splashdown Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080406/ap_on_en_mo/obit_heston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AShots Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 A Hollywood acting legend, former NRA President '98-'03, among many accomplishments, died Saturday evening at 84 Sad to hear he battled Alzheimers in recent years He wrote a great, small gem of a book years ago called "To Be A Man"...glad I own it, even moreso in the event I have a son in 5 more months RIP Mr. Heston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Conley Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 What a BUMMER...... I loved his movies. May God rest his soul. Chris C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 The world is a lesser place with out Him. God Bless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-shot Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 RIP I wish I could thank him for fighting for our rights... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dand38s Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 R.I.P. thanks for your service to us. We need more upstanding public figures such as Mr Heston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latewatch Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 RIP Film Legend Charlton Heston Dead at 84 Apr 6, 01:41 AM EDT By BOB THOMAS - Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 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 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." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtdawg Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Adios El Cid, RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 A Gentleman, in the true meaning of the word. Gone but never forgotten RIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boz1911 Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 A great man! A legend that will live in our minds and hearts forever! RIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 RIP I wish I could thank him for fighting for our rights... +1 Nicely said A-shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 (edited) "It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do not die, but only retire a little from sight and afterwards return again. Nothing is dead; men feign themselves dead, and endure mock funerals and mournful obituaries, and there they stand looking out of the window, sound and well, in some new strange disguise. Jesus is not dead; he is very well alive; nor John, nor Paul, nor Mahomet, nor Aristotle; at times we believe we have seen them all, and could easily tell the names under which they go." -Emerson Solong Mr. Carter see you on the other side. JT Edited April 6, 2008 by JThompson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyinBlue Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 He was clearly a man of true character. He knew when to 'speak out' and when to 'just walk the other way'. He was larger than life and his life impacted millions of us who viewed him in awe. He will be missed...greatly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 <speechless> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Mr. Heston, RIP.... I love your movies! Thx! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waxman Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Great man, he will be missed. Whenever I think of Him I think of his interview with "Somebody that we don't need to talk about on the SHOOTING forum" in Bowling for Columbine. I was so discusted at the way moore treated Mr Heston. It makes me sick just to think about it still. I hope The NRA can find a spokesman who is half the man As Mr Heston was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterbenedetto Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 SAD!! when I saw my yahoo today my reaction was oh shi$@!!! we lost a great man and a great supporter of our sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gameplayer Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 RIP Mr. Heston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ysued Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 One sad day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SV_shooter Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 "FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!" yeah it really irked me when moore went after him like that. anyone who stands up for our constitutional rights did not deserve that treatment. Espescially at his age and condition. R.I.P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypool40 Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I think Moore got that fat from eating Soylent Green... ....it's PEEEEEPULLL!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 (edited) Charlton Heston died Sat night. A truly old-school man in the best sense. I will always remember him in his role as Moses and as the NRA president. RIP Charlton Heston Edited April 6, 2008 by chp5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 He certainly did represent us loud-n-proud, didn't he... I remember him in Ben Hur......... Not to mention Soylent Green....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Santiago Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 RIP I wish I could thank him for fighting for our rights... +1 Nicely said A-shot. +2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinUSA Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 (edited) I saw him at the Denver NRA convention (while I was sitting next to Col. Cooper), he gave a great speech. He did the epic movies better than anybody. Ben-Hur and Agony and the Ecstasy are among my favourite films. I watched the 10 Commandments just a few months ago, still an amazing movie (even though the name of the pharaoh and the location of the mountain were most likely wrong). DVDs really bring back the magic of these films. Edited April 7, 2008 by BritinUSA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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