Hollywood icon Charleston Heston passed away yesterday at the age of 84 in his Beverly Hills, California home.
Pretty much everybody knows about his amazing career; Moses in Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 Biblical extravaganza "The Ten Commandments," an academy award for playing the Jewish chariot racer in the title role in "Ben Hur", Orson Welles classic film noir "Touch of Evil," sci fi outings like "Planet of the Apes" "Soylent Green" and "The Omega Man", the Spanish hero in "El Cid," DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth" Sam Peckinpah's "Major Dundee," and George Stevens' "The Greatest Story Ever Told" among a host of others.
He probably was responsible for more classic film moments than any actor of his generation.
Late in life, he became known as a conservative Republican and an outspoken 2nd Amendment advocate, becoming president of the NRA in1998.This, of course, led to his being ostracized in Hollywood, something that must have cut him deeply, Hollywood being the small company town that it is.
He must have known that it would, but apparently the courage he portrayed on the screen wasn't just acting....
My favorite Charlton Heston story? Sam Goldwyn introducing him at a Hollywood banquet as `Chester Moses'!
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