CaptainWaggett

From the BBC News site

Ben Hur star Charlton Heston dies

Charlton Heston, who won a best actor Oscar for his starring role in the epic Ben Hur has died, a spokesman for the star's family has said.

Heston died on Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia, whom he married in 1944, at his side. Heston also portrayed Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the 1950s and 1960s.

He stepped down as president of US gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA), in 2003, citing ill-health. The previous year, he had revealed he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease.

Heston was born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois.

No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country
Charlton Heston family's statement He studied acting before serving for three years in the US Air Force. But back in civilian life, Heston went through hard times, while waiting for his first break.

In 1952, after working on Broadway, Heston starred as the ringmaster in the movie The Greatest Show on Earth. Four years later, he appeared as Moses in The Ten Commandments, one of the roles which would define his career.

After the success of the science fiction film Planet of the Apes in the late 1960s, Heston turned his attention to working in the theatre.

Although later identified with traditionally conservative causes, Charlton Heston had been a vocal supporter of Martin Luther King and the 1960s Civil Rights movement.

He also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and was chairman of the American Film Institute. In a statement, his family said: "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. 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. In his own words, 'I have lived such a wonderful life. I've lived enough for two people'."

Heston's family said a private memorial service would be held.

batman

I expect his pro-gun stance will be mentioned a lot in some quarters but I will remember the actor.

I always liked Charlton Heston. He was the prime exponent of what Orson Welles called a 'king' actor - not necessarily the best actor in a cast, but the one most suited to play a king.

He gave many great performances in a long career and was a true great.

That's two gone in a fortnight .... Mr Widmark being the other.

RIP Mr Heston.

"Do you know why fattries are called fattries .... it's because they are big and people make things in them."

harryfielder

Well he certainly lived his life,, Well done sir, now time for a rest... Thank you.

Aitch,,

http://www.turnipnet.com/aitch/aitch/gallery.htm

wadsy

Saw him & his wife in a TV interview years ago.

Out of all the roles he played he said his favourite was General Gordon in

Khartoum!! R.I.P

Mark O

R.I.P. Charlton

Mark

Fellwanderer

I'm afraid I can never completely divorce someone's political views, especially those with which I profoudly disagree, from their other attributes and CH was never a favourite of mine but I do fully endorse the view of him as the prime exponent of a "king actor".

RIP

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

CaptainWaggett

Is it bad to say 'Now we can get his gun off him'?

I'll get me coat.

Actually I saw him do a Q and A session when he was doing some play in Newcastle about 20 years ago, and I was surprised to fnd he's a huge Victorian theatre buff with a good line in ancdotes. So I will always remember Chuck telling us about the actor whose death scenes used to be encored ('Die again, Baines!')

dremble wedge

It's unfortunate that he'll never be divorced entirely from his gun happy stance but I always thought he was a formidable prescence on screen. A complete Anglophile too.

Apart from his epics I also enjoyed him in Planet of the Apes, Touch of Evil, Major Dundee, Treasure Island, his masterful supporting turn as Richelieu in The Three Musketeers and his great cameo as a 'better actor' in Waynes World 2.

Steve Crook

Only if his hands are cold

Steve

Rennie

It's a Hollwood rumour, Charlton Heston can't die!!

RIP, and thanks for particular fond memories of watching 'Ben Hur, first time round, in Blackpool.

David Brent

I was not a fan of his connection to the powerful US gun lobby and his leadership of the National Rifle Association. His speeches in favour of the use of guns often made him sound like a radical redneck.

Away from that though Charlton also served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild and as chairman of the American Film Institute in his time.
He also marched in the civil rights movement of the 1950's.

As an actor I will always remember him in his role as Ben Hur, for which he won an oscar. As a kid I must have watched that film a dozen times or more.

I believe Heston had been suffering for many years from Alzheimer's disease.

Dave.

DB7

A great actor but (because of the timing) the "cold dead hand" image is more memorable than some of his film roles. A shame as it overshadows his 60s campaigning for the civil rights movement.

mrs tiswas

RIP Charlton Heston, now he was a real king of the actors. A real good looking guy, who was also very pro Civil Rights before it became fashionable with the in-crowd.

YOUR CLAIM TO FAME IS THIS!!! Shilpa Shetty to Useless Jade

GRAEME

One of the very greatest. I'll miss him. But he will live forever in his films and that is all that will matter about him when all the fuss dies down.

Like Wayne, he had controversial personal views and some people (whose liberal stance I generally share) find it hard to see past these. For me, it is what was on the screen that matters. They were actors not political philosophers.

All men leak.

AdrianTurner

I don't have a problem with Heston's position on gun control and it's a bit dispiriting to find that's the key theme of the discussion so far. In my view, he was not an extremist and merely took an identical position of many Hollywood personalities. For instance, Spielberg doesn't exactly publicise his fondness for shooting. I was, however, repelled by the interview with Heston in Michael Moore's Columbine film. Not because of anything Heston said, but because of Moore's ruthless exploitation of an individual in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

There's a great gun story about Heston. At the time of Rodney King, when it looked as if LA might implode, Heston called his chum and fellow gun aficionado John Milius and asked if he might borrow one or two of Milius's weapons for self-defense. And Milius regretfully declined. "They're all being used," he drawled.

I say this as someone who had the good fortune to visit Heston in his home on Coldwater Canyon where I handled Moses' stave and The Cid's broadsword, so this is a sad day for me.