Posted on 10/11/2005 4:49:36 PM PDT by wagglebee
On Oct. 4, screen legend and former president of the National Rifle Association Charlton Heston turned 82 years old. He still lives at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. - 90210 - with his wife of over 50 years, Lydia Clarke Heston.
Tony Makris of Alexandria, Virginia's Mercury Group public relations firm, a longtime friend who handles NRA public relations, tells NewsMax that he had dinner with Heston and family just last Sunday.
The famous actor, Makris said, is in the midst of a "quiet retirement."
In 2002, Heston was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. His last major public appearance was at the NRA in April 2003, days before he officially stepped down as the organization's president.
"I see him about once a month and I can tell you that only a very small group interacts with Mr. Heston these days," Makris told NewsMax.
Makris said some media reports about Mr. Heston's condition have been completely wrong.
Meetings with Mr. Heston by people who know him, Makris noted, have not "quelled various inaccurate press reports detailing a reportedly pitiful condition.
"We're all not the people we used to be. He is doing as well as can be expected.
"The family basically at this point has no comment on his condition. And there are plenty of requests – including a recent one from Parade magazine."
Makris grows reflective
"I can tell you that the man is still missed," said Makris. "Got a call during the last Bush campaign (2004) from a staffer on the Bush campaign bus, who confided to me how much Charlton was missed. I really appreciated the sentiment and passed it on to Charlton.
"Heston always had a real impact with his speeches and appearances, and part of the reason is that the man was engaged in the process all the time – it was never a sometimes thing with him."
Although best known for his iconic roles as Ben-Hur and Moses, Heston toured for the State Department's Cultural Presentation Program and had been a delegate to the Berlin Film Festival.
A World War II U.S. Army veteran, he visited troops fighting during the Vietnam War and was a strong supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1981, Heston was named co-chairman of President Ronald Reagan's Task Force on the Arts and Humanities. Charlton has served on the National Council on the Arts and was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild six times.
Furthermore, he has held the office of chairman and president of the American Film Institute and served four terms as President of the National Rifle Association of America. He has authored five books.
In 2003, Heston received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bush.
Last month, MGM released a four-disc Collector's Edition of "Ben-Hur," the film that won an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards – including Best Actor for Heston.
The lavish four-hour epic shows off the 100,000 costumes, 8,000 extras, 300 sets, and a staggering budget, which in its day was the largest in movie history.
The DVD features scene-specific comments from Charlton Heston.
NewsMax completed a more detailed report about Charlton Heston's personal and public life in its November 2002 NewsMax Magazine cover story "Heston's Battle."
Same here.
Glad to know he's still around. Maybe I'll get the new "Ben-Hur" release for my son's birthday this month.
I agree ... the muscles, the bald head, the Siberian accent ... droooooool.
Thank God, he hasn't died.
I always thought "Ben Hur" was a far better movie than "The Ten Commandments."
you were my president in the 90's, god bless you charlton heston...
Yup.
My only complaint – and I’ll agree with Ebert on this one – if you’re going to make a “last man on earth” movie, make it a last GD man on earth movie and cut the "meeting up with all the 'other' last men" reunion that inevitably happens.
I think Ben-Hur is stronger as a film, as well. The Exodus is a terrific story, but "The Ten Commandments" didn't exactly do it justice!
I absolutely adore him and Ben Hur is one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time. He was soooo wonderful in it!!
I absolutely adore him and Ben Hur is one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time. He was soooo wonderful in it!!
Amen!
Also newly released is the Sam Peckinpah would-be cavalry epic Major Dundee. While not the "director's cut" some claim, they have restored 12 or 13 minutes, and added a new musical score, while presenting the film in a beautiful widescreen print. Heston is at his best in this film, playing a driven career officer out to salvage his tarnished career by pursuing a murderous Apache renegade after a massacre.
Sorry, but The Ten Commandments is pure hoke to me. Not inspiring, and with dialogue that is now known as the "O, Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid adorable fool" school of screenwriting. When they called films like Ben-Hur, Spartacus, Lawrence, etc "thinking man's epics", they were thinking of The Ten Commandments as the alternative. However, if I could get any one film in anamorphic widescreen with 5.1 sound on DVD, it would be El Cid. Maybe its lack of a release is because it is un-PC as to depict fanatical Muslims as the enemy?
Heston is the last of the "great Hollywood stars" whose like will never be seen again, IMO.
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