'Charlton Heston' (born
October 4,
1924) is an American
film actor, known for playing larger-than-life
heroic roles such as
Moses in ''
The Ten Commandments'' and
Judah Ben-Hur in ''
Ben-Hur''. He has been long involved in
political issues and was president of the
National Rifle Association between 1998 to 2001 and was elected to the board of directors from 2001 to 2003.
Biography
Early life
Heston was born 'John Charles Carter' in
Evanston,
Illinois to Lila Charlton and Russell Whitford Carter, a mill operator.
[1] When he was ten, his parents
divorced. Shortly thereafter, his mother married Chester Heston. The new family moved to well-off
Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of
Chicago. Heston (his new surname) attended
New Trier High School.
He enrolled in the school's drama program, where he performed with such outstanding results that he earned a drama scholarship to
Northwestern University from the Winnetka Community Theatre in which he was also active. While still in high school, he played in the silent 16 mm amateur film adaptation of ''
Peer Gynt'' made by David Bradley. Several years later the same team produced the first sound version of
William Shakespeare's ''
Julius Caesar'', in which Heston played
Mark Antony.
Charlton Heston as Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, 1950
from the trailer for the film ''
Ben-Hur'' (1959)
In 1944, Heston left college and enlisted in the
United States Army Air Corps. He served for two years as a
B-25 radio operator/gunner stationed in the
Alaskan
Aleutian Islands with the
Eleventh Air Force, rising to the rank of
Staff Sergeant.
While in the service, he married fellow Northwestern student Lydia Marie Clarke in 1944. After the war, the two lived in
Hell's Kitchen, New York City, where they worked as
models. Seeking a way to make it in
theater, they decided in 1947 to manage a playhouse in
Asheville,
North Carolina. In 1948, they went back to New York where Heston was offered a supporting role in a
Broadway revival of Shakespeare's ''
Antony and Cleopatra'', starring
Katharine Cornell, for which he earned acclaim. He also had success in
television, playing a number of roles in
CBS's
Studio One, one of the most popular
anthology dramas of the 1950s.
Acting career
Heston's most frequently played roles on stage include the title role in ''
Macbeth'',
Sir Thomas More in ''
A Man For All Seasons'', and
Mark Antony in both ''
Julius Caesar'' and ''
Antony and Cleopatra''. He also cited ''
Mister Roberts'' as one of his favorite roles, and tried unsuccessfully to revive the show in the early '90s.
He was unable to use his birth name, John Carter, as an actor because it bore too close a resemblance to the name of the hero in
Edgar Rice Burroughs' first novel ''
A Princess of Mars'', which was in development at the time although the production fell through. In 1950, he earned recognition for his appearance in his first professional movie, ''
Dark City''. His breakthrough came in 1952 with his role of a circus manager in ''
The Greatest Show on Earth''. Heston was
Billy Wilder's first choice to play JJ Sefton in ''
Stalag 17'' (1953). The role was eventually given to
Oscar winner
William Holden. But the muscular, 6 ft 3 in, square jawed Heston became an icon by portraying
Moses in ''
The Ten Commandments'', a part he was chosen for reportedly because director
Cecil B. DeMille thought that he bore an uncanny resemblance to the statue of Moses by
Michelangelo. He has played leading roles in a number of fictional and historical epics—such as ''
Ben-Hur'', ''
El Cid'', ''
55 Days at Peking'', ''
The Agony and the Ecstasy'' (as Michelangelo himself), and ''
Khartoum''—during his long career. He once quipped, "They seem to think I have a
Medieval face!". He won the
Academy Award for Best Actor for his
1959 performance in the title role of ''Ben-Hur'', one of 11 earned by that film. Heston accepted the role in ''Ben-Hur'' after
Burt Lancaster, another similarly tall, muscular, square jawed, blonde, blue eyed actor, turned it down. Lancaster, an
atheist, wanted nothing to do with the film because he considered it a "piece of religious crap". Many years later, Lancaster charged that if Heston became
typecast in heroic roles it was his own fault, because "he accepted the limitation". However, Lancaster later took on the role of Moses in a TV version of Moses' life, after Heston had played the part in the 1956 film version.
Heston also starred in a number of
science fiction films and
disaster films between
1968 and
1974, some of which, like ''
Planet of the Apes'', ''
The Omega Man'', ''
Soylent Green'', and ''
Earthquake'', were hugely successful at the time of their release and have since become cult classics.
Heston fought at times for his artistic choices. In 1958, he maneuvered
Universal International into allowing
Orson Welles to direct him in ''
Touch of Evil'', and in 1965 he fought the studio in support of
Sam Peckinpah, when an attempt was made to interfere with his direction of ''
Major Dundee'', despite the fact that Peckinpah was so temperamental that at one point the normally even-keeled Heston found himself threatening the diminutive director with his cavalry sabre when he felt that Peckinpah was mistreating his cast. Heston was also president of the
Screen Actors Guild from 1966 to 1971.
In 1970, he portrayed Mark Antony again, this time in a
Technicolor film version (the first one ever made) of Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar''. His co-stars in the nearly all-star cast included
Jason Robards as Brutus,
Richard Johnson as Cassius,
John Gielgud as Caesar,
Diana Rigg as Portia,
Robert Vaughn as Casca, and
Richard Chamberlain as Octavius.
In 1971 he made his directorial debut with ''
Antony and Cleopatra'', an adaptation of the
William Shakespeare play that he had performed during his earlier theater career, and portrayed Mark Antony once more. Hidegarde Neil was Cleopatra, and
Eric Porter was Enobarbus. After receiving scathing reviews, the film never went to theatres, and now rarely turns up on television. It has not been released on DVD.
Starting with 1973's ''
The Three Musketeers'', Heston began playing an increasing number of supporting roles and cameos. Despite this, his immense popularity has never died, and he has seen a steady stream of film and television roles ever since. He starred in the prime-time soap, ''
The Colbys'' from 1985 to 1987, his only stint on series television. Heston has an instantly recognizable voice, and was often heard as a
narrator. Heston had cameos in the films ''
Tombstone'' and ''
True Lies''. With his son Fraser, he starred in and produced several made for cable movies, including remakes of "Treasure Island" and "A Man For All Seasons". Heston received great reviews for his 1992 series on the A&E cable network, "Charlton Heston Presents The Bible", which has achieved great success on video and DVD. In 1993, he appeared in a cameo role in ''
Wayne's World 2'', in a scene wherein main character Wayne Campbell (
Mike Myers) requests that a small role be filled by a better actor than the performer currently filling it, and played a small part as a rancher in the Western ''Tombstone'' (1993). That same year, he hosted ''
Saturday Night Live''.
In 2001, Heston made a cameo appearance in
Tim Burton's
remake of ''Planet of the Apes''. In the film, he plays an elderly, dying ape who introduces arms to his species by giving a pistol to his son, perhaps as a nod to his then-current role in the
National Rifle Association.
Off screen
Heston had a
hip replacement in 1998, shortly after he was elected President of the
National Rifle Association. He was diagnosed with
prostate cancer in 1998, and it went into
remission in the next year following a course of
radiation treatment. In August 2002, Heston publicly announced that he was diagnosed as suffering symptoms consistent with
Alzheimer's disease.
[2] In July 2003, he received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, from President
George W. Bush at the
White House. In March 2005, various newspapers reported that family and friends of Heston were apparently shocked by the rapid progression of his illness, and that he is sometimes unable to get out of bed. In August 2005, a rumor circulated that Heston had been hospitalized with
pneumonia at a Los Angeles hospital, but this was never confirmed by the family. In April 2006, various news sources reported that Heston's illness was at an advanced stage and his family were worried he might not survive the year. According to his son Fraser, his father is doing as well as can be expected and is now infirm at his
Beverly Hills home.
Heston is the chairman and co-founder of
Agamemnon Films.
Political activism
In his earlier years, Heston was a
liberal Democrat, campaigning for Presidential candidates
Adlai Stevenson in 1956 and
John F. Kennedy in 1960. A
civil rights activist, he accompanied
Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights march held in
Washington, D.C. in 1963, even going so far as to wear a sign that read "''All Men Are Created Equal''". Heston later claimed it a point of pride that he helped in the civil rights cause "long before Hollywood found it fashionable", as he often says in his speeches. Heston had also planned to campaign for
Lyndon Johnson, but was unable to do so when filming on ''
Major Dundee'' went over schedule.
In 1968, following the assassination of Senator
Robert F. Kennedy, Heston appeared on ''The Joey Bishop Show'' and, along with fellow actors
Gregory Peck,
Kirk Douglas and
James Stewart, called for public support for President Johnson's
Gun Control Act of 1968. He later claimed he was "young and foolish". In 1969 Heston was asked by some Democrats to run for the California State Senate, a move that would have likely had bipartisan support in the state. He declined because he wanted to continue acting.
He was also an opponent of
McCarthyism and
racial segregation, which he saw as only helping the cause of
Communism worldwide. He opposed the
Vietnam War and considered
Richard Nixon a disaster for America. He turned down
John Wayne's offer of a role in ''
The Alamo'', because the film was a right-wing allegory for the
Cold War.
In the 1980s, however, Heston began to support more
conservative positions on such issues as
affirmative action and
gun rights. Heston changed his registration from Democrat to Republican. He has campaigned for Republican candidates and Presidents
Ronald Reagan,
George H. W. Bush and
George W. Bush.
He is an honorary life member of the
National Rifle Association (NRA), and was its president and spokesman from 1998 until his resignation in 2003. As NRA president he is perhaps best known, while raising an antique
Sharps Rifle over his head at the 2000 NRA convention, for saying that presidential candidate
Al Gore would take away his
Second Amendment rights "from my cold, dead hands". (In announcing his resignation in 2003, he would again raise a rifle over his head, this time repeating only the famous five words of his 2000 speech.)
Heston has been harshly criticized by advocates of gun control.
Michael Moore interviewed Heston in his home in the
2002 documentary film ''
Bowling for Columbine'' asking questions of him regarding an NRA meeting being held in
Denver,
Colorado in April 1999, shortly after the
Columbine high school massacre in nearby Littleton and the very publicized shooting and death of 6-year-old
Kayla Rolland in her first grade classroom near
Flint,
Michigan. Moore begins the interview by showing Heston that he is a fellow member of the NRA, gaining his interest. Heston eventually stands and walks away from Moore mid-interview when he realizes Moore is criticizing him for holding the meeting mentioned above.
Many of the festivities and activities of the convention in Denver were cancelled; an annual meeting was still held in compliance with NRA bylaws, as well as the applicable federal and New York state laws for a corporation such as the NRA.
[3] Actor
George Clooney joked about Heston's
Alzheimer's and defended his comments saying that Heston deserved whatever was said about him for his involvement with the NRA;
[4] Heston responded by saying that Clooney lacked "class," and said he felt sorry for Clooney, as Clooney had as much of a chance of developing Alzheimer's as anyone else.
[5]
In 1996 Charlton Heston attended the
Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual gathering of conservative movement organizations. There he agreed to pose for a group photo that included Gordon Lee Baumm, the founder of the
Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) and former
White Citizens Council organizer. Former conservative Republican Senator George Allen (VA) also appears in the photo
[6] which was published in the Summer 1996 issue of the CCC's newsletter, the ''Citizens Informer''.
Heston has often been accused of being homophobic, having drawn comparisons as to why it is alright to leave "homosexual men alone in tents with young boys" but it is not alright to allow innocent gun owners to own their guns, and also for expressing the opinion that gays are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals, not more rights. He denied that
Michelangelo, whom he played in ''
The Agony and the Ecstasy'', was homosexual. In 1995 he denied a claim by screenwriter
Gore Vidal that there had been a gay subtext to his most famous film, ''
Ben Hur'', though Gore, one of the screenwriters, recalls writing that implication into it, and agreeing never to mention the subtext to Heston, who would have been shocked, though he did so to Boyd
[7]. However, Heston has never directly or openly professed to disdain homosexuals.
According to his autobiography ''In the Arena'', Heston also recognised the right of freedom of speech exercised by others. In an address to students at
Harvard Law School entitled ''Winning the Cultural War'', Heston expressed his disdain for
political correctness and its chilling effect on free speech, stating "If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys - subjects bound to the British crown."
[8] He has also stated that "Political correctness is tyranny with manners".
[9]
Heston is also an opponent of
abortion and gave the introduction to a
1987 pro-life documentary by
Bernard Nathanson called ''Eclipse of Reason'' which focuses on late-term abortions. Heston also served on the Advisory Board of
Accuracy in Media (AIM), a conservative media watchdog group founded by the late
Reed Irvine.
Heston in popular culture
In the video game "
Postal²", there are many allusions to Heston, such as a difficulty level called "Hestonworld" and the "Postal Dude" considering him as "his President". Heston's portrayal of
Buffalo Bill in ''Pony Express'', a
western from early in his career, inspired the
Bills, a Congolese youth cult who idolized Western movies.
Spotswoode's voice in the film '' is a homage of Heston. The Switchfoot song, ''Might Have Ben Hur'' is dedicated to Charlton Heston.
In the animated TV show
Family Guy, Heston is accidentally shot by character
Joe Swanson. Joe is horrified and apologizes profusely. As he collapses, Heston replies "That's OK, son - it's your right as an American citizen!"
Anglo-Irish band
Stump realeased a single entitled ''Charlton Heston'' about his film ''The Ten Commandments''. The song contains the short chorus "They'd always ask us to describe, How Charlton Heston put his vest on" amidst humorous descriptions of scenes from the film.
[10]
Books
Heston has written several books, including autobiographies and religious books:
★ ''The Actor's Life'' (ISBN 0-671-83016-3)
★ ''In the Arena: An Autobiography'' (ISBN 1-57297-267-X)
★ ''The Courage to be Free'' (ISBN 978-0970368805)
★ ''Beijing Diary'' (ISBN 0-671-68706-9)
★ ''To Be a Man: Letters to My Grandson'' (ISBN 0-7432-1311-4)
★ ''Charlton Heston Presents the Bible'' (ISBN 1-57719-270-2)
★ ''Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years in American Film'' with Jean-Pierre Isbouts (ISBN 1-57719-357-1)
Filmography
Short Subjects:
★ ''Introducing Charlton Heston'' (1950)
★ ''Three Lives'' (1953)
★ ''The Five Cities of June'' (1963) (narrator)
★ ''The Egyptologists'' (1965) (narrator)
★ ''While I Run This Race'' (1967) (narrator)
★ ''Think Twentieth'' (1967)
★ ''The American Film: 1966 White House Festival of the Arts'' (1967) (narrator)
★ ''All About People'' (1967) (narrator)
★ ''Rowan & Martin at the Movies'' (1968)
★ ''The Movie Experience: A Matter of Choice'' (1968) (narrator)
|
★ ''Rod Laver's Wimbledon'' (1969) (narrator)
★ ''The Heart of Variety'' (1969)
★ ''The Last Man Alive'' (1971)
★ ''Our Active Earth'' (1972) (narrator)
★ ''A Look at the World of Soylent Green'' (1973)
★ ''Lincoln's Gettysburg Address'' (1973) (narrator)
★ ''The Fun of Your Life'' (1975) (narrator)
★ ''They Were There'' (1976)
★ ''Call from Space'' (1989) (voice)
★ ''Alaska: Spirit of the Wild'' (1997) (narrator)
|
References
1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/81/Charlton-Heston.html
2. CNN news story.
3. Rocky Mountain News.
4. [1]
5. [2]
6. photo!
7. Gore Vidal, ''Palimpsest-A Memoir'' 1995 pp.303-307
8. [3]
9. Internet Movie Database
10. Lyrics to Charlton Heston by Stump
External links
★
★
Hollywood.com entry on Charlton Heston
★
Yahoo Movies entry on Charlton Heston
★ http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/Heston/heston.htm
★ http://charltonhestonworld.homestead.com/
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