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Charlton Heston dead at age 84
A Dabble Of Thelonius
It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
Well, bah. I always liked Charlton Heston. No soylent green jokes...Or gun jokes or...Oh fuck it, go ahead. Get it out of your system.
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.
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The funeral had better be open casket or else nobody will risk eating the buffet at the service.
So, Charlton Heston played Moses... does that mean his corpse is kosher?
This might be the funniest thing I've ever read.
Bra-fucking-vo, Hoz.
Damn you all to hell!
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
A furry pioneer.
Now honestly, did you make this up on the spot or did you have this one stashed away?
'Cause that's some good comedy, there.
Heston was a damn fine actor, but a bit of a dick when in the political realm. No one's perfect ya know.
Now which of his movies should I watch? I've seen him be Moses and fight some damn dirty apes. What were his other great roles?
And just wait a day or two. TNT, TBS, and AMC will all be doing Heston marathons, I guarantee it.
The Omega Man has him fighting albino vampires and getting his jungle fever on. Go for it.
edit: beaten, apparently I'm bad at reading threads
But I'm pretty sure I came up with it when I first heard his "from my cold dead hands" line and it was just a matter of a minimal amount recall when I saw the headline. And it doesn't seem really that funny to me, supporting the case that its rote.
I'll also remember him as the white man who portrayed both El Cid and the Mexican lead in A Touch of Evil, sort of like a latter day Paul Muni.
And his was the best moment in Wayne's World 2.
Farewell, old man.
Now he's up in heaven, shooting angels.
R.I.P.
The man did make some truly epic movies. I am sure I will be rewatching at least one that they will undoubtedly show on tv one day soon. Or two days if they decide to show Ben Hur.....
Is that really saying much though?
yeah, when he was already suffering from alzheimers, truly an insidiously clever plan indeed. well played michael moore. well played
Alzheimers doesn't suddenly turn you into a blabbering fool.
no, but if you're showing symptoms of alzheimers, which heston was, then you're probably not fit to be interviewed. moore knew he was making a fool out of a senile old man who simply didn't agree with him. that's pretty low.
what's funny is that even though heston was a huge gun supporter and hated affirmative action, he wasn't some crazy conservative boogeyman. he fought against racism and mccarthyism and campaigned for kennedy. he did change over to being a republican in the 80's, but the time and effort he put into civil rights is impressive.
all in all, charlton heston wasn't the greatest man alive or anything, but he was a great actor who starred in some of the most iconic hollywood roles ever. if you haven't watched Ben Hur or Soylent Green or The Ten Commandments, DO IT NOW, they are all awesome. i don't know many people who have actually watched soylent green, but it's actually a pretty subversive take on consumer culture and environmentalism. don't get me wrong, it's completely ridiculous and silly, but it's a fun movie with an interesting message
I own Spartacus, but I've never seen it. I guess I should pop it in today.
Wait, sorry, that's Kirk Douglas, not Charlton Heston. Goddamn it.
He's Spartacus.
STEAM
No it's not that's me: I AM SPARTACUS.
Do it anyway. :P
Yes, I know, wrong guy, but I spent 30 whole seconds on it.
o_O
Uh....yeah it does.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia
Not trying to be a dick to you, but this truly is one of the ugliest, shittiest things Michael Moore ever did, whom I am trying to be a dick to.
He used a man suffering from Alzheimers. Well no shit, Mr. Moore, the guy didn't make much sense when he defended his gun views, he has Alzheimers. This asshole used an old, confused, sick man.
Margaret Thatcher
Moore is no gentleman and his movies are useless pieces of shit that only fly in America and he would have done better to interview someone else.