Charlton Heston dead at age 84

[Warners Surplus]

I just got this email 2 minutes ago and thought I would pass it along.

LOS ANGELES -- Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s, has died. He was 84.

The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said.

Powers declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details.

Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease, saying, "I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure."

With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past. "I have a face that belongs in another century," he often remarked.

The actor assumed the role of leader offscreen as well. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute and marched in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. With age, he grew more conservative and campaigned for conservative candidates.

In June 1998, Heston was elected president of the National Rifle Association, for which he had posed for ads holding a rifle. He delivered a jab at then-President Clinton, saying, "America doesn't trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns."

Heston stepped down as NRA president in April 2003, telling members his five years in office were "quite a ride. ... I loved every minute of it."

That same year, Heston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. "The largeness of character that comes across the screen has also been seen throughout his life," President Bush said at the time.

He engaged in a lengthy feud with liberal Ed Asner during the latter's tenure as president of the Screen Actors Guild. His latter-day activism almost overshadowed his achievements as an actor, which were considerable.




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[Pa. Patriot]

RIP, Chuck

[JoeWilliams]

Godspeed.


...

[4XLT]

one of my favorite actors, condolences to his family and friends...


and Will Penny was a great movie !!

[percheronrider]

He will be missed, this is for certain. He was an effective advocate for the RTKBA.

[rev214]

Quotes from Charlton Heston's Speech to The National Press Club: September 14, 1997...

...You do not define the First Amendment. It defines you. And it is bigger than you. That's how freedom works. It also demands you do your homework. Again and again, I hear gun owners say, how can we believe anything the anti-gun media says when they can't even get the facts right? For too long, you have swallowed manufactured statistics and fabricated technical support from anti-gun organizations that wouldn't know a semi- auto from a sharp stick. And it shows. You fall for it every time...

...I simply cannot stand by and watch a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States come under attack from those who either can't understand it, don't like the sound of it, or find themselves too philosophically squeamish to see why it remains the first among equals: Because it is the right we turn to when all else fails. That's why the Second Amendment is America's first freedom...

...Now, I doubt any of you would prefer a rolled up newspaper as a weapon against a dictator or a criminal intruder. Yet in essence, that is what you have asked our loved ones to do, through an ill-contrived and totally naive campaign against the Second Amendment...

http://www.nrawinningteam.com/heston.html

[PisnNapalm]

I guess they can pry the gun out now...

It's kind of funny. I was watching Planet of the Apes two nights ago and thought to myself, "I wonder how old he his now?" Well.... Now I know.

[soberbyker]

.

Thanks Chuck, RIP
October 4, 1924 – April 5, 2008

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[schr8er2000]

The world has lost a great man...an actor, a father, a husband and a great humanitarian.

WE have lost a man who KNEW the rights that we were given by our forefathers in the Constitution.

He fought for OUR rights..... and we must continue this fight to ensure that WE maintain the rights we were granted.

God Bless You MR.LANCASTER......and Thank you for your devote insight in the fight for rights.

[Johannes_Paulsen]

For some reason, I'll always remember him most from Airport 1975, where he actually was filmed flying a real 747 through the Rockies....