Her husband famously played Ben-Hur, John the Baptist, Michelangelo and Moses, but Lydia Clarke Heston liked to say he was also the guy who toted her cameras around five continents.
Early supporters of the civil rights movement, she and her husband attended the March on Washington. She photographed the march, as well as tense anti-segregation protests in the South, said their son Fraser Heston. She showed her photos at galleries and at the Chicago Cultural Center. They were also the centerpiece of fund-raisers for the YMCA, college scholarships and people with retinitis pigmentosa. She would come back with amazing, amazing images.
She spoke Latin and Greek thanks to her father, an erudite school principal. She met her future husband, an alum of New Trier High School, in class. Her first impression? Her opinion softened as they labored over a student performance.
He started to help me, and I found I was saying it better. They got married in but were apart in the early days of their marriage because of his military service. DeMille circus extravaganza that starred her husband. In her later years, Mrs. Heston and her husband performed A. In , they appeared in the play at Northwestern to benefit its theater department. So hundreds waited on set while Mrs.
Heston fed him. DeMille remarked afterward that never in his life would Fraser have a more expensive meal! Next up, Heston again found himself facing the apocalypse in The Omega Man as the survivor of a germ plague that has wiped out humanity leaving only bands of psychotic lunatics roaming the cities who seek to kill the uninfected Heston.
And fourthly, taking its inspiration from the Harry Harrison novel "Make Room! Robinson and Chuck Connors in Soylent Green During the remainder of the s, Heston appeared in two very popular "disaster movies" contributing lead roles in the far fetched Airport , plus in the star laden Earthquake , filmed in "Sensoround" low bass speakers were installed in selected theaters to simulate the earthquake rumblings on screen to movie audiences.
Heston appeared in numerous episodes of the high rating TV series Dynasty and The Colbys , before moving onto a mixed bag of projects including TV adaptations of Treasure Island and A Man for All Seasons , hosting two episodes of the comedy show, Saturday Night Live , starring as the "Good Actor" bringing love struck Mike Myers to tears in Wayne's World 2 , and as the eye patch wearing boss of intelligence agent Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies Heston made an uncredited appearance in the inferior remake of Planet of the Apes , and his last film appearance to date was in the Holocaust themed drama of My Father Heston narrated for highly classified military and Department of Energy instructional films, particularly relating to nuclear weapons, and "for six years Heston [held] the nation's highest security clearance" or Q clearance.
His highly entertaining autobiography was released in , titled appropriately enough "Into The Arena". Although often criticized for his strong conservative beliefs and involvement with the NRA, Heston was a strong advocate for civil right many years before it became fashionable, and was a recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, plus the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award.
In , he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and did appear in a film or TV production after He died in April Truly, Charlton Heston is one of the legendary figures of US cinema. Sign In. Edit Charlton Heston. Showing all items. Went to British Columbia to promote guns, arguing it is man's "God-given right" to own guns. Kennedy , he gradually switched to becoming a conservative Republican during the s.
Father of director Fraser C. Heston and Holly Heston Rochell. Elected first vice-president of the National Rifle Association of America. Elected president of the National Rifle Association of America. Has stated that he sees no contradiction with his work as a Civil Rights activist in the s and his advocacy for gun ownership rights in the s, insisting that he is simply promoting "freedom in the truest sense".
Volunteered his time and effort to the Civil Rights movement in the s, and even marched alongside the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the original uncut version of King: A Filmed Record Montgomery to Memphis , he was narrator. He and his wife, Lydia Clarke , both battled cancer. He survived prostate cancer and she, breast cancer. He was considered, along with English actor Ronnie Barker , for the role of Claudius in the British miniseries I, Claudius , but the role went to the less famous Derek Jacobi instead.
On August 9, , he issued a statement in which he advised his physicians have recently told him he may have a neurological disorder whose symptoms are consistent with Alzheimer's disease. Elected as the president of the National Rifle Association, he was re-elected to an unprecedented fourth 3-year term.
After his starring role in the original version of Planet of the Apes , he had an uncredited cameo in the remake Planet of the Apes , as General Thade's dying father. His professional name of Charlton Heston came from a combination of his mother's maiden name Lila Charlton and his stepfather's last name Chester Heston.
DeMille 's epic The Ten Commandments Said that Planet of the Apes was the most physically demanding film he had ever done. Along with Linda Harrison , he is one of only two actors to appear in both Planet of the Apes and Planet of the Apes After their son was born, they decided to adopt their next child so that they could be sure it would be a girl.
Heston and his wife felt that one son and one daughter made the perfect family. He was considered for the role of Police Chief Martin Brody in the blockbuster Jaws , which he turned down. The role eventually went to Roy Scheider. He was the original choice to star in Alexander the Great , but declined so he could play Moses in The Ten Commandments The role eventually went to Richard Burton.
Was asked by some Democrats to run for the California State Senate in , but declined because he wanted to continue acting. The second recipient was his close friend Jack Valenti in He turned down the role of General Joseph W. While they were starring in a play together in , Laurence Olivier told Heston that he had the potential to become the greatest American actor of the century. When the play received unfavorable notices, Heston said, "I guess you learn to forget bad notices?
Marlon Brando , who never made public appearances, refused to present the award so Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese ultimately did. DeMille because he bore an uncanny resemblance to the statue of Moses carved by Michelangelo.
The lure to Hollywood and a contract soon ended his modeling days. When his television series The Colbys was canceled, both he and fellow cast members John James and Emma Samms were offered contracts to continue playing their characters on Dynasty , the series that "The Colbys" was spun off from.
Heston ultimately declined because his salary demands could not be met. James and Samms, on the other hand, accepted contracts. Was unable to use his real name, John Charles Carter as an actor because it bore too close a resemblance to the name of the hero in Edgar Rice Burroughs ' novel "Princess of Mars".
Offered to return his entire paycheck to the producers of Major Dundee so that director Sam Peckinpah could film some crucial scenes that were cut due to time and budget constraints. The producers took back Heston's paycheck but still refused to allow the scenes to be filmed. Heston wrote in his autobiography "In the Arena" that the main problem with Major Dundee was that everyone had a different idea of what the film was: Heston saw it as a film about life after the Civil War, the producers just wanted a standard cavalry-vs.
Heston was a popular actor in Greece, where his name was written as "Charlton Easton" on account of "Heston" having scatological connotations in the Greek language.
John Wayne offered Heston the role of Jim Bowie in The Alamo , but he declined on account of the political implications of the film.
Army veteran, he visited troops fighting during the Vietnam War in In fact, in one camp in South Vietnam's delta area, he was "initiated" into the GIs on-base club, by having to receive a kiss on the ear. In , he surprised the Oxford Union by reading his address on gun laws from a teleprompter.
This later sparked rumors he had known of his Alzheimer's disease long before he announced this to the world in August Bush , and Republican candidate for governor of Virginia George Allen Was an opponent of abortion and gave the introduction to an anti-abortion documentary Eclipse of Reason by Bernard Nathanson , which focuses on late-term abortions. He retired as president of the National Rifle Association, citing reasons of declining health. He's very good.
Heston's portrayal of Buffalo Bill Cody in Pony Express , a western from early in his career, inspired the Bills, a Congolese youth cult that idolized American westerns.
Accepted the role in Ben-Hur after Burt Lancaster turned down the role. He was considered for the role of Jor-El in the blockbuster Superman , which went to Marlon Brando instead. Although Heston was a lifelong non-smoker, he did hold a pipe in some early publicity photographs because both Clark Gable and Cary Grant smoked pipes. In , Heston attended the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual gathering of conservative movement organizations.
He turned down an offer to co-star with Marilyn Monroe in Let's Make Love in order to be directed in a play by Sir Laurence Olivier , whom he greatly admired.
He turned down the lead role in The Omen , which then went to Gregory Peck. Cited actor Gary Cooper as a childhood role model. Heston commended Cooper for being able to perform his own stunts, such as being under water for long periods of time, despite being in poor health and getting older.
Though often portrayed as an ultra-conservative, Heston wrote in his autobiography "In the Arena" that he was opposed to the McCarthy witch hunts of the s, was against the Vietnam War and thought President Richard Nixon was bad for America. Neighbors who reside down the hill from Heston filed a lawsuit against the actor, alleging their property was damaged in January when heavy rain sent hillside debris pouring into their home.
The lawsuit alleges that "slope failure" on Heston's property caused substantial damage to their home, diminishing the market value of their property. Jeff Briggs, Heston's attorney, said the actor owns ten per cent of the hillside, while the neighbors own the rest 3 January He wore a hairpiece in every movie from Skyjacked onwards. He defended some of his less successful films in the mids, arguing that he had already made several million dollars and therefore wanted to concentrate on projects which interested him personally.
During the Waco standoff in , Heston was hired by the FBI to provide the voice of God when talking to David Koresh in an attempt to reason with him.
The plan was never used. Heston has often been compared with his friend Ronald Reagan. Both actors started out as liberal Democrats but gradually converted to conservative Republicans, both served as Presidents of the Screen Actors Guild, both went into politics Reagan as President of the United States from to and Heston as President of the National Rifle Association from to , and both suffered from Alzheimer's disease in later life.
Heston attended Reagan's state funeral on 11 June Attended the funeral of Lew Wasserman. He was unable to campaign for Lyndon B.
Johnson in the presidential election when Major Dundee went over schedule. Heston later admitted in his autobiography "In the Arena" that it was here that his political beliefs began moving to the Right. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Heston continued to act on the stage. In his youth, he used an iron bar attached to a wall to do pull ups and chin ups in order to develop his biceps and triceps. Missed the start of his presentation at The 44th Annual Academy Awards , because of a flat tire on the Santa Monica freeway.
Clint Eastwood stood in for him, and before Eastwood finished the speech that Heston was due to give, Heston arrived, to some audience laughter and enjoyment.
He turned down Gary Cooper 's role in High Noon Joe is horrified and apologizes profusely. As he collapses, Heston replies "That's okay son - it's your right as an American citizen! The role went to Paul Scofield instead. Heston later directed and starred in A Man for All Seasons Named The Call of the Wild as his worst movie. He tried to revive the play "Mister Roberts" in the early s, but was unsuccessful. As president of the NRA, he would usually tell his audience in speeches that he had "marched for civil rights long before it became fashionable to do so".
In reality, he only attended two events, the first in and the second the March on Washington in August On account of his busy film career at the time, he was unable to appear more frequently to back the Civil Rights cause. Heston's Hollywood mansion is filled with memorabilia from his career.
He and his wife have resided in the same house near Los Angeles' Mulholland Drive for more than forty years. Built by the actor's father after Heston won the Academy Award for best actor in Ben-Hur , the postmodern style home - inside and out - is filled with the memorabilia. Sitting on a table in the backyard is the figure of a Roman, whip in hand, lashing vigorously at four straining horses harnessed to a chariot. Mounted on the entrance of his study are the two great brass ring knockers from the movie set's House of Hur.
Hung above the fireplace is a painting of a lumbering Conestoga wagon and, nearby, a pencil sketch of friend Sir Laurence Olivier portraying King Lear. From most windows sparkle views of canyons. According to Gore Vidal , as recounted in The Celluloid Closet , one of the script elements he was brought in to re-write for Ben-Hur was the relationship between Messalah and Ben-Hur.
Director William Wyler was concerned that two men who had been close friends as youths would not simply hate one another as a result of disagreeing over politics. Thus, Vidal devised a thinly veiled subtext suggesting Messalah and Ben-Hur had been lovers as teenagers, and their fighting was a result of Ben-Hur spurning Messalah.
Wyler was initially hesitant to implement the subtext, but agreed on the conditions that no direct reference ever be made to the characters' sexuality in the script, that Vidal personally discuss the idea with Stephen Boyd , and not mention the subtext to Heston who, Wyler feared, would panic at the idea.
After Vidal admitted to adding the homosexual subtext in public, Heston denied the claim, going so far as to suggest Vidal had little input into the final script, and his lack of screen credit was a result of his being fired for trying to add gay innuendo.
Vidal rebutted by citing passages from Heston's autobiography, where the actor admitted that Vidal had authored much of the final shooting script. He was one of several prominent people to serve on the advisory board of U. English, a group that seeks to make English the official language of the United States. Professed great respect and admiration for the late actor Gregory Peck , despite their opposing political ideals.
He played three roles after they had been turned down by Burt Lancaster. Lancaster also said he disagreed with the "violent morals" of the story.
Three years later, in Lancaster announced his intention to produce a biopic of Michelangelo, in which he would play the title role and show the truth about the painter's homosexuality. However, he was forced to shelve this project due to the five-month filming schedule on Luchino Visconti 's masterpiece The Leopard Heston starred as Michelangelo in The Agony and the Ecstasy and even in his autobiography thirty years later was still denying that the painter had been gay, despite all evidence to the contrary.
Lancaster also turned down the role of General Gordon in Khartoum Was sick with the flu during filming of Planet of the Apes The producers decided to have him act through his illness, even though it was physically grueling, because they felt the hoarse sound of his voice added something to the character. Heston recounted in a diary he kept during filming that he "felt like Hell" during the filming of the scene where his character was forcefully separated from Nova Linda Harrison , made worse by the impact of the fire hose used on him.
He turned down Rock Hudson 's role as the captain of a nuclear submarine in Ice Station Zebra because he didn't think there was much characterization in the script. Although he had supported Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey in the presidential election, in he openly supported Republican Richard Nixon.
He was a vocal opponent of a nuclear freeze in the early s, and openly supported the Gulf War. Campaigned for fifty Republican candidates in the presidential election. Although he and Kirk Douglas differed greatly on politics Douglas was a very liberal Democrat and Heston a very conservative Republican , Heston and Douglas were very close friends. Douglas spoke highly of their friendship; so highly, in fact, that after a viewing of the film Bowling for Columbine and in particular the scene where Heston is grilled on his involvement in the NRA and asked to apologize for murder as a member of the NRA Douglas said he would never forgive Michael Moore , the film's director and the man who conducted the interview for the way he treated Heston.
Broke his nose in high school playing football. He later commented that this was ultimately to his advantage as an actor because this gave him "the profile of an Eagle". Initially turned down the role of Steve Leech in The Big Country because he didn't think the role was huge enough after the success he had with The Ten Commandments , but his agent convinced him to take the role on the grounds that it would be worth it for his career to work with both Gregory Peck , who was still a bigger star than Heston at the time, and director William Wyler.
This association led to Heston being cast in Wyler's next film, as the title character in Ben-Hur , for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor. Had a fondness for drawing and sketching, and often sketched the cast and crew of his films whenever he had the chance to do so. Lord Laurence Olivier was so impressed by Heston's stage skills that he commented that Heston had a future on the stage.
The two actors exchanged Christmas cards since their meeting until Mifune's death. Was friends with Brock Peters , having worked with him in numerous plays through the s and s and films through the s and s. They were slated to star in a biracial cast of "Romeo and Juliet" that would have had Peters playing Tybalt and Heston as Mercutio that was abandoned on account of a lack of financial backing.
Very popular in Japan, where even his less successful films were generally well received, because his screen persona embodied the qualities that the Japanese had admired in their Samurai warriors. Heston congratulated me on my presentation, it was the icing on the cake, and a special moment in my speaking career. Though photos were strictly banned, I was allowed this one shot taken by Mr. In Heston had hip replacement surgery, and in he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which he survived after a long treatment.
Charlton Heston died on 5 April at the age of 85, after suffering from pneumonia. Physical Appearance Regarded as a handsome man, Charlton Heston had a chiseled jaw, blond hair and an enigmatic voice. His weight was unknown; his height was 6ft 3ins 1. Interesting Facts His wife Lydia was also an actress; she died in However, his wife always called him Charlie. He marched alongside Martin Luther King in His childhood hobbies were fishing and hunting. View this post on Instagram.
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