Legendary Actor/Activist Charlton Heston Dies

[Roman]

Reported at CNN.

[DevotedToAMC]

Yea I just saw this a couple minutes ago. Here is an article about it. All I have to say is...Devoted ain't shedding a tear over his death. All this moron ever wanted to do was push his "right to bear arms" agenda in places that just suffered a tragedy over gun violence...not caring once about hurting people's feelings, how it was tacky, rude, unprofessional, and disgusting. The NRA is a piece of sh1t and has no respect from me...they can still be for gun control but also support the right to bear arms (with regulations, which is what gun control is about)

Film legend Charlton Heston dead at 84 By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer

52 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - 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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

Publicist Michael Levine, who represented Heston for about 20 years, said the actor's passing represented the end of an iconic era for cinema.

"If Hollywood had a Mt. Rushmore, Heston's face would be on it," Levine said. "He was a heroic figure that I don't think exists to the same degree in Hollywood today."

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 to 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."

__

Associated Press writer Thomas Watkins contributed to this report.

[Shawn]

While I feel for his family/friends, I agree with Devoted. He was a gun loving redneck who shoved his NRA agenda down the throat of everyone he came across. I don't feel that the world has lost anyone great.

[DevotedToAMC]

I posted my thoughts at his imdb.com board and it did not go well ...oh well it is not like anyone there is my closest online friend

I do feel for his family and friends since they are suffering...but I could care less about Heston: his politics, his personality, and odds are his movies. As of today, I have not seen one movie he has been in but there is a possibility I will check it out just to see how he rates as an actor. Plus, me has always wanted to see Ben Hur

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

He was a great actor but that would be the only good thing I have to say about him.

I did so hate his stance on guns and have to agree with both Devoted and Shawn.

[DevotedToAMC]

I am watching Ben Hur tonight to get a glimpse of his acting

[Kwing42]

LOL

Is this what we are coming to in this world.

Because a man supported his right to own a gun and he was once a democrat and then became republican, that we feel the need to knock his life.

When did he harm anyone, when was he out blowing up buidlings, killing the innocent, beating children, etc/

Come on people.

This whole being against someone because of a political preferfence and stance is a little scary!

[DevotedToAMC]

Kwing I have re evaluated my position on him...I like Heston as an actor, just not his politics. I watched Ben Hur last night and saw some mighty fine acting

[Roman]

I guess so, because you do the very same thing.

Once again, you are entitled to your opinion.....but other shouldn't be, especially since it;'s about someone you admire.

I did as well.....until some of his views changed. When they did, my views about him also changed.

And that is my right......or it was the last time I checked.

[DevotedToAMC]

I agree with your post, Roman. Outside of his politics, I am fine with Heston since I re evaluated my opinion on him after seeing Ben Hur. Now, I want to see The Ten Commandments and Planet of the Apes

[Shawn]

Well said sir.

[DevotedToAMC]

Shawn have you seen any of Heston's films? I just watched Ben Hur and enjoyed it....for now, I definitely like him as an actor but not his politics

[All My Shadows]

I, for one, am sad to see him pass away. Whatever his political views, he was a great actor and in the far past, did a lot of good. I don't believe that the bad should overshadow that good. "Planet of the Apes" still stands as one of my favorite movies ever, and he was awesome in it. With and without clothes, ahem.

RIP!

[DevotedToAMC]

I really want to see Planet of the Apes....it got such a crap remake in 2001 but the original just looks great.

[sheilaforever]

Heston was by no means a great actor. Actually he was the signum of a model actor - someone who had modest talent but who you can plant in roles/movies where he will prove a success through his looks.

His enormous stature made him perfect for these epic tales: Ben Hur, Ten Commandments etc. Heston's role on THE COLBYS as the strong natured patrairch fitted the former bill. His probably only really critically acclaimed part was Planet of the Apes - in whose redux he was mocked/let himself be mocked by Tim Burton.

That said, he was an actor who had a huge impact on the history of films - since those before mentioned a part of our movie heritage, also due to Heston's achievements. To that extent he really had greatness.

In recent I became very critical of Heston due to his NRA involvement but in of the obituaries I read a journalist pointed out that Heston used to be a figure of hatred for the right many years before he became one for the left. The journalist acknoledged this to Heston's poor lack of judgment when it came to expressing his political beliefs. We also don't know if Heston's health detorioration started during his days as the arms representative or not.

I also remember Heston in guest stint on B&B in 1993 when he did not only guest star as himself but really got to play himself, I guess. A humanitarian, but also torn between to conflicting parties (Both Stephanie and Sally wanted Heston's support for an AFI fundraiser...). Judah Ben Hur, you'll be missed.