RIP Charlton Heston

[The Straight Story]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080405/clsa013.html?.v=11

Statement by the Family of Charlton Heston
Saturday April 5, 11:24 pm ET

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., April 5, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Legendary actor, civil rights leader and political activist Charlton Heston passed away today, at the age of 84. He died at his home with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, at his side. Mr. Heston was loved by his two children, Fraser Clarke Heston and Holly Heston Rochell, and his three grandchildren, Jack Alexander Heston, Ridley Rochell and Charlie Rochell.

The Heston family issued the following statement:

"To his loving friends, colleagues and fans, we appreciate your heartfelt prayers and support. 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. Indeed, he committed himself to every role with passion, and pursued every cause with unmatched enthusiasm and integrity.

We knew him as an adoring husband, a kind and devoted father, and a gentle grandfather, with an infectious sense of humor. He served these far greater roles with tremendous faith, courage and dignity. He loved deeply, and he was deeply loved.

No one could ask for a fuller lif

[OmahaBlueDog]

1. I choose to remember the Heston that fought for Civil Rights and supported the Kennedys

I'm sorry he chose to support the NRA and Reagan in later years.

"Ben-Hur" will always be one of my favorite movies.

[jzola]

7. When did he do that?

He was always a right wing hack. I don't remember Heston being a civil rights advocate.

[flowomo]

11. he led the art contingent in the '63 March with MLK

you can look it up. He won CORE's "Martin Luther King Award" in 2001. See my post below.

[OmahaBlueDog]

17. See, that's the problem.

A lot of people my age (I'm 42) or younger, or who don't have parents who went through the 60s don't remember Heston as a stalwart in the Civil Rights movement. They also don't remember that he was a very fine actor who did more than play Moses, read a bad script in Airport '75, and ask the damn, dirty ape to take his hands off.

People my age and younger are going to remember the Michael Moore interview (I'm a Moore fan, and even I thought that was over-the-top) and the cold-dead-hands speech.

Look at his whole life -- not just the past 30 years.

[calimary]

28. Interesting image you have there.

Are those Democratic presidents at a card game (in Heaven, I presume)? Interesting concept!

[OmahaBlueDog]

34. "True Blues" by Andy Thomas

The Democratic President equivalent of "Dogs Playing Poker"

He also did GOP Presidents. Art is a tough racket.

You can find it in many commercial print shops or many websites.

[Hieronymus]

24. You're wrong.

[Ian David]

26. He has kind of a mixed record. He was a complicated guy. n/t

[Ian David]

27. DAMN YOU!!!!

DAMN YOU All TO HELL!!!

[calimary]

29. Welcome to DU!

I'm glad there are many other things for which to memorialize this man, beyond just his NRA-nutcase schtick. Hopefully that was merely cranky-old-man-going-off-the-deep-end stuff.

Some of his movies really made you think.

"Soylent Green" stays with me still. :scared:

And I loved the "Earthquake" movie that was so hokey - he played Lorne Green's son, I believe, and he was really WAY older. It's just that Lorne Green had white hair.

RIP, Mr. Heston.

[flowomo]

2. he was a complex man... his civil rights advocacy was honorable...

+++A CIVIL HONOR: In New York City on January 15, Charlton Heston received the "2001 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Award" from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a leading U.S. civil rights organization. CORE chairman Roy Innis praised Heston: "He's been a civil rights fighter most of his career." Yoko Ono, a member of the Awards Committee, said: "I respect Mr. Heston for lending his name to the cause of racial equality." (Chuck led the Arts Contingent at the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech...... ###Classic HESTON QUOTE: "We will march because we recognize the events of the summer of 1963 as among the most significant we have lived through; and we wish to be part of these events and these times, when promises made a century ago will finally be kept." ( March on Washington, August 28, 1963)

http://marhew.tripod.com/hestfest/id3.html

[Wetzelbill]

3. I just rewatched Bowling for Columbine last night!

Wow, ironic.

RIP Charlton, you will be missed.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. RIP.... I liked him in many movies

Just not his politics at the end.

But his acting career was record breaking
and second to none. An American institution and larger
than life actor

RIP

[tammywammy]

5. I have enjoyed every movie that I've seen that he was in

Ben-Hur, Spartacus, The Ten Commandments, Julius Caesar and of course Planet of the Apes.

My he rest in peace and my peace come to his family.

[Drunken Irishman]

8. Airport '75.

[tammywammy]

10. He was also in Branagh's Hamlet

He was one of the actors that Hamlet uses, he played the King.

;)

[michreject]

30. Spartacus?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054331/fullcredits#cast

At any rate, one of my favorite actors. I watched "The Ten Commandments" last Sunday.

[tammywammy]

36. I know I've been corrected

:dunce: And it was too late to edit my post.

:blush:

[stellanoir]

6. I met him once.

He was a bit weird.

He never would have let me go from his cold dead hands.

Let him RIP.

Strange.

[Wiley50]

14. You must be a real pistol, Stellanoir! n/t

[windbreeze]

23. Wow...another great one gone....Widmark, now Heston...damn

I hope the two of them go on to make fine movies wherever they are now...RIP...wb

[ChazII]

9. RIP

Prayers are with your family and friends, Mr. Heston. Thank you for all you did for civil rights.

[wisteria]

12. May he rest in peace.n/t

[CANDO]

13. "From my cold, dead hands..."

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

[emilyg]

15. RIP

[Botany]

16. Heston might not be in line with my thoughts but he was a hell of a man ...

.... And he could laugh @ himself. His 2 minutes in Wayne's World was
awesome.

"I remember that girl on maple street ....."

[Nailzberg]

21. I was just thinking of that! They replace the bad actor with Heston in the middle of the scene!!

HILARIOUS.

He was a terrific actor.

[lpbk2713]

18. I'll give him this ... he wasn't afraid to stand up for what he believed in.

But I firmly believe he was way off base on just about everything.

RIP.

[JamesA1102]

19. Planet of the Apes

Last week I was at a revival screening of Heston's film Planet of the Apes at the Ziegfeld theater in New York. A film historian introduced the film and said this:

Good Evening, and welcome to a very special Anniversary screening in our Classics Series at The Ziegfeld. Many of you have traveled far to be here tonight, possibly even light years, and I especially want to thank you and those who took the time to e-mail me this week with your thoughts on this very special film.

1. Now, there are good movies and there are great movies.

2. Good movies are entertaining and have something to say, but great movies additionally SAY SOMETHING WHICH IS TIMELESS. Such films are classics.

3. Not having seen “ Planet of the Apes” in forty years, I remembered it as a good movie, but not a classic, so I figured that with reverence to this film’s worldwide admirers, I better take another look.

4. I started with Charlton Heston who, in his autobiography said “The film has a philosophical point to make. Taylor is a cynical misanthrope, so disenchanted with his fellow man that perhaps, unconsciously, he’s exiled himself from Earth, launched through time to an unknown future. The crash of his spaceship strands him in a civilization where he finds himself the sole defender of Homo sapiens as a species.”

5. Interesting premise, I thought, with a nice twist-kind of part “Twilight Zone” and part H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine.” Now the question-GOOD or GREAT?

6. So, I watched the movie, again, and again and I read my e-mails, GRADUALLY OPENING MY “Bright Eyes” AND FINDING Questions with NO EASY ANSWERS.
Questions about:

RACIAL STEREOTYPING

RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM

TOLERANCE AND IGNORANCE

SOCIAL CASTES

THE USES OF SCIENCE AND ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION

CREATIONISM VS. EVOLUTION

THE USES OF TORTURE AND HUMILIATION AND FINALLY,

QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE VERY NATURE OF HUMANITY ITSELF

ANY OF THESE ISSUES SOUNDING A LITTLE FAMILIAR?
I HAVE A FEELING THAT LIGHT YEARS FROM NOW, SOME FUTURE CIVILIZATION WILL BE ENJOYING THE FILM, ASKING THE SAME QUESTIONS , AND STILL FEELING THE ANGUISH AT TAYLOR’S FINAL WORDS AND REVELATION. “PLANET OF THE APES” IS A CLASSIC!

FINALLY, LET’S REMEMBER THIS IS A GREAT ADVENTURE AND A LOT OF FUN.

THANKS FOR COMING AND WHEN YOU LEAVE TONIGHT SAY A SPECIAL PRAYER FOR CHARLTON HESTON AND FOR HUMANITY.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/12/

[pinto]

20. RIP Mr. Heston.

[jzodda]

22. RIP Chuck....

Heston had both good and bad like many people who live a long life in the public eye. He was a great actor and a civil rights activist before he turned to the right wing in his older years. I loved his movies, some of them are among my all time favs. Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, Soylent green. All awesome to this Sci Fi fan. Another great old actor fades into the sunset.

I have an old framed poster of him in the Omega man playing Chess with that statue of Napoleon. It has always been one of my favs.

RIP

[nell2323]

25. RIP

[Crabby Appleton]

31. RIP Charlton Heston.

[Perry Logan]

32. If he had been a liberal icon, the Right would be breaking open the champagne.

[scarletwoman]

38. So? Does that mean we should settle for being a mirror image of the Right?

Base pettiness, spite and hatefulness are acceptable when WE do it?

[SalmonChantedEvening]

33. RIP n/t

[Indenturedebtor]

35. RIP Heston

Aside from his NRA thing he wasn't such a bad guy. People can be misinformed about the gun thing. Great movies. I'll be watching the 10 Commandments in a couple weeks for Passover heh. See you then Chuck! :wave:

[Subdivisions]

37. Goodbye, Chuck. Thanks for all the memories. n/t

[5thGenDemocrat]

39. Way back in 1949 or so

My mom dated a cousin of Mr Heston's (Saginaw isn't all that far from St. Helen -- where the yet-largely unknown actor grew up and still has family, as far as I know), and so had occasion to make his acquaintance several times. She remembered him as "very nice, very funny and very VERY handsome."
John
My mom was about as lefty pinko liberal as they came, too. And Hollywood wouldn't be the same without Charlton Heston. May both their souls rest in peace.

[scarletwoman]

40. Thank you for posting a respectful and decent thread about Charlton Heston.

May he rest in peace, and may his family find comfort.

I am grateful for all the pleasure he brought through his art as an actor. However it happened that he went from being a civil rights activist to a cranky old rightwingnut, I believe he was at heart a decent man.

sw