The Immortal Charlton Heston: An Iconic Father Figure

Sunday morning's paper arrived with the sad news of Charlton Heston's death. Charlton Heston was an iconic Hollywood star who will be justly revered for his superb acting skills. But I never could warm up to him.

Heston, 84, died on the evening of Saturday, April 5, 2008, at his California home. He had waged a six-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. According to a New York Times obituary, he made 100 films during his 60-year acting career.

Charlton Heston will be best remembered for the larger-than-life roles he played in "The Ten Commandments" (1956) and "Ben Hur" (1959). In "Ten Commandments," Mr. Heston played Moses, the Old Testament prophet who liberated the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. How striking it is that Mr. Heston's death coincides with the 40th anniversary of the passing of a modern day Moses, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One particularly windy day in early 1968, I was outside my coastal home with my father. Hurling my seven-year-old body against a wall of cold air, I spread my arms and bellowed in my best baritone, "Behold His mighty hand!" I was immitating Heston's Moses in the Red Sea-parting scene of "Ten Commandments." My dad found my display hilarious. Once in awhile, I still have fun with that gag, especially in March, when the wind is at peak strength. Now that both my father and Charlton Heston are gone, it has taken on special meaning.

Young boys tend to think of their dads as Superman, and I was no exception. It was only when I was older that I saw my father as the imperfect mortal we all are. Heston's Moses was a biblical Superman who was able to channel wind, fire, and water to defeat the most powerful army in the ancient world. Mr. Heston's resonant, erudite voice, combined with bravura special effects, made "Ten Commandments" a Hollywood classic. Charlton Heston was the original E.F. Hutton. When he talked, people listened. Mr. Heston's good looks and imposing, athletic physique cemented his stage presence.

According to imdb.com, "Ten Commandments" won an Oscar for best effects and was nominated in six other categories, including best picture and costume design. Surprisingly, Charlton Heston did not win an award for best actor in "Ten Commandments," although he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in that category.

But a few years later, Mr. Heston did win an Oscar for best actor for his title role in William Wyler's "Ben Hur." The film won 11 Oscars, including those for best effects, best picture, and best sound. Nobody who has seen "Ben Hur" can forget the climactic chariot race between Heston's Ben Hur and his nemesis, Messala, played by Stephen Boyd. As in "Ten Commandments," Charlton Heston in "Ben Hur" was a Superman of ancient Israel, an unstoppable force triumphing over evil.

My other Heston film favorites include "Touch of Evil" (1958) and "Planet of the Apes" (1968). "Touch of Evil" was directed by Orson Welles. In this film, Mr. Heston played a Mexican police detective battling a murderous, corrupt sheriff, played by Welles, in an American border town. In "Planet of the Apes," Mr. Heston starred as an astronaut marooned on a planet populated by simian humanoids. Heston's "Planet of the Apes" character was compellingly romantic and angry.

Mr. Heston was also an imposing figure off-screen. According to his New York Times obituary, Charlton Heston was an Air Corps radio gunner in the Aleutian Islands from 1944 to 1947. He participated in the 1963 "March on Washinton" and was a vocal supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. Mr. Heston was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1966 to 1971 and president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2002. During his N.R.A. tenure, he battled prostate cancer, an illness with which my father was simultaneously afflicted.

I didn't know Charlton Heston personally. I only know about him from his films and other public activities. Given my incomplete knowledge, any conclusions I draw are vulnerable to criticism.

That said, as much as I loved Charlton Heston's acting, his on-screen personas lacked warmth. Perhaps he was warm with his family; I don't know. My father, whom I knew well, was a warm though far less professionally accomplished person. Yet both cut courageous figures in my mind. Mr. Heston, mostly through his films. My father, in real life. For example, when I was five years old, I saw my dad stare down a mob in order to save a young man from being beaten to death.

Both my father and Charlton Heston were Air Corps sergeant radio operators during World War II. Mr. Heston flew. My father stayed on the ground. This is a fitting metaphor for the trajectory of their lives. Most people are earthbound. Few are stars.

On screen, Charlton Heston was the macho man, the lover, the crusader. Mr. Heston had emotional range but only the slightest hint of vulnerability. He seemed like the kind of guy you could have a beer with for a few minutes, but not someone with whom you could unburden yourself. Charlton Heston inspires great admiration, even awe, but not love.

I'm saddened by Charlton Heston's death and will re-watch his many great films that will soon be played on TCM and elsewhere. But I won't cry like I did when Elizabeth Montgomery died. Or miss him the way I did Michael Landon and Bill Bixby when they passed on. I can imagine hugging these actors but not Charlton Heston. Yet Mr. Heston stands head and shoulders above them. Icons are great, but not loveable.