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Charlton Heston, 84, died Saturday night with his wife of 64 years by his side. The oscar-winning actor and former Screen Actors Guild president, best known for his roles in ‘Ben-Hur’ and ‘The Ten Commandments’, was also a political activist, serving as president of the National Rifle Association in his later years.
He announced that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s in 2002, and according to a family spokesperson, “He had been at home most of the past years.”
The family released the following statement:
‘Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played. Indeed, he committed himself to every role with passion, and pursued every cause with unmatched enthusiasm and integrity.
‘We knew him as an adoring husband, a kind and devoted father, and a gentle grandfather, with an infectious sense of humor. He served these far greater roles with tremendous faith, courage and dignity. He loved deeply, and he was deeply loved.
‘No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country. In his own words: “I have lived such a wonderful life! I’ve lived enough for two people.’”
Well said.
Photos: WENN
More photos from Charlton Heston’s acting career after the jump.
Zelda F. | April 6, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Charleton Heston was a classic Hollywood icon. Like Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant. He was a gentleman and a patriot, something today’s Hollywood will never understand. He was the epitome of class, a fine actor, husband and father.
Lola | April 6, 2008 at 2:32 pm
R.I.P. “Moses” :( You will be missed. For those of his fans that never saw “Soylent Green,” you must rent it!!!
Alice | April 6, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I’m sort of amazed that no one seems to remember the conservative and small minded nature of this man. I notice no mention of his service as president of the National Rifle Association. Remember the “cold, dead hand” line? Yes, a fine actor, but hardly a great man.
RBinWeHo | April 6, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Oh really Alice?
From Wikipedia: Heston campaigned for Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson in 1956 and John F. Kennedy in 1960.[9] When an Oklahoma movie theater premiering his movie was segregated, he joined a picket line outside in 1961.[10] During the civil rights march held in Washington, D.C. in 1963, he accompanied Martin Luther King Jr. In later speeches, Heston said he helped the civil rights cause “long before Hollywood found it fashionable.”[11]
I guess you and I have a different opinion of small minded.
Alice | April 6, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I suppose we do. His undying (ha!) support for the second amendment was pretty disgusting. Plus, there was thing lovely comment ..
According to his autobiography In the Arena, Heston recognized the right of freedom of speech exercised by others. In a 1997 speech, he deplored a culture war he said was being conducted by a generation of media, educators, entertainers, and politicians against:
“…the God fearing, law-abiding, Caucasian, middle- class Protestant-or even worse, evangelical Christian, Midwestern or Southern- or even worse, rural, apparently straight-or even worse, admitted heterosexuals, gun-owning-or even worse, NRA-card-carrying, average working stiff-or even worse, male working stiff-because, not only don’t you count, you are a down-right obstacle to social progress. Your voice deserves a lower decibel level, your opinion is less enlightened, your media access is insignificant, and frankly, mister, you need to wake up, wise up, and learn a little something from your new-America and until you do, would you mind shutting up?”
Sounds like a pig to me. But whatever …
me | April 6, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I guess I’ll have to disagree with Alice about what a great man truly is.
Zelda F. | April 6, 2008 at 6:50 pm
“would you mind shutting up?” Sounds like words of wisdom to me………
Dandy's girl | April 6, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I hope that after his mind became so addled with Alzheimer’s that his family took him into the back yard and shot him to put him out of his misery. That would have been fitting. Then they could have buried him with his gun in his cold, dead hands. Anyone remember how he lead a NRA rally at Columbine right after the school shooting there?
cbenji | April 6, 2008 at 8:59 pm
@dandy’s girl
i remember that shit. i also remember him saying that the reason there was so much gun violence in america was due to “ethnicities”. i wonder if they’ll have to pry his gun out of his cold dead hands or will they just say fuck it and cram it in the coffin with him.
auf wiedersehen, redneck. don’t let the doorknob hitchya
Jane | April 6, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Alice, by simply shouting down someone’s perspective (which you don’t consider ‘fashionable’) with simple name-calling, you are exactly the kind of irrational enemy of free discourse that Heston warned about in his well-reason address to Harvard Law students:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/charltonhestonculturalwar.htm
h.o bian | April 7, 2008 at 9:15 am
this was by no means,a man with a small nature..he was bigger than life and because of his beliefs in a world where so much kaos lies.what he stood for,made him a great man,and his movies showed how magnificient he was.he was a born leader…in life,as well as in movies.
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