55 days in Peking Charlton Heston as a Marine's Marine.
Posted on 04/05/2008 9:07:23 PM PDT by rdl6989
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Legendary actor, civil-rights leader and political activist Charlton Heston passed away today, at 84. He died at his home with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, at his side.
Heston is survived by his two children, Fraser Clarke Heston and Holly Heston Rochell, and his three grandchildren, Jack Alexander Heston, Ridley Rochell and Charlie Rochell. A private memorial service will be held.
Charlton Heston Bio (not sure of the year but at sometime during his tenure as NRA President)...
Growing up hunting, shooting and fishing in the north woods of Michigan, Charlton Heston found in America’s outdoors tradition a respect for individual freedom and personal responsibility that would guide him through life. While studying at Northwestern University, he married fellow acting student Lydia Clarke and, after serving three years in the Army Air Corps during World War II, they moved to New York’s theatre district.
Since then, Heston has starred in more than 70 motion pictures, nearly as many theatre productions, and innumerable television shows and appearances. Among his many achievements, Heston won an Academy Award for Best Actor in BEN HUR, a second Oscar for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, as well as similar international citations, was elected six times as president of the Screen Actors Guild, served as the first Chairman and President of the American Film Institute and authored five books.
Throughout his richly varied and duty-conscious life, Charlton Heston has never shied away from public service. The Michigan actor, conservative spokesman and patriot achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant with the 11th Air Force during World War II, serving for two years in the Pacific Theatre. In the early sixties, by then a major star, Heston campaigned for racial equality throughout the Southwest, well before that was a popular stance. In 1963 the noted performer headed a contingent from the arts community for Dr. Martin Luther King’s march on Washington, DC, an event that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Later, as president of the Screen Actors Guild, Heston worked once again with Dr. King, helping black Americans gain entry into the Hollywood technical work force.
Heston has lent his time, talent and energy to a number of federal agencies including the USIA and the Departments of Energy and Agriculture. He’s done chores for every branch of the armed services, films for a variety of governmental departments and, in 1982, traveled to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to film a documentary designed to wage war against agricultural failure and the resulting famine.
In 1984, the tireless activist went to Ethiopia on behalf of the Red Cross, where he reported on the political and economic impact of widespread famine. Heston also visited Afghanistan guerilla camps to see for himself how Afghan freedom fighters were faring in their struggle against Soviet aggression. The politically astute actor remains a strong voice in behalf of NATO, and has traveled to France, Belgium and Germany on assignment for the multi-national defense organization.
In 1981, Heston was named co-chairman of President Ronald Reagan’s Task Force on the Arts and Humanities. The following year he was in Mexico City for the State Department as an observer at the UNESCO Conference on the arts. Heston has served as the official US delegate to numerous film festivals and undertaken assignments to cultural embassies in England, Egypt, Nigeria, Australia and West Berlin. The widely traveled film star has been a member of the National Council on the Arts, and was the first chairman and president of the American Film Institute.
In recent years, Heston has been no less active on the stage and screen, starring in the 1996 feature film ALASKA, giving an acclaimed performance as the Player King in Kenneth Branagh’s HAMLET, and performing with his wife, Lydia, in LOVE LETTERS, a two-person romantic comedy that’s been among the couple’s favorites for years.
In 1997 Heston was a recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement in the performing arts, one of just 105 individuals ever to receive, as the national cultural center describes it, “America’s equivalent of a knighthood in Britain, or the French Legion of Honor, the quintessential reward for a lifetime’s endeavor.”
Charlton Heston’s impact on the American political scene has been as powerful as his undeniable film presence. Heston often has testified before state agencies and congressional committees and he remains a tireless and feared campaigner for those who share his political philosophy. He currently serves as President of the National Rifle Association.
Charlton and Lydia Heston live a busy but informal life on a ridge in Beverly Hills that Heston describes as “a modest home attached to my wife’s state of the art photographic studio.” Lydia’s career as a photographer is burgeoning, with several exhibitions scheduled. Charlton Heston has two books planned for this year.
Among Mr. Heston?s memorable film roles are The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, El Cid, Touch of Evil, The Naked Jungle, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Planet of the Apes, Will Penny, The Hawaiians, Earthquake, The Battle of Midway, Antony & Cleopatra, Omega Man, Skyjacked, The Mountain Men, Mother Lode, Treasure Island and Tombstone.
Prayers for a great actor and a great man.
So many of our lives were shaped by Mr. Hestons characters that he played...Thank You.
Rest in peace.....A great actor.a great man...You will be surely missed....
So sad. Now we’re left with the likes of Clooney and Pitt.
Those DU’ers should rot in hell.
That civil rights picture posted earlier has that anti-American Belafonte. Wonder what he’ll say over Charleston’s death.
55 days in Peking Charlton Heston as a Marine's Marine.
“The class of DU: (posted only in case they edit it)
TomInTib Donating Member (1000+ posts) Apr-06-08 12:20 AM
Response to Reply #12
15. On the money, Buddy.
Rest in the Hottest Parts of Hell, motherf****r.
You and Saint Ronnie can just toast your asses on the ****ing brimstone while ***king each other off.
My ****ing regards, ***k,
Tom”
Why do liberals/Marxists hate President Reagan and Charlton Heston so much? Is it because Reagan and Heston dared believe in freedom, in the 2nd Amendment, in gun rights, in limited government, and in America?
Seems like liberals/Socialism hate all that is right and good and that works.
RIP Mr. President and Mr. Heston.
There’s one Baldwin who is Heaven bound! Stephen became a born-again Christian in 2001.
Rest in peace.
great actor and all around great guy. RIP CH.
You bet!
Actually, I had NOT heard about his passing until I saw
this thread last night !
He was a man’s man and will be missed by many. May God bless his family and loved ones as they deal with his homegoing.
Well done, good and faithful servant.
Prayers for his eternal rest, and for the comfort and consolation of his friends and family.
On the wikipedia page about him it notes that he was attacked as a homophobe even though he never said anything bad about homosexuals. He once said it was amazing that we could have some people fighting to have adult homosexual men sleeping in tents with young boys but having a gun in your home is considered out of line, but to me that’s not homophobia, that’s common sense.
R.I.P. A good man has passed from us.
Thank you, brothers, for your service.
What did you guys do for Uncle Sam specifically? I was a KC-135 crew chief.
One day, he found an invitation in his mailbox, addressed to John Sayles. My brother had been living there about a year, and had no forwarding address for the director, so he opened the invitation. Inside it read something like:
“Miramax Films and Martin Scorsese invite you and a guest to join stars Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren for a private screening of the fully restored release of their classic film, ‘El Cid’...”
followed by information about the date and place (a small private theater in downtown Manhattan.)
So we showed up that night, but weren't on the guest list. We had the invite so we just nuisanced our way in by arguing politely and insistently at the door.
There was an open bar, so we sidled up to that and started drinking with John Turturro, who was also there. After a while there was a big commotion as Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, and Martin Scorsese arrived. My brother and I had purchased disposable cameras, and wandered into the press throng to take pictures with those ridiculous things.
When we made our way into the theater, we sat in the row directly in front of Heston and Loren and Scorcese. Scorsese got up and talked about the restoration and why he loved the film and all that. Then Heston got up and was all class. Thanking "Marty" and everybody who helped restore the film to it's original beauty. Then he added "There is, of course, one aspect of the film that needed no restoration and more beautiful today than she was those thirty years ago - my lovely costar, Sophia Loren."
She waved to the crowd like the Queen of England and nodded at him. She did still look really good for an old lady.
Watching El Cid was great. It was a terrific movie, brilliantly restored. Plus we could see Heston and Loren up there on the screen, then turn around and see their thirty-years-older selves sitting beside each other right behind us.
After the show, Heston hung around talking to anybody who cared to. He was really wonderful. I walked up to him and shook his hand and told him I was a long time admirer of his work, in movies and politics. He thanked me quite sincerely.
I have some pictures, from the goofy box cameras, but I need to hook up my clunky scanner. Maybe later.
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