He played the white haired Moses who parted the Red Sea, he played Ben Hur in his famous chariot fight, he played the legendary Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz better known as El Cid and he played John the Baptist among his famous roles.
One of the last leading men from the Golden Era of Hollywood, Charlton "Chuck" Heston (4th October 1924), who played all those roles, passed away due to symptoms of Alzheimer's on 5th April 2008.
After a few undistinguished movies, Charlton had the leading role in Cecil B. DeMille's colourful big top spectacular "The Greatest Show On Earth" in 1952 with other major roles going to James Stewart, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame. He then went on to the heavy dramatic "Ruby Gentry" (1952) opposite the beautiful Jennifer Jones. By then, he was in great demand in both TV and the silver screen. He was in South America fighting off the deadly ants with the flaming Eleanor Parker in 1954's "The Naked Jungle" and as a treasure hunter in Peruvian jungle in "Secret Of The Incas". As Moses in another DeMille's blockbuster "The Ten Commandments" (1956), established him as one of those legendary stars of the era. He was cast because of uncanny resemblance to the statue of Moses carved by Michelangelo. Another biblical epic, as the Jewish Prince "Ben Hur" (1959) with the dashing Stephen Boyd and Jack Hawkins, won him a Best Actor Oscar for that year. The role was turned down by Burt Lancaster. In 1961, Heston starred opposite the Italian Sophia Loren in the biographical "El Cid" and Ava Gardner in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion "55 Days At Peking" (1963). It was reported that he didn't get along with Gardner. He was John the Baptist in another all-star biblical epic, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965). Another memorable role as an astronaut fighting the intelligent talking apes in "Planet Of The Apes" (1968) - a movie that scared the day light out of me when I was a little boy. He went on to be the leading men in many movies and supporting cast in his later life, when suddenly, many of his fans turned to television when he appeared in the series "Dynasty" and starred in it's spinoff "The Colbys" as Jason Colby in the 80s. He even made a cameo role in 2001's "Planet Of The Ape" as Tim Roth's father.
Charlton Heston was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1966 to 1971 and president of the National Rifle Association of America in 1998. He was very active in the politics, the Vietnam war and the Gun Control Act. Some of the leading roles Heston turned down are "High Noon" (1952 - which eventually went to Gary Cooper) , "Alexander The Great" (1956 - Richard Burton), "The Alamo" (1960 - Richard Widmark) , "Let's Make Love" (1960 - Yves Montand), "Ice Station Zebra" (1968 - Rock Hudson), "Jaws" (1975 - Roy Scheider), "The Omen" (1975 - Gregory Peck), "Superman" (1978 - Marlon Brando).
One of the last leading men from the Golden Era of Hollywood, Charlton "Chuck" Heston (4th October 1924), who played all those roles, passed away due to symptoms of Alzheimer's on 5th April 2008.
After a few undistinguished movies, Charlton had the leading role in Cecil B. DeMille's colourful big top spectacular "The Greatest Show On Earth" in 1952 with other major roles going to James Stewart, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame. He then went on to the heavy dramatic "Ruby Gentry" (1952) opposite the beautiful Jennifer Jones. By then, he was in great demand in both TV and the silver screen. He was in South America fighting off the deadly ants with the flaming Eleanor Parker in 1954's "The Naked Jungle" and as a treasure hunter in Peruvian jungle in "Secret Of The Incas". As Moses in another DeMille's blockbuster "The Ten Commandments" (1956), established him as one of those legendary stars of the era. He was cast because of uncanny resemblance to the statue of Moses carved by Michelangelo. Another biblical epic, as the Jewish Prince "Ben Hur" (1959) with the dashing Stephen Boyd and Jack Hawkins, won him a Best Actor Oscar for that year. The role was turned down by Burt Lancaster. In 1961, Heston starred opposite the Italian Sophia Loren in the biographical "El Cid" and Ava Gardner in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion "55 Days At Peking" (1963). It was reported that he didn't get along with Gardner. He was John the Baptist in another all-star biblical epic, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965). Another memorable role as an astronaut fighting the intelligent talking apes in "Planet Of The Apes" (1968) - a movie that scared the day light out of me when I was a little boy. He went on to be the leading men in many movies and supporting cast in his later life, when suddenly, many of his fans turned to television when he appeared in the series "Dynasty" and starred in it's spinoff "The Colbys" as Jason Colby in the 80s. He even made a cameo role in 2001's "Planet Of The Ape" as Tim Roth's father.
Charlton Heston was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1966 to 1971 and president of the National Rifle Association of America in 1998. He was very active in the politics, the Vietnam war and the Gun Control Act. Some of the leading roles Heston turned down are "High Noon" (1952 - which eventually went to Gary Cooper) , "Alexander The Great" (1956 - Richard Burton), "The Alamo" (1960 - Richard Widmark) , "Let's Make Love" (1960 - Yves Montand), "Ice Station Zebra" (1968 - Rock Hudson), "Jaws" (1975 - Roy Scheider), "The Omen" (1975 - Gregory Peck), "Superman" (1978 - Marlon Brando).
He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2002 and did not make any movie or television appearance since 2003.
(Scanned autographed photo - property of the author)
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