Charlton Heston
(born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played
Moses in the
epic film ''
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...
'' (1956), for which he received his first nomination for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and the title role in ''
Ben-Hur'' (1959), for which he won the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
. He also starred in ''
The Greatest Show on Earth'' (1952), ''
Secret of the Incas'' (1954), ''
Touch of Evil'' (1958) with
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
, ''
The Big Country'' (1958), ''
El Cid'' (1961), ''
The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965), ''
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
'' (1966), ''
Planet of the Apes
''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...
'' (1968), ''
The Omega Man
''The Omega Man'' (stylized as ''The Ωmega Man'') is a 1971 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston as a survivor of a pandemic. It was written by John William Corrington and Joyce Corrington, ba ...
'' (1971) and ''
Soylent Green'' (1973).
In the 1950s and 1960s, he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to speak openly against racism and was an active supporter of the
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
. Heston left the
Democratic Party in 1987 to become a
Republican, founding a
conservative political action committee and supporting
Ronald Reagan. Heston was a five-term president of the
National Rifle Association (NRA), from 1998 to 2003. After announcing he had
Alzheimer's disease in 2002, he retired from both acting and the NRA presidency.
Early life
John Charles Carter
was born on October 4, 1923, in
Wilmette, Illinois, to Lilla (''
née'' Baines; 1899–1994) and Russell Whitford Carter (1897–1966), a
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
operator. Many sources indicate he was born in
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
. Heston's autobiography stated otherwise.
[Heston, Charlton: ''In The Arena'', Simon & Schuster, 1995; .]
Heston said in a 1995 interview that he was not very good at remembering addresses or his early childhood. Heston was partially of
Scottish descent, including from the Clan Fraser, but the majority of his ancestry was
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
. His earliest immigrant ancestors arrived in America from England in the 1600s. His maternal great-grandparents and namesakes were Englishman William Charlton from
Sunderland and Scotswoman Mary Drysdale Charlton. They emigrated to Canada, where his grandmother, Marian Emily Charlton, was born in 1872.
[The 1880 United States Census; Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.]
In his autobiography, Heston refers to his father participating in his family's construction business. When Heston was an infant, his father's work moved the family to
St. Helen, Michigan. It was a rural, heavily forested part of the state, and Heston lived an isolated yet idyllic existence, spending much time hunting and fishing in the backwoods of the area.
When Heston was 10 years old, his parents divorced after having three children. Shortly thereafter, his mother remarried and Charlton and his younger sister Lilla and brother Alan moved to Wilmette, Illinois. Heston (his and his siblings' new surname) attended
New Trier High School. He recalled living there:
Contradictions on paper and in an interview surround when "Charlton" became Heston's first name. The
1930 United States Census record for
Richfield, Michigan, in
Roscommon County, shows his name as being Charlton J. Carter at age six. Later accounts and movie studio biographies say he was born John Charles Carter. When Russell Carter died in 1966, Charlton's brother and sister changed their legal surname to Heston the following year; Charlton did not.
Charlton was his maternal grandmother Marian's maiden name,
not his mother Lilla's. This is contrary to how 20th-century references read and what Heston said. When Heston's maternal grandmother and his true maternal grandfather Charles Baines separated or divorced in the early 1900s, Marian (''
née'' Charlton) Baines married William Henry Lawton in 1907. Charlton Heston's mother, Lilla, and her sister May were adopted by their grandfather and changed their last name to Charlton in order to distance themselves from their biological father, Mr. Baines, who was an undesirable father figure. The Carters divorced in 1933 and Lilla Carter married Chester Heston. The newly married Mrs. Heston preferred her children use the same last name as she. It was thus as Charlton Heston that he appeared in his first film with younger brother Alan Carter (small role), an adaptation of
Henrik Ibsen's ''
Peer Gynt'' (1941). His nickname was always Chuck.
Heston was an
Episcopalian, and has been described as "a spiritual man" with an "earthy flair", who "respected religious traditions" and "particularly enjoyed the historical aspects of the Christian faith".
Career
Heston frequently recounted that while growing up in
northern Michigan in a sparsely populated area, he often wandered in the forest, "acting" out characters from books he had read. Later, in high school, he enrolled in New Trier's drama program, playing the lead role in the amateur silent
16 mm film adaptation of ''
Peer Gynt'', from the
Ibsen play, by future film activist
David Bradley released in 1941.
From the Winnetka Community Theatre (or the Winnetka Dramatist's Guild, as it was then known) in which he was active, he earned a drama scholarship to
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
.
He attended college from 1941 to 1943 and among his acting teachers was
Alvina Krause
Alvina Krause (January 28, 1893 – December 31, 1981) was an American drama teacher at Northwestern University, theatrical entrepreneur, "maker of stars", and director. Her students called her AK. Her first name is pronounced Al-vine-na
P ...
.
Several years later, Heston teamed up with Bradley to produce the first sound version of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
'', in which Heston played
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...
.
World War II service
In March 1944 Heston married
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
student
Lydia Marie Clarke at Grace Methodist Church in downtown
Greensboro, North Carolina. That same year, he joined the military. Heston enlisted in the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
and served for two years as a
radio operator and
aerial gunner aboard a
B-25 Mitchell medium bomber stationed in the
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...
n
Aleutian Islands
The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...
with the
77th Bombardment Squadron of the
Eleventh Air Force. He reached the rank of
staff sergeant.
After his rise to fame, Heston narrated for highly
classified
Classified may refer to:
General
*Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive
*Classified advertising or "classifieds"
Music
*Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper
* The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...
U.S. Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
and
Department of Energy instructional films, particularly relating to
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
s, and "for six years Heston
eldthe nation's highest security clearance" or
Q clearance
Q clearance or Q access authorization is the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance required to access Top Secret Restricted Data, Formerly Restricted Data, and National Security Information, as well as Secret Restricted Data. Restr ...
. The Q clearance is similar to a
DoD or
DIA clearance of
top secret.
New York
After the war, the Hestons lived in
Hell's Kitchen,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where they worked as artists' models. Seeking a way to make it in theatre, they decided to manage a playhouse in
Asheville, North Carolina, in 1947, making $100 a week.
In 1948, they returned to New York, where Heston was offered a supporting role in a
Broadway revival of Shakespeare's ''
Antony and Cleopatra'', starring
Katharine Cornell. In television, Heston played a number of roles in
CBS's ''
Studio One'', one of the most popular
anthology dramas of the 1950s.
In 1949 Heston played
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...
in an independent film adaptation of ''
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
'' (1950).
Film producer
Hal B. Wallis spotted Heston in a 1950 television production of ''
Wuthering Heights'' and offered him a contract. When his wife reminded Heston they had decided to pursue theater and television, he replied, "Well, maybe just for one film to see what it's like."
Hollywood
Heston's first professional movie appearance was the leading role at age 26 in ''
Dark City'', a 1950
film noir produced by Hal Wallis. His breakthrough came when
Cecil B. DeMille cast him as a circus manager in ''
The Greatest Show on Earth'', which was named by the Motion Picture Academy as the Best Picture of 1952. It was also the most popular movie of that year.
King Vidor used Heston in a melodrama with
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...
, ''
Ruby Gentry
''Ruby Gentry'' is a 1952 film directed by King Vidor, and starring Jennifer Jones, Charlton Heston, and Karl Malden. In February 2020, the film was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, as part of a retrospective dedicated to K ...
'' (1952). He followed it with a Western at Paramount, ''
The Savage'' (1952), playing a white man raised by Indians.
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
used him to play
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
in ''
The President's Lady'' (1953) opposite
Susan Hayward. Back at Paramount he was
Buffalo Bill in ''
Pony Express
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pike ...
'' (1953). He followed this with another Western, ''
Arrowhead'' (1953).
In 1953, Heston was
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holly ...
's first choice to play Sefton in ''
Stalag 17''. However, the role was given to
William Holden, who won an
Oscar for it. Hal Wallis reunited Heston with
Lizabeth Scott in a melodrama ''
Bad for Each Other'' (1953).
In 1954, he made two adventure films for
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. ''
The Naked Jungle'' had him battle a plague of killer ants. He played the lead in ''
Secret of the Incas'', which was shot on location at the archeological site
Machu Picchu and has numerous similarities to ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark'', which appeared a quarter of a century later.
Heston played
William Clark, the explorer, in ''
The Far Horizons'' (1955) alongside
Fred MacMurray as
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, wit ...
. He tried a comedy ''
The Private War of Major Benson'' (1955) at Universal, then supported
Jane Wyman in a drama ''
Lucy Gallant'' (1955).
''The Ten Commandments''
Heston became an icon for playing
Moses in the hugely successful biblical epic ''
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...
'' (1956), selected by director Cecil B. DeMille, who thought Heston bore an uncanny resemblance to
Michelangelo's
statue of Moses. DeMille cast Heston's three-month-old son,
Fraser Clarke Heston
Fraser Clarke Heston (born February 12, 1955) is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor. He is the son of actors Charlton Heston and Lydia Clarke, and has a sister, Holly Rochell Heston.
Heston's filmography includes '' ...
, as the infant Moses. ''The Ten Commandments'' became one of the greatest box office successes of all time and is
the eighth highest-grossing film adjusted for inflation. His portrayal of the Hebrew prophet and deliverer was praised by film critics. ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' described him as "splendid, handsome and princely (and human) in the scenes dealing with him as a young man, and majestic and terrible as his role demands it". The ''
New York Daily News'' wrote that he "is remarkably effective as both the young, princely Moses and as the Patriarchal savior of his people". His performance as Moses earned him his first nomination for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
's
Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Foreign Performer. When the Egyptian Theater reopened in December 1998, it screened Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 original ''
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...
'', which had premiered there 75 years earlier. Charlton and Lydia Heston were honored guests at this opening showing and were seated with their longtime friends, brothers Charles Elias Disney and Daniel H. Disney.
Heston went back to Westerns with ''
Three Violent People
''Three Violent People'' is a 1957 American Western film directed by Rudolph Maté and starring Charlton Heston, Anne Baxter, Gilbert Roland, Tom Tryon, Forrest Tucker, Bruce Bennett, and Elaine Stritch.
Plot
Former Confederate cavalryman ...
'' (1957). Universal tried to interest him in a thriller starring
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
, ''
Touch of Evil''; Heston agreed to be in it if Welles directed. The film has come to be regarded as a classic masterpiece. He also played a rare supporting role in
William Wyler
William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), '' The Best Years o ...
's ''
The Big Country'' opposite
Gregory Peck and
Burl Ives.
Heston got another chance to play
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
in ''
The Buccaneer'' (1958), produced by De Mille and starring
Yul Brynner.
''Ben-Hur''
After
Marlon Brando,
Burt Lancaster, and
Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Gold ...
turned down the title role in
''Ben-Hur'' (1959), Heston accepted the role, winning the
Academy Award for Best Actor, one of the unprecedented 11 Oscars the film earned. After Moses and ''Ben-Hur'', Heston became more identified with Biblical epics than any other actor. He later voiced Ben-Hur in an
animated television production of the
Lew Wallace novel in 2003.
Heston followed it with ''
The Wreck of the Mary Deare
''The Wreck of the Mary Deare'' (in the UK published as ''The Mary Deare'') is a 1956 novel written by British author Hammond Innes, which was later adapted as a film starring Gary Cooper released in 1959 by MGM. According to Jack Adrian, the ...
'' (1959) co-starring
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...
, which was a box office disappointment.
Heston turned down the lead opposite
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
in ''
Let's Make Love'' to appear in
Benn W. Levy's play ''The Tumbler'', directed by
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...
. Called a "harrowingly pretentious verse drama" by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'', the production went through a troubled out-of-town tryout period in Boston and closed after five performances on Broadway in February 1960. Heston, a great admirer of Olivier the actor, took on the play to work with him as a director. After the play flopped, Heston told columnist
Joe Hyams, "I feel I am the only one who came out with a profit. ... I got out of it precisely what I went in for – a chance to work with Olivier. I learned from him in six weeks things I never would have learned otherwise. I think I've ended up a better actor."
Heston enjoyed acting on stage, believing it revivified him as an actor. He never returned to Broadway but acted in regional theatres. His most frequent stage roles included the title role in ''
Macbeth'', and Mark Antony in both ''Julius Caesar'' and ''Antony and Cleopatra''. Heston considered himself to be a Shakespearean actor and collected significant works by and about
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
.
He played Sir
Thomas More in ''
A Man for All Seasons'' in several regional productions in the 1970s and 1980s, eventually playing it in
London's West End. The play was a success and the West End production was taken to
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...
, Scotland, for a week, where it was staged at
His Majesty's Theatre.
Samuel Bronston
Samuel Bronston (March 26, 1908 – January 12, 1994) was a Bessarabian-born American film producer, film director, and a nephew of socialist revolutionary figure, Leon Trotsky. He was also the petitioner in a U.S. Supreme Court case that set a m ...
pursued Heston to play the title role in an epic shot in Spain, ''
El Cid'' (1961), which was a big success. He was in a war film for Paramount, ''
The Pigeon That Took Rome'' (1962), and a melodrama shot in Hawaii, ''
Diamond Head'' (1963). Bronston wanted him for another epic and the result was ''
55 Days at Peking'' (1963), which was a box office disappointment.
Heston focused on epics: he was
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
in ''
The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965);
Michelangelo in ''
The Agony and the Ecstasy'' (1965) opposite
Rex Harrison; the title role in ''
Major Dundee'' (1965), directed by
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institut ...
. ''
The War Lord'' (1965), directed by
Franklin J. Schaffner, was on a smaller scale and critically acclaimed, though commercially it fared poorly. In ''
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
'' (1966) Heston played
General Charles Gordon.
From 1965 until 1971, Heston served as president of the
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to me ...
. The Guild had been created in 1933 for the benefit of actors, who had different interests from the producers and directors who controlled the
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He was more conservative than most actors and publicly clashed with outspoken liberal actors such as
Ed Asner.
''
Counterpoint'' (1968) was a war film that was not particularly successful at the box office. Neither was the Western ''
Will Penny'' (1968), directed by
Tom Gries; however, Heston received excellent reviews and it was one of his favorite films.
''Planet of the Apes''
Heston had not been in a big hit for a number of years but in 1968 he starred in ''
Planet of the Apes
''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...
'', directed by Schaffner, which was hugely popular. Less so was a football drama, ''
Number One'' (1969) directed by Gries. Heston had a smaller supporting role in ''
Beneath the Planet of the Apes'' (1970), which was popular. However, ''
The Hawaiians
Hawaiians are the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiians or The Hawaiians may also refer to:
* The Hawaiians (WFL)
The Hawaiians were a professional American football team based in Honolulu that played in the World Football Lea ...
'' (1970), directed by Gries, was not.
In 1970, he portrayed Mark Antony again in another
film version of Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar''. His co-stars included
Jason Robards as
Brutus,
Richard Chamberlain as
Octavius,
Robert Vaughn as
Casca, and English actors
Richard Johnson as
Cassius,
John Gielgud as
Caesar, and
Diana Rigg as
Portia
Portia may refer to:
Biology
* ''Portia'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders
*'' Anaea troglodyta'' or Portia, a brush-footed butterfly
*Portia tree, a plant native to Polynesia
Medication
A form of birth control made of ethinylestradiol/lev ...
.
1970s action star
In 1971, he starred in the post-apocalyptic science-fiction film ''
The Omega Man
''The Omega Man'' (stylized as ''The Ωmega Man'') is a 1971 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston as a survivor of a pandemic. It was written by John William Corrington and Joyce Corrington, ba ...
'', which has received mixed critical reviews but was popular. During this time he became a gun rights advocate.
In 1972, Heston made his directorial debut and starred as Mark Antony in an adaptation of the William Shakespeare play he had performed earlier in his theater career, ''
Antony and Cleopatra''.
Hildegarde Neil was Cleopatra and English actor
Eric Porter
Eric Richard Porter (8 April 192815 May 1995) was an English actor of stage, film and television.
Early life
Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to bus conductor Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth (née Spall). His parents hope ...
was
Ahenobarbus. After receiving scathing reviews, the film was never released to theaters and is rarely seen on television. It was finally released on DVD in March 2011.
His next film, ''
Skyjacked'' (1972) was a hit. However ''
The Call of the Wild'' (1972) was a flop, one of Heston's least favorite films. He quickly recovered with a string of hits: ''
Soylent Green'' (1973), another science fiction story; ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
'' (1973), playing
Cardinal Richelieu in an all-star cast; ''
Earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
'' (1974), a disaster film; ''
Airport 1975'' (1975), another disaster film; ''
Midway'' (1976) a war film.
Heston's good run at the box office ended with ''
Two-Minute Warning
In most levels of professional American football, the two-minute warning is a suspension of play that occurs when two minutes remain on the game clock in each half of a game, i.e., near the end of the second and fourth quarters, and overtime. It ...
'' (1976), a disaster film, and ''
The Last Hard Men'' (1976), a Western. He played
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
for ''
The Prince and the Pauper
''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547 ...
'' (1977), from the ''Musketeers'' team, then starred in a disaster film, ''
Gray Lady Down
''Gray Lady Down'' is a 1978 American submarine disaster film directed by David Greene and starring Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox and Rosemary Forsyth, and includes the feature film debut of Christop ...
'' (1978).
Heston was in a Western written by his son, ''
The Mountain Men'' (1980), and a horror film, ''
The Awakening'' (1980). He made his second film as a director ''
Mother Lode'' (1982) also written by his son; it was a commercial disappointment.
Later career
From 1985 until 1987, he starred in his only prime time stint on a television series in the soap, ''
The Colbys
''The Colbys'' (originally titled ''Dynasty II: The Colbys'') is an American prime time television soap opera that originally aired on ABC from November 20, 1985, to March 26, 1987. Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and Eileen and Robert P ...
''. With his son Fraser, he produced and starred in several TV movies, including remakes of ''
Treasure Island'' and ''
A Man For All Seasons''. In 1992, Heston appeared on the
A&E cable network in a short series of videos, ''Charlton Heston Presents the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
'', reading passages from the
King James version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
.
In 1993, Heston teamed up with
John Anthony West
John Anthony West (September 7, 1932 – February 6, 2018) was an American author and lecturer and a proponent of the Sphinx water erosion hypothesis. His early career was as a copywriter in Manhattan and science fiction writer. He received a H ...
and
Robert M. Schoch
Robert Milton Schoch is an American associate professor of Natural Sciences at the College of General Studies, Boston University. Schoch co-authored and expanded the fringe Sphinx water erosion hypothesis since 1990.
Education
Schoch received a ...
in an
Emmy Award-winning
NBC special, ''
The Mystery of the Sphinx''. West and Schoch had proposed a much earlier date for the construction of the
Great Sphinx than the one which is generally accepted. They had suggested that the main type of
weathering
Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs '' in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement ...
evident on the Great Sphinx and surrounding enclosure walls could only have been caused by prolonged and extensive rainfall and that the whole structure was carved out of
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
bedrock by an ancient advanced culture (such as the
Heavy Neolithic Qaraoun culture).
[Schoch, Robert M. (1992)]
"Redating the Great Sphinx of Giza"
in ''Circular Times'' (ed. Collette M. Dowell); retrieved December 17, 2008.
Never taking himself too seriously, he also made a few appearances as "Chuck" in
Dame Edna Everage's shows, both on stage and on television. Heston appeared in 1993 in a cameo role in ''
Wayne's World 2'', in a scene where Wayne Campbell (
Mike Myers) requests casting a better actor for a small role. After the scene is reshot with Heston, Campbell weeps in awe. That same year, Heston hosted ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
''. He had cameos in the films ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'', ''
Tombstone'', and ''
True Lies
''True Lies'' is a 1994 American spy action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov and Charlton Heston. I ...
''.
He starred in many theatre productions at the
Los Angeles Music Center, where he appeared in ''
Detective Story'' and ''
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial'', and as
Sherlock Holmes in ''
The Crucifer of Blood'', opposite
Richard Johnson as
Dr. Watson. In 2001, he made a cameo appearance as an elderly, dying chimpanzee in
Tim Burton's
remake of ''Planet of the Apes''. His last film role was as
Josef Mengele in ''
Rua Alguem 5555: My Father'', which had limited release (mainly to festivals) in 2003.
Heston's distinctive voice landed him roles as a film narrator, including ''
Armageddon'' and
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's ''
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the ...
''. He played the title role in ''
Mister Roberts'' three times and cited it as one of his favorite roles. In the early 1990s, he tried unsuccessfully to revive and direct the show with
Tom Selleck
Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series ''Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations ...
in the title role. In 1998, Heston had a cameo role playing himself in the American television series ''
Friends'', in the episode "
The One with Joey's Dirty Day". In 2000, he played Chief Justice Haden Wainwright in ''
The Outer Limits'' episode "Final Appeal".
Political activism: from liberalism to conservatism
Heston's political activism had four stages. In the first stage, 1955–61, he endorsed liberal
Democratic candidates for president and signed on to petitions for
liberal political causes. From 1961 until 1972, the second stage, he continued to endorse Democratic candidates for president. Moving beyond
Hollywood, he became nationally visible in 1963 in support of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964. From 1965 until 1971, he served as the elected President of the
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to me ...
and clashed with his liberal rival
Ed Asner. In 1968, he helped publicize
gun control measures when he joined fellow Hollywood stars in support of the Gun Control Act of 1968.
The third stage began in 1972. Heston rejected the liberalism of
George McGovern and supported
Republican Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
in 1972 for president. In the 1980s, he gave strong support to
Ronald Reagan during his
conservative presidency. In 1995, Heston entered his fourth stage by establishing his own political action fund-raising committee and jumped into the internal politics of the
National Rifle Association. He gave numerous
culture wars speeches and interviews upholding the conservative position, blaming media and academia for imposing
affirmative action, which he saw as unfair
reverse discrimination
Reverse discrimination is a term for discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group. Groups may be defined in terms of ethnicity, gender identity, nationality ...
.
Heston campaigned for presidential candidate
Adlai Stevenson in
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...
, although he was unable to campaign for
John F. Kennedy in
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
due to filming on ''El Cid'' in Spain.
Reportedly, when in 1961 a
segregated Oklahoma movie theater was showing his movie ''El Cid'' for the first time, he joined a picket line outside. Heston made no reference to this in his autobiography but describes traveling to
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...
to picket segregated restaurants, to the chagrin of the producers of ''El Cid'',
Allied Artists. During the
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...
held in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...
, in 1963, he accompanied
Martin Luther King Jr. In later speeches, he said he helped the civil rights cause "long before Hollywood found it fashionable".
In the
1964 election, he endorsed
Lyndon B. Johnson, who had masterminded the passage of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress over the vociferous opposition of
southern Democrats
Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than Northern Democrats wi ...
. That year, Heston publicly opposed
California Proposition 14 that rolled back the state's fair housing law, the
Rumford Fair Housing Act
California Proposition 14 was a November 1964 initiative ballot measure that amended the California state constitution to nullify the 1963 Rumford Fair Housing Act, thereby allowing property sellers, landlords and their agents to openly discrim ...
.
In his 1995 autobiography, ''In the Arena'', written after he became a conservative Republican, Heston wrote that while driving back from the set of ''
The War Lord'', he saw a "
Barry Goldwater for President" billboard with his campaign slogan "In Your Heart You Know He's Right" and thought to himself, "Son of a bitch, he right." Heston later said that his support for Goldwater was the event that helped turn him against gun control laws. Following the
assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, Heston,
Gregory Peck,
Kirk Douglas, and
James Stewart issued a statement in support of President Johnson's
Gun Control Act of 1968. The Johnson White House had solicited Heston's support. He endorsed
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing ...
in the
1968 Presidential election.
Heston opposed the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
during its course (though he changed his opinion in the years following the war) and in 1969 was approached by the Democratic Party to run for the
U.S. Senate against incumbent
George Murphy. He agonized over the decision but ultimately determined he could never give up acting. He is reported to have voted for
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
in
1972, though Nixon is not mentioned in his autobiography.
By the 1980s, Heston supported
gun rights and changed his political affiliation from Democratic to Republican. When asked why he changed political alliances, Heston replied "I didn't change. The Democratic Party changed." In 1987, he first registered as a Republican. He campaigned for Republicans and Republican presidents Ronald Reagan,
George H. W. Bush, and
George W. Bush.
Heston resigned in protest from
Actors Equity
The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book ...
, saying the union's refusal to allow
a white actor to play a Eurasian role in ''
Miss Saigon
''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...
'' was "obscenely racist".
Heston charged that
CNN's telecasts from
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
were "sowing doubts" about the allied effort in the 1990–91
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
.
At a
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
stockholders' meeting, Heston castigated the company for releasing an
Ice-T album which included a song "
Cop Killer" about killing police officers. While filming ''
The Savage'', Heston was initiated by blood into the
Miniconjou Lakota Nation, saying that he had no natural
American Indian heritage, but elected to be "Native American" to salvage the term from exclusively referring to American Indians.
In a 1997 speech called "Fighting the Culture War in America", Heston rhetorically deplored a
culture war he said was being conducted by a generation of media people, educators, entertainers, and politicians against:
the God-fearing, law-abiding, Caucasian, middle-class Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
– or even worse, evangelical Christian, Midwestern
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...
or Southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
– or even worse, rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...
, apparently straight – or even worse, admitted heterosexuals, gun owning – or even worse, NRA
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while contin ...
-card-carrying, average working stiff – or even worse, male working stiff – because, not only don't you count, you are a down-right obstacle to social progress
Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension ...
. Your voice deserves a lower decibel level, your opinion is less enlightened, your media access is insignificant; and frankly, mister, you need to wake up, wise up, and learn a little something from your new America; and until you do, would you mind shutting up?
He went on to say:
The Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pr ...
was handed down to guide us by a bunch of wise old dead white guys who invented our country! Now some flinch when I say that. Why! It's true ... they were white guys! So were most of the guys that died in Lincoln's name opposing slavery in the 1860s. So why should I be ashamed of white guys? Why is "Hispanic Pride" or "Black Pride
Black Pride in the United States is a movement which encourages black people to celebrate African-American culture and embrace their African heritage. In the United States, it was a direct response to white racism especially during the Civi ...
" a good thing, while " White Pride" conjures shaven heads and white hoods? Why was the Million Man March on Washington celebrated by many as progress, while the Promise Keepers March on Washington was greeted with suspicion and ridicule? I'll tell you why: Cultural warfare!
In an address to students at
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each c ...
entitled "Winning the Cultural War", Heston said, "If Americans believed in
political correctness, we'd still be
King George's boys – subjects bound to the British crown."
He said to the students:
You are the best and the brightest. You, here in this fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River
The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles bac ...
. You are the cream. But I submit that you and your counterparts across the land are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that and abide it, you are, by your grandfathers' standards, cowards.[Heston, Charlton]
''Winning the Cultural War''
, americanrhetoric.com, February 16, 1999.
During a speech at
Brandeis University
, mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = NECHE
, president = Ronald D. Liebowitz
, p ...
, he stated, "
Political correctness is tyranny with manners". In a speech to the
National Press Club
Organizations
A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Pre ...
in 1997, Heston said, "Now, I doubt any of you would prefer a rolled up newspaper as a weapon against a dictator or a criminal intruder."
Heston was the president (a largely ceremonial position) and spokesman of the
NRA
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while contin ...
from 1998 until he resigned in 2003. At the 2000 NRA convention, he raised a rifle over his head and declared that a potential
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...
administration would take away his
Second Amendment rights "
from my cold, dead hands". In announcing his resignation in 2003, he again raised a rifle over his head, repeating the five famous words of his 2000 speech. Heston became an honorary life member.
In the 2002 film ''
Bowling for Columbine'',
Michael Moore interviewed Heston at Heston's home, asking him about an April 1999 meeting the NRA held in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Colorado, shortly after the
Columbine High School massacre
On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
. Moore criticized Heston for the perceived thoughtlessness in the timing and location of the meeting. When Moore asked Heston for his thoughts on why gun-related homicide is so much higher in the United States than in other countries, Heston said it was because, "we have probably more mixed ethnicity" and/or that "we have a history of violence, perhaps more than most countries". Heston subsequently, on-camera, excused himself and walked away. Moore was later criticized for having conducted the interview in what some viewed as an
ambush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind moun ...
.
The interview was conducted early in 2001, before Heston publicly announced his
Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...
diagnosis, but the film was released afterward, causing some to say that Moore should have cut the interview from the final film.
In April 2003, he sent a message of support to the American forces in the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
, attacking opponents of the war as "pretend patriots".
Heston opposed
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
and introduced
Bernard Nathanson's 1987
anti-abortion documentary, ''
Eclipse of Reason'', which focuses on late-term abortions. Heston served on the advisory board of
Accuracy in Media
Accuracy in Media (AIM) is an American non-profit conservative news media watchdog founded in 1969 by economist Reed Irvine.
AIM supported the Vietnam War and blamed media bias for the U.S. loss in the war. During the Reagan administration, ...
, a conservative media watchdog group founded by
Reed Irvine
Reed or Reeds may refer to:
Science, technology, biology, and medicine
* Reed bird (disambiguation)
* Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times
* Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales
* R ...
.
Illness and death
In 1996, Heston had a
hip replacement
Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant, that is, a hip prosthesis. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi (half) replacement. Such joint replacement o ...
. He was diagnosed with
prostate cancer in 1998. Following a course of
radiation treatment, the cancer went into
remission
Remission often refers to:
*Forgiveness
Remission may also refer to:
Healthcare and science
*Remission (medicine), the state of absence of disease activity in patients with a chronic illness, with the possibility of return of disease activity
*R ...
. In 2000, he publicly disclosed that he had been treated for
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...
at a Utah clinic in May–June of that year.
On August 9, 2002, he publicly announced (via a taped message) that he had been diagnosed with symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease. In July 2003, in his final public appearance, Heston received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
from President
George W. Bush. In March 2005, various newspapers reported that family and friends were shocked by the progression of his illness and that he was sometimes unable to get out of bed.
Heston died on the morning of April 5, 2008, at his home in
Beverly Hills, California, with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, by his side. He was also survived by their son,
Fraser Clarke Heston
Fraser Clarke Heston (born February 12, 1955) is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor. He is the son of actors Charlton Heston and Lydia Clarke, and has a sister, Holly Rochell Heston.
Heston's filmography includes '' ...
, and daughter, Holly Ann Heston. The cause of death was not disclosed by the family.
[Charlton Heston Dies at Beverly Hills Home](_blank)
, FoxNews.com, April 5, 2008; retrieved April 12, 2010. A month later, media outlets reported his death was due to
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...
.
Early tributes came in from leading figures; President George W. Bush called Heston "a man of character and integrity, with a big heart ... He served his country during World War II, marched in the civil rights movement, led a labor union and vigorously defended Americans' Second Amendment rights." Former First Lady
Nancy Reagan said that she was "heartbroken" over Heston's death and released a statement, reading, "I will never forget Chuck as a hero on the big screen in the roles he played, but more importantly I considered him a hero in life for the many times that he stepped up to support
Ronnie
Ronnie may refer to:
*Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name
* "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe
*"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album ''Load''
*Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...
in whatever he was doing."
Heston's funeral was held a week later on April 12, 2008, in a ceremony which was attended by 250 people including Nancy Reagan and Hollywood stars such as California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Olivia de Havilland
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...
,
Keith Carradine,
Pat Boone
Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...
,
Tom Selleck
Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series ''Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations ...
,
Oliver Stone (who had cast Heston in his 1999 movie ''
Any Given Sunday
''Any Given Sunday'' is a 1999 American sports drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, including Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, J ...
''),
Rob Reiner
Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom '' All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performa ...
, and
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, includin ...
.
The funeral was held at Episcopal Parish of St. Matthew's Church in
Pacific Palisades, the church where Heston had regularly worshipped and attended Sunday services since the early 1980s. He was cremated and his ashes were given to his family.
Legacy
Richard Corliss wrote in ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine, "From start to finish, Heston was a grand, ornery anachronism, the sinewy symbol of a time when Hollywood took itself seriously, when heroes came from history books, not comic books. Epics like ''
Ben-Hur'' or ''
El Cid'' simply couldn't be made today, in part because popular culture has changed as much as political fashion. But mainly because there's no one remotely like Charlton Heston to infuse the form with his stature, fire, and guts."
In his obituary for the actor, film critic
Roger Ebert noted, "Heston made at least three movies that almost everybody eventually sees: ''Ben-Hur'', ''The Ten Commandments'' and ''Planet of the Apes''."
Heston's cinematic legacy was the subject of ''Cinematic Atlas: The Triumphs of Charlton Heston'', an 11-film retrospective by the
Film Society of the
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
that was shown at the
Walter Reade Theatre from August 29 to September 4, 2008.
On April 17, 2010, Heston was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Western Performers.
In his childhood hometown of
St. Helen, Michigan, a
charter (independent) school, Charlton Heston Academy, opened on September 4, 2012. It is housed in the former St. Helen Elementary School. Enrollment on the first day was 220 students in grades kindergarten through eighth.
Charlton Heston was commemorated on a
United States postage stamp issued on April 11, 2014.
Charlton Heston was inducted as a Laureate of
the Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by Illinois Governor
James R. Thompson in 1977 in the area of Performing Arts.
Accolades
Filmography
Radio appearances
Bibliography
By Heston:
* ''
The Actors Life: Journals 1956–1976'' (1978);
* ''
In the Arena: An Autobiography'' (1995);
* ''
The Courage to Be Free'' (2000), speeches
* ''
Beijing Diary'';
* ''
Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years in American Film'' (1998) with
Jean-Pierre Isbouts
Jean-Pierre Isbouts (born 1954) is a professor in the Social Sciences PhD program of Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California, and an archaeologist, author, screenwriter, director, and producer of works addressing various histori ...
;
* ''
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible'';
* ''
To Be a Man: Letters to My Grandson'';
References
Further reading
*
excerpt and text search*
excerpt and text search biography by scholar focused on political roles
* Chapter 7 is on Charlton Heston
External links
*
*
*
BBC News Obituary ''The Christian Science Monitor'', November 4, 1959.
Charlton Heston papers Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
*
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