The Unforgettable Charleston Heston

Actor Charlton Heston may not be a name that those of the younger generation are overly familiar with. He belonged to an era when the word "star" was given only to those individuals who truly deserved the title. Nowadays that moniker is attached to anybody who makes a handful of mediocre movies.

Heston passed away on April 5, 2008.

He was a genuine star in every sense of the word, playing every role with a commanding sense of self-confidence. The Illinois-born actor was trained in theater at Northwestern University, where he eventually met his wife Lydia, wedding her after his return from a stint in the military..

As a stage actor, Heston played in such diverse productions as "Macbeth", "Antony and Cleopatra" and "Mister Roberts." He appeared on television's "Studio One", before going to Hollywood. He became a major Tinseltown star, due to his appearances in a number of memorable films, among them- "The Greatest Show on Earth", "El Cid," "Ben Hur", "The Ten Commandments", "The Big Country", "Touch of Evil", "Soylent Greem", "Planet of the Apes", "The Omega Man" and many more motion pictures. He later hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, parodying his own image.

Heston seems to have come into some controversy when he aligned himself with the National Rifle Association. Particularly memorable is a speech he made, in which he uttered, "I only have five words for you. From my cold, dead hands!", as he dramatically raised a vintage musket above his head. This made him the darling of mainstream conservatives and demonized him in the eyes of politically-liberal gun control advocates.

His pro-life, anti-affirmative action stance also alienated him from many of his peers in the Hollywood community. Amazingly, Heston had, at one time, been a staunch liberal himself, even participating, in 1963, in the historic March on Washington. He seems to have made an "about face" in his views during the 1980's.

The movie legend disclosed that he was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's Disease in 2002 and he gradually removed himself from the public, as the disease progressed. Mercifully, the tabloids were relatively quiet about his condition and he remained in the care of his family.

Charlton Heston passed away in his Beverly Hills home, among those he loved.

Hopefully, he will be judged, in the long run, not by what his politics were or weren't, but by his excellence as a film actor. There is no one in Hollywood today who even comes close to him.

He was truly one-of-a-kind.

By: Ezriela Devereux
Published: 04/07/08

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5 Posted Comments:

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@ 7:32 am 04/07/08 by Curt

"Charleston"? Proofread before hitting the save button. ;)

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Ditto on the Spelling

@ 8:39 am 04/07/08 by Victoria

When you're called the "Informative Post" and are informing your readership of anything, please spell-check before posting -- especially on the obit of a dead man...

Sorry, usually I am anything but a Spelling Nazi, but this was really too much.

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Charlton/Charleston

@ 9:34 am 04/07/08 by Cynthia Powell

I AM a Spelling Nazi, use Spell Check because how much easier could it be but sometimes little things slip by. I will go to great lengths to check my spelling and I agree, the man was named Charlton and actually was called by that name! I spent some time this morning looking for a Spell Checker that I could use on this site and will run one down yet. Then I realized I needed a Grammar Checker even more. In writing you may miss a word but with email that does have a Spell Checker built in there is no excuse. I wonder sometime if my friends actually don't know that they do have that option. Grammar, that's another sad story. I HAVE to find a checker for that and I just realized I misspelled grammar, lol... But luckily for all, I caught it. Got to find a grammar program.

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My Sincerest Apologies!

@ 9:37 am 04/07/08 by Ezriela Devereux

Thank you for the rebuke.

I didn't realize that I had misspelled the title. I was so busy making sure that I spelled his name correctly in the article that I submitted everything, without first remembering to proof-read the title.

You are perfectly correct to call me on it. Writers are unable to edit their own posts here, but I have submitted the corrections to the site editor and, hopefully, my mistake(s) will be corrected.

Although I'd love to be perfect, I am not and I thank you for making me aware of my mistake, so that, next time, I will be more on top of my game.

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@ 1:38 pm 04/07/08 by Ezriela Devereux

Just to update you on the "Big Misspelling Scandal" that appears to be attached to this article...

I was told, unfortunately, that, since this article has already been indexed, editing cannot be done, as I had hoped. I am aware of my mistake, however, due to your remarks about the misspelling of Charlton Heston's name in the title and also the misspelling of "Soylent Green" in the 4th paragraph. (Caught that one on my own!)

Please note that Heston's name was NOT misspelled in the article. I can only hope that, given my admission of these errors, you will still go on to read the article.

I am a longtime film buff and Charlton Heston was a particular favorite actor of mine. My intention was to honor him, so I'm a little ticked at myself that the aforementioned mistakes have taken away from my desire to pay tribute.

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