Remembering Charlton Heston

Very few actors have so thoroughly imprinted themselves onto American film history as has Charlton Heston. Whether or not one agrees with his political views off screen or even liked the roles he chose to play onscreen, there is no denying that Heston will be long, long remembered.

Film being a relatively new medium, historically speaking, for entertainers, it has a new and never before seen aspect. This is that, generations yet unborn may one day watch an entertainer who lived and died long before and appreciate that entertainers abilities. We have really yet to really begin to understand this since the "movie age" is actually very young and most of the great actors are either still alive or have only been dead a few years and these "generations yet unborn" are not really old enough to have come to appreciate past great actors and actresses yet. Take for example, John Wayne. Having died in 1979 he might fall into this category. Certainly he has twenty-eight year old fans today.

Many actors and actresses, who are big Hollywood names in their lifetimes, will most likely fade into obscurity after their deaths. Others will become larger than life, the stuff of legends and dreams, their exploits on the "silver screen" becoming part of the publics' consciousness. Certainly Heston will enter into this latter category.

Who can ever forget the glory of Ben-Hur racing his chariot around the circus? Or, perhaps, when General Charles "Chinese" Gordon had to tell his loyal servant, "as delicately as I can that I am NOT Jesus Christ!"? Simply listing Hestons' great film credits is like listing some of the greatest movies ever produced by Hollywood; El Cid, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Planet of the Apes, Khartoum, The Omega Man, 55 Days at Peking, The Ten Commandments, and Ben-Hur.

Of course, the role Charlton Heston will probably best be remembered for is that of Moses. While it was not Hestons' first role, and certainly not his last, it is certainly fair to say that this was the role which "made" Charlton Heston. It was, perhaps, his greatest role as he played the title opposite Yul Brynner, as Pharaoh Rameses II. This epic movie now has its own devoted following of fans.

Aside from his movie acting career, Charlton Heston was outspoken in his political and social beliefs. This has lead many people to either like him or dislike him intensely based solely on the stances he took off screen. Originally a member of the democratic party in the 1950's and 60's, Heston supported Civil Rights and campaigned with Martin Luther King Jr.. During the 1970's he changed from the Democratic party to the Republican party and, over the coming decades came to the cause of gun rights, eventually being called to head the National Rifle Association in 1998. He resigned this position in 2003 when he announced that he was suffering now from Alzheimer's.

Until his death, on the 5^th of April 2008, he continued to champion generally conservative causes but it would be a mistake to really lump Charlton Heston in with one group or the other. As we saw earlier, when civil rights were the issue, he stood for civil rights, when the second amendment was the issue; he stood up for what he believed in there also. In short, Charlton Heston would speak out and stand up for whatever he believed was right. It would seem the strong vibrant roles he played on the movie screen were not entirely an act with Mr. Heston, he was one of those rare men who possessed the strength of character to stand up for what he believed in even if it was not "politically correct" at the time.

I, for one, mourn his passing.