and actors.

A frail Nancy Reagan entered the church on the arm of Tom Selleck. Following the nearly two-hour ceremony, Reagan left with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Other notables from Heston's Hollywood history included Olivia DeHavilland, Keith Carradine, Pat Boone, Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner.

The first part of the ceremony was devoted to memories of Heston. His daughter, Holly Heston Rochell, recalled her father's love of poetry and recited the words of Shakespeare and Tennyson. Her brother, Fraser Clarke Heston, reminisced about his father's prowess on his tennis court, where he played every Sunday with friends.

He talked about his father's devotion to America and said he "loved his country."

"I never knew a finer man; I will never know a finer man," he said.

[Reza]

From the Los Angeles Times


Excerpts from Charlton Heston's letters
By John Horn
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

April 8, 2008

CHARLTON HESTON, who died Saturday at age 84, was an avid newspaper reader, eager to share his opinions. In addition to writing dozens of letters to the paper over four decades, the "Ben-Hur" star often would telephone Los Angeles Times editors with his comments.

While his political views were typically conservative, they were not always dogmatic. Equally distinctive was the way the Oscar winner sometimes read the paper: He would have an assistant spread sections around his pool, and Heston would peruse different stories between laps. By the time he'd completed his workout, he also had finished the day's news.

Here are excerpts from some of Heston's letters to the paper:



Spike Lee's threat

IN a fit of pique at the Cannes Film Festival, Spike Lee said I should be shot "with a .44 Bulldog" (the handgun used by the serial killer Son of Sam). In response, I feel some irony. In '63, when I was marching for the freedom of black Americans, I was threatened by white men. In '99, active now for the freedom of all Americans, I'm threatened by a black man.

June 1999



Elia Kazan's Oscar

SO the Oscars came off smoothly, with good work rewarded. Early anxieties about the [honorary Oscar presented to director Elia] Kazan . . .. went unrealized. There was some scuffling by street protesters but inside the hall the presentation was vigorously applauded; only a few sat silent. It seems that the fierce and relentless attack on Kazan, lasting many weeks, was in fact the last hurrah of the Hollywood left. (Mind you, the Hollywood liberal is still with us, but that's a different breed of cat entirely, alive and well, content to be the arbiter of taste, political correctness and the search for the next Great Restaurant.)

March 1999



Well, whatever

THE cultural and social fabric of the country is fraying around the edges as we split up into separate little Gypsy camps, each with a different agenda, heading in different directions. A while ago, I was at one of those silly "A-list" parties and fell into conversation on all this with a stunningly beautiful, famous star (not a bad actress, either) who said, "Well, look what it says on the dollar bill: 'e pluribus unum.' From one, many." "Actually, you've got the Latin backward," I replied. "It translates, 'From many, one.' As in one nation . . . indivisible?" "No kidding?" she said, amazed. "Well . . . whatever." And there you have it. We live, increasingly, in a "well, whatever" nation. God help us all.

February 1999



Lincoln no Clinton

Iam offended by the preposterous characterization of Abraham Lincoln as a sex-crazed clone of Bill Clinton. Lincoln is generally judged to be one of our finest presidents (who also freed the slaves). To imply that he in any way resembled our current president is an outrageous and shameful insult.

October 1998



The bomb was best

I'VE read most of your reviews on the books reexamining the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II. Each condemns the action without reservation as an insanely murderous choice. Several respected intellectuals are quoted, some no doubt qualified on the subject. It's too bad none of them was there. . . . The bomb ended the war,

and its nuclear successors

won the Cold War without firing a shot, on either side. I call that a worthwhile achievement.

August 1998



Titanic tanking?

FOR the past 20 years, the most serious and apparently insoluble problem facing Hollywood is the runaway inflation of the cost of making and marketing movies. . . . The prime culprit this year is "Titanic," replacing "Waterworld" and eclipsing "Heaven's Gate" in several unwelcome categories: over schedule by several weeks and over budget by many millions, with many weeks of added post-production yet to come. Plus interest. Still, all may yet be well.

April 1997





Justice for Ice-T

Iwas bemused to read in Calendar that Dick Wolf, producer of the superb "Law & Order," has hired the rap "artist" formerly known as Ice-T to star as the criminal hero of a series in which the baffled police employ bad guys to catch bad guys. Wolf is one of the best producers in television; if anyone can bring this concept off, he can. Ice-T deserves the right to make a living. I wish them both well, not least because I helped get Ice-T fired four years ago by Time Warner, the largest entertainment conglomerate in the world. He was then under contract to Warners, which had just released a disc called "Cop Killer," obscenely celebrating the murder of policemen.

August 1996



In defense of Kato

THE hapless Kato Kaelin has my sympathy. Still, if O.J. Simpson demeaned him during his tenure as housesitter, dog watcher and sometime companion, it was no worse, as your article points out, than the treatment routinely accorded the people who serve those affluent public faces who lack the character and decency to understand how to treat those who work for them. I've observed their disgusting antics throughout my career. They no longer amaze but only appall me. Your article, though, fails to separate clearly the Katos, gofers, dogsbodies and buddies from the men and women who function professionally as personal assistants.

April 1995



Riot as revolution?

YOUR examination of the rioters . . . whether they were random looters or principled protesters, the wild children of welfare or the impassioned architects of revolution . . . was reasoned and relatively unbiased. Your finding seemed clear, though: If these looters were in fact honest rebels, we should understand, maybe even applaud. I think you've stumbled badly in implying that revolution is automatically OK. In the iron eye of history, revolution has a lousy track record. It boasts one triumph, our American Revolution, the only rebellion in history to pass power peaceably to the next generation.

August 1992

AIDS and a game show

CALENDAR'S lead story on the new TV show "Studs" caught my eye. Culturally and creatively, the project seems beyond comment. It occurs to me, though, that in a time when Magic Johnson's sad situation and the way he's dealt with it has focused attention on the risk for heterosexual AIDS, "Studs" could make a significant contribution to this growing health problem. Since the show is predicated on two young men taking three young women to bed and then discussing it, surely the producers should provide all participants with a free AIDS test as part of the casting process.

November 1991



'Miss Saigon'

ACTORS may be the oldest minority group in the world. Thousands of years ago, when blacks still roved innocent in the African rain forests and Jews reigned remote in their desert redoubts, actors were wandering around Europe juggling apples, telling stories and doing the three walnut shells and a pea scam. We slept in stables before Christ was born, often with local company that got us run out of town by dogs the next morning. .. . . I can't believe that the first union I joined, to which I'm proud to belong, could endorse so blatantly racist a position as Actors' Equity has done in denying Jonathan Pryce the right to play the role he created in "Miss Saigon." As actor and director, I've always assumed the idea was to get the best actor for the part, no matter what color he or she was.

August 1990





Noriega must go

AN open letter to Jesse Jackson: The world has changed since we both walked behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a quarter-century ago. Still, we share that shining memory and, I suppose, a common allegiance to our country and its people. Beyond that, we differ on many issues. Sadly, I have to say I find your column on Panama not only mean-spirited but riddled with error. Let me point out the most egregious. Do you really think that "democracy is not created at the point of a bayonet"? What did Washington's brave, beleaguered army carry on their bayonets in 1776, then? What did the GIs splashing ashore

in Normandy and across France into Germany bring, if not democracy? What brought democracy to Japan,

if not bayonets? . . . You deplore bayonets in Panama? Perhaps you preferred Noriega?

January 1990

[cam]

I saw him in films all my life, and never really believed his characters--except as Ben Hur. He played, IMO ,the same part in the same way in Action roles as well as Biblical ones: always a touch pompous in his approach to his role, and in his dealings with other characters. He didn't strike me as an actor who had the deep intelligence enabling him to approach a new role in a new way.
His unwillingness or inability to perform in an other manner than the two or so he employed all the time, IMO.

But, regardless , that is what people came to see in the films--Charlton Heston. He brought them in. He will be sorely missed by many fans as a star of the 50s and 60s.

He believed in his set jaw, obviously, when he became a spkoesman of sorts for the NRA. Ego gets in the way again.



Edited By cam on 1207529336

[Damien]

I've hated Heston as a person ever since 1972 when he was a leader of an outfit called Democrats For Nixon (which also included Sammy Davis, Jr.). But I think he was generally a much better actor than he was given credit for and there's no denying his status as a true screen icon. He also apparently had a monstrous ego and many other actors couldn't stand him (Ava Gardner and Sophia Loren come to mind). I do give him credit for casting Vanessa Redgrave -- his polar opposite politically -- in his version of A Man For All Seasons.

The LA Times obit:

Charlton Heston, 84; actor, Oscar winner, played grand figures
The Oscar winner played Moses and Michelangelo, then later became a darling of conservatism.
By Robert W. Welkos and Susan King
Special to The Times

April 6, 2008

Charlton Heston, the Oscar-winning actor who achieved stardom playing larger-than-life figures including Moses, Michelangelo and Andrew Jackson and went on to become an unapologetic gun advocate and darling of conservative causes, has died. He was 84.

Heston died Saturday at his Beverly Hills home, said family spokesman Bill Powers. In 2002, he had been diagnosed with symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer's disease.

With a booming baritone voice, the tall, ruggedly handsome actor delivered his signature role as the prophet Moses in Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 Biblical extravaganza "The Ten Commandments," raising a rod over his head as God miraculously parts the Red Sea.

Heston won the Academy Award for best actor in another religious blockbuster in 1959's "Ben-Hur," racing four white horses at top speed in one of the cinema's legendary action sequences: the 15-minute chariot race in which his character, a proud and noble Jew, competes against his childhood Roman friend.

Heston stunned the entertainment world in August 2002 when he made a poignant and moving videotaped address announcing his illness.

Late in life, Heston's stature as a political firebrand overshadowed his acting. He became demonized by gun-control advocates and liberal Hollywood when he became president of the National Rifle Assn. in 1998.

Heston answered his critics in a now-famous pose that mimicked Moses' parting of the Red Sea. But instead of a rod, Heston raised a flintlock over his head and challenged his detractors to pry the rifle "from my cold, dead hands."

Like the chariot race and the bearded prophet Moses, Heston will be best remembered for several indelible cinematic moments: playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with Orson Welles in the oil fields in "Touch of Evil," his rant at the end of "Planet of the Apes" when he sees the destruction of the Statue of Liberty, his discovery that "Soylent Green is people!" in the sci-fi hit "Soylent Green" and the dead Spanish hero on his steed in "El Cid."

The New Yorker's film critic Pauline Kael, in her review of 1968's "Planet of the Apes," wrote: "All this wouldn't be so forceful or so funny if it weren't for the use of Charlton Heston in the [leading] role. With his perfect, lean-hipped, powerful body, Heston is a god-like hero; built for strength, he is an archetype of what makes Americans win. He represents American power -- and he has the profile of an eagle."

For decades, the 6-foot-2 Heston was a towering figure in the world of movies, television and the stage.

"He was the screen hero of the 1950s and 1960s, a proven stayer in epics, and a pleasing combination of piercing blue eyes and tanned beefcake," David Thomson wrote in his book "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film."

Heston also was blessed by working with legendary directors such as DeMille in "The Greatest Show on Earth" and again in "The Ten Commandments," Welles in "Touch of Evil," Sam Peckinpah in "Major Dundee," William Wyler in "The Big Country" and "Ben-Hur," George Stevens in "The Greatest Story Ever Told," Franklin Schaffner in "The War Lord" and "Planet of the Apes" and Anthony Mann in "El Cid."

"Four or five of those men would be on anybody's all-time great list," Heston said in a 1983 interview. "And if I picked up one scrap, one piece of business, from each of them, then today I would be a hell of a director."

John Charles Carter was born Oct. 4, 1923, in Evanston, Ill. His father, Russell Whitford Carter, moved the family to St. Helen, Mich., where Heston lived an almost idyllic boyhood, hunting and fishing.

He entered Northwestern University's School of Speech in 1941 on a scholarship from the drama club. While there, he fell in love with a young speech student named Lydia Clarke. They were married March 14, 1944, after he had enlisted in the Army Air Forces. Their union was one of the most durable in Hollywood, lasting 64 years in a town known for its highly publicized divorces, romances and remarriages.

Theatrical name choice

After the war, he went on countless auditions as a stage actor in New York. His professional name was a combination of his mother's maiden name, Charlton, and the last name of his stepfather, Chester Heston.

He made his Broadway debut opposite legendary stage actress Katharine Cornell in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" as Proculeius, Caesar's aide-de-camp.

Heston found steady employment in the new medium of television. His big break occurred in 1949, when he appeared in the CBS live "Studio One" production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."

In 1949, he attracted the attention of veteran film producer Hal Wallis. Without an audition, Wallis signed Heston to an independent contract for five pictures with the option he could accept other roles.

Heston's first picture for Wallis was the 1950 film noir "Dark City" opposite femme fatale Lizabeth Scott. He played a troubled World War II veteran, and the film did respectable business.

But it was his chance meeting on the Paramount Pictures lot with DeMille that propelled Heston to stardom. The role that the flamboyant director wanted him for was the rugged circus manager in the 1952 big-top spectacular, "The Greatest Show on Earth," which won the Academy Award for best picture.

Over the next three years, Heston made 11 movies, playing Buffalo Bill Cody in "Pony Express" and Andrew Jackson in "The President's Lady."

Then DeMille entered his life again, casting Heston as Moses in "The Ten Commandments."

"My choice was strikingly confirmed," DeMille wrote, "when I had a sketch made of Charlton Heston in a white beard and happened to set it beside a photograph of Michelangelo's famous statue of Moses. The resemblance was amazing; and it was not merely an external likeness."

He wasn't the only Heston in the film. His baby son, Fraser, made his screen debut as the infant Moses who is carried downstream in a basket.

"The Ten Commandments," a blockbuster hit, was followed by "Touch of Evil" and "The Big Country."

Then came "Ben-Hur."

Ironically, though it was arguably Heston's most famous role, and the only one that earned him an Oscar, he was not the first actor considered. Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman and Rock Hudson were under consideration for the role of heroic Judah Ben-Hur.

The film's breathtaking chariot race, directed by legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt, took five weeks to film and required 15,000 extras.

The film went on to win 11 Oscars, including best picture and best director for Wyler.

Playing larger-than-life heroes seemed to carry over into real-life politics for Heston. He was one of the major Hollywood stars who marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights era.

But Heston's politics soon veered right and he became an admirer of conservative Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona, who was the Republican Party nominee for president in 1964.

"My politics haven't changed -- it was the Democratic Party that changed," the actor said.

Always a political animal, Heston relished his role as a lightning rod for criticism over his passionate defense of gun ownership. He once told the Times of London, "In this country, if someone breaks into your house, you can shoot them. And I would do that in a second if my wife were back there sleeping and someone broke in."

In 1998, with his acting career waning, Heston became president of the National Rifle Assn. and instantly became one of the more politically polarizing figures in America.

During his five-year reign as NRA president, Heston vowed to push the group "back into the mainstream" of American politics.

His name was so synonymous with the defense of guns and gun owners that Michael Moore sought him out for an interview in his 2002 Academy Award-winning documentary "Bowling for Columbine." But the aging Heston walked out of the on-screen interview as Moore peppered him with probing questions about the nation's gun use, and the usually unflappable actor seemed angry and flustered.

Heston was not afraid of taking on entertainment corporations such as the giant Time Warner, which in 1992 came under scrutiny for releasing rapper Ice-T's controversial CD "Cop Killer." Heston, who owned several hundred shares of Time Warner stock, stood up at the stockholders' meeting in Beverly Hills and read every profane lyric in that song as well as another explicit cut from the rap album.

Though his film work occupied most of his career, he never abandoned his theatrical roots. He was a mainstay for years on stage, especially at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, tackling everything from Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night," Robert Bolt's "A Man for All Seasons" and "Macbeth" with co-star Vanessa Redgrave.

Although Heston had fond memories of working with Welles, Wyler and DeMille, he didn't always get along with filmmakers, especially the scrappy, hard-living Sam Peckinpah, who directed him in the 1965 intense western "Major Dundee."

As Heston recalled it in his autobiography, the actor took umbrage after Peckinpah changed directions and swore at the actor for disobeying his command. Heston drew his saber and rode full-speed at the director, who leaped aside only moments before the sword-wielding actor galloped past him.

"I can't believe I would have actually ridden Sam down, let alone sabered him," Heston wrote. "But I was as angry as I can remember being in my life." Heston would call "Major Dundee" a "disappointing" film.

After "Ben-Hur," Heston had an uneven film career. In the 1960s, he continued to play historical characters in lavish epics such as Michelangelo in "The Agony and the Ecstasy" and Gen. Charles "Chinese" Gordon in "Khartoum." But none of them were as successful critically as "Ben-Hur."

Then, in 1968, he appeared in two roles vastly different from what his fans were accustomed to -- one that brought him box office success and the other critical kudos.

Heston brought a quiet strength and dignity to his role as an aging cowpoke in the character-driven western "Will Penny," directed by Tom Gries. Though the film wasn't a commercial success, reviewers admired his understated turn. Leonard Maltin called it one of the best films on the cowboy-loner ever to come out of Hollywood.

But Heston scored his biggest post-"Ben-Hur" success with his first foray into science fiction, playing a no-nonsense, heroic astronaut whose space capsule crashes on a planet ruled by intelligent, English-speaking apes and where humans were treated like chattel. Although he had often shown his buffed physique on screen, "Planet" marked the first time he appeared in a nude scene.

Though many of his films in the 1970s did well at the box office, like the sci-fi thriller "Soylent Green" and the nail-biters "Airport '75" and "Earthquake," the reviews were abysmal.

Return to television

The 1980s marked his return to television, starring in ABC's "The Colbys," the short-lived spinoff of the prime-time soap opera "Dynasty," and several TV movies and miniseries.

Despite his granite-jawed, Moses-like image, Heston was not above poking fun at himself. In the twilight of his career, he was a jovial two-time host of "Saturday Night Live," and had a cameo as "the good actor" in "Wayne's World 2," and even appeared as himself in a 1998 episode of the hit NBC sitcom "Friends."

Although his days as the leading man were over, he worked steadily in small but interesting roles, including the one-eyed CIA director in James Cameron's "True Lies," the Player King in Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet," a high-powered football commissioner in Oliver Stone's "On Any Sunday" and an uncredited appearance in ape attire in Tim Burton's 2001 remake of "Planet of the Apes."

Throughout his life, Heston was active in various areas of the entertainment industry. Besides serving as president of the Screen Actors Guild, he also was chairman of the American Film Institute, head of President Reagan's Task Force on the Arts and Humanities, and involved in several charities. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the Council on the Arts, the executive body controlling grants made by the National Endowment for the Arts.

In addition to his Oscar, Heston received numerous U.S. and international awards and honors, among them the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.'s Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and the Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2003, he was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.

In later years, Heston battled physical ailments. In 1996, he underwent hip replacement surgery and two years later he was treated for prostate cancer. In 2000, he revealed in the National Enquirer tabloid that he had entered a rehab clinic for a drinking problem.

In addition to his wife and son, Heston is survived by a daughter, Holly Heston Rochell; and three grandchildren.

Services will be private. His family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Motion Picture and Television Fund, 22212 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 300, Woodland Hills, CA 91364. Details: www.mptvfund.org.

susan.king@latimes.com

King is a Times staff writer; Welkos is a former Times staff writer.

[dws1982]

He was probably my first favorite actor, the first whose films I would watch because he was in them. (This was when I was seven or eight.) This meant seeing some bad movies, like The Far Horizons--with Donna Reed(!) as Sacajawea--some interesting failures like The Buccaneer (Anthony Quinn's sole directing credit), and some that I still remember pretty fondly, like The President's Lady, where he played Andrew Jackson.

It's been said already, but no, he didn't have the greatest range, and for someone who made his career in Biblical epics, his acting was its weakest in those. He was a strong presence, and frequently coasted on that, and as a result he could be a very lazy actor. But I think he could be pretty good when he wanted to be. I would've loved to have seen some of his stage work--I never knew until I read some of these obits that he played Tyrone opposite Deborah Kerr in a production of Long Day's Journey Into Night.

It's worth remembering that he did use his star power to stand up to get Orson Welles hired to direct Touch of Evil, and we never would've gotten the restored version in 1998 were it not for him. He also forfeited his pay on Major Dundee in an unsuccessful bid to get the studio to let Peckinpah--whom he didn't like personally--to finish shooting.

It's just such an awful disease that I wouldn't wish on anyone; I think George Clooney's comments about Heston's condition a few years ago went way beyond the pale. I know Heston had been in the advanced stages for well over a year, so this is probably something of a relief for the family.



Edited By dws1982 on 1207506464

[criddic3]

Very few actors could have played many of his roles in such commanding fashion. To this day, it is impossible to think of Moses and not think of Charlton Heston.

He showed some range in films like "The Private War of Major Benson" (which became a lesser Martin Lawrence comedy called Major Payne), playing light comedy, and more solid dramatic roles like in "Will Penny." He could do Shakespeare as in "Julius Caesar" and Branagh's "Hamlet."

Heston directed a number of films, garnering some decent reviews for his "Man for All Seasons" (1988), and his son followed in his footsteps. Fraser directed him in "Treasure Island," "Alaska," "Mother Lode," and "Crucifer of Blood."

In later years it was always fun to see him in a cameo role in "True Lies," "In the Mouth of Madness" and Tim Burton's remake of "Planet of the Apes." Were it not for his illness, we might have even been treated to a cameo in the Will Smith version of "I Am Legend."

I, of course, have no problem with most of his political views. He was obviously not a heartless man. He marched for civil rights early on, and I never saw him as a racist even when some criticized him for his stance on Affirmative Action.

I own a few of his films and will probably watch some of them in coming days in tribute.

“I have played three presidents, three saints and two geniuses. If that doesn’t create an ego problem, nothing does.”

Edited By criddic3 on 1207503197

[Penelope]

As a kid, I thrilled to The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, El Cid, Planet of the Apes, etc., etc. But even then I recognized that he was an actor of limited range--it always seemed there was somebody else out-acting him--Stephen Boyd, for example, in Ben-Hur, or Anne Baxter going for broke in The Ten Commandments--and he always seemed oblivious to what the other actors were doing.

Despite my opposition to his politics--I have to admit seeing him befuddled and confused in Bowling for Columbine was disturbing and sad.

[FilmFan720]

Sad news. No matter what you think of his political views later in life, he was a presence in film that will be missed.

[kaytodd]

You expressed my feelings Magilla. He was not only a solid actor but took on interesting projects, like Planet Of The Apes, Soylent Green, Counterpoint, Omega Man. I am not a big fan of westerns in general but I enjoy Will Penny and his performance.

And a lot of people in New Orleans have a soft spot for Heston in their hearts for one of lesser achievements. In the film Number One he played the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints who led them to a Super Bowl.

Too bad he got such an inflated ego as he got older. But I did like how he handled the announcement of his Alzheimer's affliction. He told all of his fans and colleagues how much he appreciated them because he may not be able to say these things later. Classy.

[OscarGuy]

I feel about his passing much like I felt about Falwell's. I'm not terribly shocked. I'm not at all saddened. I'm sad for his family and those who actually managed to love him, but I'm just a little bit indifferent.

[Big Magilla]

Heston was never a great actor, but he was a solid one throughout the 50s and 60s and into the 70s - The Ten Commandments, Touch of Evil, The Big Country, Ben-Hur, El Cid, 55 Days at Peking, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Khartoum, Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green come quickly to mind.

Then something happened. It seemed as though he played so many great men that he began to think of himself as a great man. He was like a distant relative or neighbor who became so curmudgeonly in his old age that you wanted to steer clear of him. Whatever demons drove him are at rest now. It's OK to like him again.

[Damien]

An expanded obit (which only served to remind me what an asshole he was):

Charlton Heston Dies at 84
AP
Posted: 2008-04-06 01:34:05

LOS ANGELES (April 6) - Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s, has died. He was 84.

The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said.

Powers declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details.

"Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played," Heston's family said in a statement. "No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country."

Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease, saying, "I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure."

With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past. "I have a face that belongs in another century," he often remarked.

The actor assumed the role of leader offscreen as well. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute and marched in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. With age, he grew more conservative and campaigned for conservative candidates.

In June 1998, Heston was elected president of the National Rifle Association, for which he had posed for ads holding a rifle. He delivered a jab at then-President Clinton, saying, "America doesn't trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns."

Heston stepped down as NRA president in April 2003, telling members his five years in office were "quite a ride. ... I loved every minute of it."

Later that year, Heston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. "The largeness of character that comes across the screen has also been seen throughout his life," President Bush said at the time.

He engaged in a lengthy feud with liberal Ed Asner during the latter's tenure as president of the Screen Actors Guild. His latter-day activism almost overshadowed his achievements as an actor, which were considerable.

Heston lent his strong presence to some of the most acclaimed and successful films of the midcentury. "Ben-Hur" won 11 Academy Awards, tying it for the record with the more recent "Titanic" (1997) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). Heston's other hits include: "The Ten Commandments," "El Cid," "55 Days at Peking," "Planet of the Apes" and "Earthquake."

He liked the cite the number of historical figures he had portrayed:

Andrew Jackson ("The President's Lady," "The Buccaneer"), Moses ("The Ten Commandments"), title role of "El Cid," John the Baptist ("The Greatest Story Ever Told"), Michelangelo ("The Agony and the Ecstasy"), General Gordon ("Khartoum"), Marc Antony ("Julius Caesar," "Antony and Cleopatra"), Cardinal Richelieu ("The Three Musketeers"), Henry VIII ("The Prince and the Pauper").

Heston made his movie debut in the 1940s in two independent films by a college classmate, David Bradley, who later became a noted film archivist. He had the title role in "Peer Gynt" in 1942 and was Marc Antony in Bradley's 1949 version of "Julius Caesar," for which Heston was paid $50 a week.

Film producer Hal B. Wallis ("Casablanca") spotted Heston in a 1950 television production of "Wuthering Heights" and offered him a contract. When his wife reminded him that they had decided to pursue theater and television, he replied, "Well, maybe just for one film to see what it's like."

Heston earned star billing from his first Hollywood movie, "Dark City," a 1950 film noir. Cecil B. DeMille next cast him as the circus manager in the all-star "The Greatest Show On Earth," named by the Motion Picture Academy as the best picture of 1952. More movies followed:

"The Savage," "Ruby Gentry," "The President's Lady," "Pony Express" (as Buffalo Bill Cody), "Arrowhead," "Bad for Each Other," "The Naked Jungle," "Secret of the Incas," "The Far Horizons" (as Clark of the Lewis and Clark trek), "The Private War of Major Benson," "Lucy Gallant."

Most were forgettable low-budget films, and Heston seemed destined to remain an undistinguished action star. His old boss DeMille rescued him.

The director had long planned a new version of "The Ten Commandments," which he had made as a silent in 1923 with a radically different approach that combined biblical and modern stories. He was struck by Heston's facial resemblance to Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses, especially the similar broken nose, and put the actor through a long series of tests before giving him the role.

The Hestons' newborn, Fraser Clarke Heston, played the role of the infant Moses in the film.

More films followed: the eccentric thriller "Touch of Evil," directed by Orson Welles; William Wyler's "The Big Country," costarring with Gregory Peck; a sea saga, "The Wreck of the Mary Deare" with Gary Cooper.

Then his greatest role: "Ben-Hur."

Heston wasn't the first to be considered for the remake of 1925 biblical epic. Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson had declined the film. Heston plunged into the role, rehearsing two months for the furious chariot race.

He railed at suggestions the race had been shot with a double: "I couldn't drive it well, but that wasn't necessary. All I had to do was stay on board so they could shoot me there. I didn't have to worry; MGM guaranteed I would win the race."

The huge success of "Ben-Hur" and Heston's Oscar made him one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood. He combined big-screen epics like "El Cid" and "55 Days at Peking" with lesser ones such as "Diamond Head," "Will Penny" and "Airport 1975." In his later years he played cameos in such films as "Wayne's World 2" and "Tombstone."

He often returned to the theater, appearing in such plays as "A Long Day's Journey into Night" and "A Man for All Seasons." He starred as a tycoon in the prime-time soap opera, "The Colbys," a two-season spinoff of "Dynasty."

At his birth in a Chicago suburb on Oct. 4, 1923, his name was Charles Carter. His parents moved to St. Helen, Mich., where his father, Russell Carter, operated a lumber mill. Growing up in the Michigan woods with almost no playmates, young Charles read books of adventure and devised his own games while wandering the countryside with his rifle.

Charles's parents divorced, and she married Chester Heston, a factory plant superintendent in Wilmette, Ill., an upscale north Chicago suburb. Shy and feeling displaced in the big city, the boy had trouble adjusting to the new high school. He took refuge in the drama department.

"What acting offered me was the chance to be many other people," he said in a 1986 interview. "In those days I wasn't satisfied with being me."

Calling himself Charlton Heston from his mother's maiden name and his stepfather's last name, he won an acting scholarship to Northwestern University in 1941. He excelled in campus plays and appeared on Chicago radio. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served as a radio-gunner in the Aleutians.

In 1944 he married another Northwestern drama student, Lydia Clarke, and after his army discharge in 1947, they moved to New York to seek acting jobs. Finding none, they hired on as codirectors and principal actors at a summer theater in Asheville, N.C.

Back in New York, both Hestons began finding work. With his strong 6-feet-2 build and craggily handsome face, Heston won roles in TV soap operas, plays ("Antony and Cleopatra" with Katherine Cornell) and live TV dramas such as "Julius Caesar," "Macbeth," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Of Human Bondage."

Heston wrote several books: "The Actor's Life: Journals 1956-1976," published in 1978; "Beijing Diary: 1990," concerning his direction of the play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" in Chinese; "In the Arena: An Autobiography," 1995; and "Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years of American Filmmaking," 1998.

Besides Fraser, who directed his father in an adventure film, "Mother Lode," the Hestons had a daughter, Holly Ann, born Aug. 2, 1961. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1994 at a party with Hollywood and political friends. They had been married 64 years when he died.

In late years, Heston drew as much publicity for his crusades as for his performances. In addition to his NRA work, he campaigned for Republican presidential and congressional candidates and against affirmative action.

He resigned from Actors Equity, claiming the union's refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in "Miss Saigon" was "obscenely racist." He attacked CNN's telecasts from Baghdad as "sowing doubts" about the allied effort in the 1990-91 Gulf War.

At a Time Warner stockholders meeting, he castigated the company for releasing an Ice-T album that purportedly encouraged cop killing.

Heston wrote in "In the Arena" that he was proud of what he did "though now I'll surely never be offered another film by Warners, nor get a good review in Time. On the other hand, I doubt I'll get a traffic ticket very soon."

[Penelope]

Charlton Heston dead at 84 By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago



Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s, has died. He was 84.

The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said.

Powers declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details.

Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease, saying, "I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure."

With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past. "I have a face that belongs in another century," he often remarked.

The actor assumed the role of leader offscreen as well. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute and marched in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. With age, he grew more conservative and campaigned for conservative candidates.

In June 1998, Heston was elected president of the National Rifle Association, for which he had posed for ads holding a rifle. He delivered a jab at then-President Clinton, saying, "America doesn't trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns."

Heston stepped down as NRA president in April 2003, telling members his five years in office were "quite a ride. ... I loved every minute of it."

Later that year, Heston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. "The largeness of character that comes across the screen has also been seen throughout his life," President Bush said at the time.

He engaged in a lengthy feud with liberal Ed Asner during the latter's tenure as president of the Screen Actors Guild. His latter-day activism almost overshadowed his achievements as an actor, which were considerable.

Heston lent his strong presence to some of the most acclaimed and successful films of the midcentury. "Ben-Hur" won 11 Academy Awards, tying it for the record with the more recent "Titanic" (1997) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). Heston's other hits include: "The Ten Commandments," "El Cid," "55 Days at Peking," "Planet of the Apes" and "Earthquake."

He liked the cite the number of historical figures he had portrayed:

Andrew Jackson ("The President's Lady," "The Buccaneer"), Moses ("The Ten Commandments"), title role of "El Cid," John the Baptist ("The Greatest Story Ever Told"), Michelangelo ("The Agony and the Ecstasy"), General Gordon ("Khartoum"), Marc Antony ("Julius Caesar," "Antony and Cleopatra"), Cardinal Richelieu ("The Three Musketeers"), Henry VIII ("The Prince and the Pauper").

Heston made his movie debut in the 1940s in two independent films by a college classmate, David Bradley, who later became a noted film archivist. He had the title role in "Peer Gynt" in 1942 and was Marc Antony in Bradley's 1949 version of "Julius Caesar," for which Heston was paid $50 a week.

Film producer Hal B. Wallis ("Casablanca") spotted Heston in a 1950 television production of "Wuthering Heights" and offered him a contract. When his wife reminded him that they had decided to pursue theater and television, he replied, "Well, maybe just for one film to see what it's like."

Heston earned star billing from his first Hollywood movie, "Dark City," a 1950 film noir. Cecil B. DeMille next cast him as the circus manager in the all-star "The Greatest Show On Earth," named by the Motion Picture Academy as the best picture of 1952.