Charlton Heston RIP

[indra]

Just saw this in The Age

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.

A spokesman for the actor's family said Heston died Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills. His wife Lydia was at his side.

RIP.


And an obit from the Los Angeles Times:

Charlton Heston, the Oscar-winning actor who achieved stardom playing larger-than-life figures including Moses, Michelangelo and Andrew Jackson in historical epics and went on to become a best-selling author, a contentious Hollywood labor leader, an unapologetic gun advocate and darling of conservative causes, has died. He was 84.

Heston died Saturday at his Beverly Hills home, his family said in a statement. 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, played by Stephen Boyd.

"I don't seem to fit really into the 20th century," Heston said in a 1965 interview. "Pretty soon, though, I've got to get a part where I wear pants with pleats and pockets."

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

A few days after his dramatic announcement, Heston would sit down for an interview in his beloved Coldwater Canyon home, which he always said "Ben-Hur" had built, and faced the uncertain future with brave resolve and a sense of humor.

"The world is a tough place," he said with a chuckle. "You're never going to get out of it alive."

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, Heston was a towering figure in the world of movies, television and the stage. He liked to say that he had performed Shakespeare on film more than any other actor, and he once lamented that modern-day movie stars didn't attempt the Bard to hone their acting skills.

"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 like 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."

 

[corianderstem]

RIP, Mr. Heston.

(I guess we'll be taking that rifle from you now that your hands are cold and dead.)

 

[lazarus]

I guess we can pry the gun out of his cold, dead hand now.

If it wasn't for his support of director Orson Welles on Touch of Evil, I wouldn't have anything positive to say about him. Promoting gun culture, especially in the violent late 20th century, is about as despicable as it gets.

And he wasn't a very good actor, either, despite the Oscar.

 

[lazarus]

RIP, Mr. Heston.

(I guess we'll be taking that rifle from you now that your hands are cold and dead.)

Wow. Just...wow.

GET OUT OF MY BRAIN, WOMAN!!!

 

[corianderstem]

(I beat you to the NRA reference. )

I've always had a soft spot for the high-quality cheese of The Ten Commandments.

 

[lazarus]

The source material could only have been performed by supreme hams like Heston and Brynner.

 

[corianderstem]

I know; it's glorious.

I think it's the only Heston movie I've ever seen.

 

[indra]

You never forgot you were watching Charlton Heston in his movies, but damn they were often a whole lotta fun. He gets a lot of points for that from me.

And I just figure his gun stance and overall conservatism were early symptoms of his dementia.

 

[2861U2]

Come on, folks. This is borderline rude and offensive. He was a great man and a great actor, and the Ten Commandments was a brilliant film.

This is shocking.

 

[indra]

This is shocking.

His death? He was 84 and had either Alzheimers or dementia. His death may be sad in a way (knowing other people with Alzheimers or dementia I can also say it may have been a welcome release), but is certainly isn't shocking.

 

[pepokiss]

I've always had a soft spot for the high-quality cheese of The Ten Commandments.

like my almost-girlfdriend said during Holy Friday "The water looks like papier-mache"









anyway... I'm sorry for his family

a great actor has gone, a new one for the Oscar montage, alongside Heath Ledger

 

[2861U2]

His death? He was 84 and had either Alzheimers or dementia. His death may be sad in a way (knowing other people with Alzheimers or dementia I can also say it may have been a welcome release), but is certainly isn't shocking.

Ok, that's true. I guess that's what I meant to say. I kind of expected him to not last much longer.

 

[lazarus]

Come on, folks. This is borderline rude and offensive. He was a great man and a great actor

I find using celebrity to promote guns offensive and rude, so I guess me & Chuck are even. I don't think you could call anyone who does this a "great" man, and his abilities as an actor, his Oscar notwithstanding, are open to debate. He was a total stiff with limited range, rarely natural, and an unquestionable ham in many films.

Gregory Peck shared similar attributes and a certain stature, but he was a far greater actor.

 

[corianderstem]

I'm sorry he's dead, and I'm sorry he and his family had to go through Alzheimer's/dementia, but in my mind, what he did with the pro-NRA stuff far overshadowed what he did in the acting field or anything else he accomplished - even backing civil rights in the 60s.

I'm sorry for his family's loss, but when your most notable quote is "...from my cold, dead hands," you cannot expect that comment to come back and find you after you have, in fact, died.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah, I feel more sorry for his family having to deal with a long, drawn-out disease like Alzheimer's than anything else.

The irony is that, like the similarly-stricken Ronald Reagan, he probably forgot the reprehensible shit he did before he died (though I recognize, that Reagan was far, far worse, a truly malignant human being). He may have marched with Martin Luther King, but the NRA bullshit flies in the face of everything the non-violent MLK stood for.

 

[indra]

I'm sorry he's dead, and I'm sorry he and his family had to go through Alzheimer's/dementia, but what he did with the pro-NRA stuff far overshadowed what he did in the acting field or anything else he accomplished - even backing civil rights in th 60s.

I think that is seriously overstating his impact. He was just an actor, and by the time he was the president of the NRA he was well past his prime as an actor. So he was the president of the NRA and said some outlandish things that got heavily reported, were there virtually any gun laws changed because of his role as NRA pres? Do you really think anyone who wasn't already a gun rights supporter suddenly became one because Charlton Heston spouted off about it? He was preaching to the NRA choir. If anything he turned off people who were on the fence about the issue.

Maybe it's my age, but when I think of Charlton Heston I think of his big acting roles, not his role as NRA president. To my that is merely a footnote.

 

[MsPurrl]

Maybe it's my age, but when I think of Charlton Heston I think of his big acting roles, not his role as NRA president. To my that is merely a footnote.

I agree, indra.

Thanks for posting the obit. MrPurrl read the news on yahoo a while ago, but I hadn't read it yet.

 

[europop2005]

The apes finally got him

RIP

 

[corianderstem]

Maybe it's my age, but when I think of Charlton Heston I think of his big acting roles, not his role as NRA president. To my that is merely a footnote.

I went back and edited my post to say "in my mind" - I knew I'd be in the minority on that thought.

The NRA stuff left such a bad taste in my mouth that personally, it overshadowed anything I may have thought of him as an actor (but honestly, I've only ever seen one of his movies).

 

[Carek1230]

Great actor. RIP.

 

[MrPryck2U]

RIP, Mr. Heston.

(I guess we'll be taking that rifle from you now that your hands are cold and dead.)

Poor Chuck.

Wonder if U2.com are going to play that little Heston vignette that U2 used to show before Bullet the Blue Sky on the first leg of the Elevation tour?