Story here.

Sorry to see this legend go. One of my favs.

My two bits. And FWIW, he was 83; his 84th birthday wasn't for another six months.

Heston is a visual icon in my mind for many historical figures: Moses, El Cid, Andrew Jackson, Brigham Young, and Charles Gordon. I do not know if Andrew Jackson was anything like how Heston portrayed him, but it is Heston's interpretation of Jackson which leaves its imprint.

Michael Todd wrote:
: Heston is a visual icon in my mind for many historical figures: Moses, El Cid, Andrew Jackson, Brigham Young, and Charles Gordon.

Amazing -- of the five roles you mention, I have only seen two, and one of those I only saw for the first time a couple months ago! More movies to put on my must-see list, I guess! (FWIW, as I mention at my blog, it was only in the last three years that I watched El Cid, The Four Musketeers, in which he played Cardinal Richelieu, and The Agony and the Ecstasy, in which he played Michelangelo.)

I recommend The Buccaneer. It is by no means high art, but it has an enjoyable cast: Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, Charles Boyer, and I do not know why, but I thought Thomas Mitchell was in the movie, but according to IMDB he was not. Maybe I am confusing him for an Errol Flynn pirate film.

I shared an elevator with him once - my closest brush with a famous actor. He was IMPOSING, but that could just have been my feelings based on the roles he played.

Of course, I'm a great admirer of his impressive portfolio of work in his career. I'll always consider him the definitive grandiose, epic Bible figure from the movies, considering all of his Biblical roles. Also found 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' very fascinating, slightly comical.

Strangely enough, however, I'll probably remember him for his role in 'The Little Kidnappers', a family film about a family in Nova Scotia dealing with the consequences of the Boor War in South Africa at the turn of the century. It's not by any means a remarkable film; but I saw in innumerable times as a kid, and I've grown quite fond of it over time. He played the role of James McKenzie, a father mourning the loss of his son in the war, and bitter against his dutch neighbors, who is given the care of his son's two children. Great little film, made better by a great actor.

Besides the obvious Moses and Ben-Hur, my favourite Heston roles are as Taylor in Planet of the Apes - "If is the best they've got, in six weeks we'll be running this place" - and Mike Vargas in Touch of Evil - a remarkably restrained and great performance, in complete contrast to the Apes role.

I've always enjoyed Heston's work--even at its scene chewing best ("Its people!"). A rare gem of his, which I guess few people saw, was in TNT's TV movie version of "Treasure Island"--just the memory of him rowing off in a dinghy with the Chieftains' score and Christian Bale's wide-eyed knowing look seals this as one of the best takes on this story.

A fine film which if you can find, do take the time to watch.

My ideas of him were formed more by later years and his work for NRA, but I'll always remember him for being so dignified next to the disgraceful Michael Moore in that sabotage scene in Moore's documentary about guns. Moore's such a boor, but he's so self-righteous that he doesn't care.

Dignified?!? He said the reason for the US level of violent crime is that "we have probably a more mixed ethnicity than other countries."

I won't necessarily stand by Moore's behavior either --his argument in that film isn't quite internally coherent (though i have no idea what you mean by "sabotage").

He was awesome in Bowling for Columbine.

Besides his acting career, and controversial leadership of the NRA, the man marched with Dr. King and was the longest serving President of the Screen Actors Guild. He almost seems to have set the precedent for other actors involvement in politics - endorsing and campaigning for Adlai Stevenson, JFK, Nixon, and then Reagan. I respect Heston, even if I disagree with some of his activism.

Link to the thread on 'Charlton Heston' (Sep 19 - 24, 2003).

Holy Moly! wrote:
: Dignified?!? He said the reason for the US level of violent crime is that "we have probably a more mixed ethnicity than other countries."

Not exactly. I transcribed the scene in question in this post in the Bowling for Columbine thread, but the relevant portion is this:

Heston: I think American history has a lot of blood on its hands.
Moore: And German history doesn't? And British history?
Heston: I don't think as much.
Moore: Oh, are you -- Germans don't have as much blood on their hands?
Heston: Ah, they do, yes.
Moore: The Brits, they ruled the world for 300 years at the barrel of a gun. They're all violent people. They have bad guys, they have crime, they have lots of guns --
Heston: Well, that's an interesting point which can be redu-- explored, and you're good to explore it, at great length. But I think that's about all I have to say on it.
Moore: You don't have any opinion, though, as to why it is that we are the unique country, the only country that does this, that kills each other on this level with guns?
Heston: Well, we have probably a more mixed ethnicity than other countries, some other countries.
Moore: You think it's an ethnic thing?
Heston: No, I don't, it's -- I wouldn't go so far as to say that. We have enough trouble -- we had enough problems with civil rights in the beginning. But I have no answer for that.
Moore: Well what do you mean, you think it's a mixed, uh, mixed ethnicity, I don't understand.
Heston: You said how is it --
Moore: -- that we're unique.
Heston: -- that so many Americans kill each other. I don't know that that's true, but even --
Moore: Well no, you know that. We know we have the highest murder rate with guns and it's way higher than any other country.
Heston: The only answer I can give you is the one I already gave you.
Moore: Which is...?
Heston: Which is that we have --
Moore: Historical.
Heston: -- a history of violence, perhaps more than most countries. Not more than Russia, not more than Japan --
Moore: Not more than Germany.
Heston: -- not more than Germany, but more than, certainly more than Canada.

So as you can see, Heston's "mixed ethnicity" comment was in direct response to Moore's question about "why it is that we are the unique country". And he said this within the context of Moore's assertion, which he didn't necessarily accept, that the U.S. had a higher rate of violence than other countries.

And as for how Moore "sabotaged" the interview... well, you don't have to share Heston's views to realize that it's a bit of a leap from "America is unique because it has a more mixed ethnicity" (which Heston did say) to "violence is an ethnic thing" (which Heston did not say). So Moore was essentially twisting Heston's words to his face, and it's no surprise that Heston basically refused to say anything new to Moore, after that point in the interview.

BTW, I'm confused. The IMDb says Heston was born in 1924, Wikipedia says he was born in 1923. And if you Google "Charlton Heston 1923" and "Charlton Heston 1924", you get almost the exact same number of results either way. Who to believe? Who to believe?

Thanks for clearing that up. Perhaps you meant "not entirely" ?

Alan Thomas wrote:
: Thanks for clearing that up. Perhaps you meant "not entirely" ?

That's part of it, but I think "Not exactly" works better, since Heston doesn't necessarily accept the premise to begin with, which is Moore's assertion that there is a special "US level" (to use Holy Moly's words) of violent crime.

Personally, I think if Heston or anyone else is (or was, sigh) going to assert that the U.S. has a higher level of violent crime because it has a much more pronounced history of violence, then they might want to consider the fact that the U.S.'s founding myth is essentially one of violence -- the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, and similar calls to arms against the presiding British authority in the 1770s and 1780s -- except that in order do that, someone like Heston would have to temper their patriotic embrace of all those things.

And I don't say that as an argument for or against the Revolution. I just don't see how one can easily extricate the Revolution and similar things from the broader "history of violence" that Heston alludes to.

From Jeffrey Wells:



Sheesh, what a creep. Moore, not Heston.

I like this:

"Charlton Heston might be said to achieve his apotheosis as Moses — unless one decides that it's Moses who's achieving his apotheosis as Heston." - Jonathan Rosenbaum

Overstreet wrote:
: Sheesh, what a creep. Moore, not Heston.

Well, Moore may not have SAID anything yet, but his website does feature Heston's photo with the caption:

Charlton Heston
October 4, 1924 – April 5, 2008

The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Motion Picture and Television Fund: MPTF, 22212 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 300, Woodland Hills, CA 91364, www.mptvfund.org

As always, with Moore, it's impossible to know how to read this. Is he trying to pay dignified tribute to someone he genuinely admired on some level? Is it an ironic Brian Flemming-like nod to a person he exploited once before? Etc., etc.

That's a great Rosenbaum quote, BTW.

...or some outworking of guilt?

FWIW, my obit.

Matt

Manohla Dargis:

In the final decades of his life he had all but disappeared from the screen, making one of his only on-camera appearances in “Bowling for Columbine,” Michael Moore’s 2002 anti-gun feature. Mr. Moore shows up at Mr. Heston’s home and tries to shame this stooped and visibly frail old man for his stance on guns. The old man doesn’t engage Mr. Moore, just walks away, unfailingly polite to the end.

Did Charlton Heston inspire Indiana Jones!?