Epic film star and N.R.A. leader Charlton Heston dies at the age of 84. The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said. They have a son, Fraser Clarke Heston and an adopted daughter, Holly Ann Heston
He was born John Charlton Carter and then took his stepfather’s last name for his stage name. In “The Ten Commandments” Heston not only played Moses, he supplied the voice of God. His son, Fraser, 3 months old at the time, played the baby Moses floating down the Nile in a basket.
Heston lent his strong presence to some of the most acclaimed and successful films of the midcentury. “Ben-Hur” won 11 Academy Awards, tying it for the record with the more recent “Titanic” (1997) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003). Heston’s other hits include: “The Ten Commandments,” “El Cid,” “55 Days at Peking,” “Planet of the Apes” and “Earthquake.” Heston earned star billing from his first Hollywood movie, “Dark City,” a 1950 film noir. Cecil B. DeMille next cast him as the circus manager in the all-star “The Greatest Show On Earth,” named by the Motion Picture Academy as the best picture of 1952.
Heston also wrote several books: “The Actor’s Life: Journals 1956-1976,” published in 1978; “Beijing Diary: 1990,” concerning his direction of the play “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial” in Chinese; “In the Arena: An Autobiography,” 1995; and “Charlton Heston’s Hollywood: 50 Years of American Filmmaking,” 1998.
Heston was active in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and before becoming a conservative Republican he campaigned on behalf of Democrats Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy. Heston served as president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003. He once summed up his belief in the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which includes the right to bear arms, by calling it “America’s first freedom, the one that protects the others.”
In late years, Heston drew a lot of publicity for his crusades as for his performances. In addition to his NRA work, he had also campaigned for Republican presidential and congressional candidates and against affirmative action.
He resigned from Actors Equity, claiming the union’s refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in “Miss Saigon” was “obscenely racist.” He attacked CNN’s telecasts from Baghdad as “sowing doubts” about the allied effort in the 1990-91 Gulf War.
At a Time Warner stockholders meeting, he castigated the company for releasing an Ice-T album that purportedly encouraged cop killing.
Heston wrote in “In the Arena” that he was proud of what he did “though now I’ll surely never be offered another film by Warners, nor get a good review in Time. On the other hand, I doubt I’ll get a traffic ticket very soon.”
He often appeared at conventions holding an antique flintlock rifle above his head and telling gun-control advocates they would not get his gun unless they could pry it “from my cold, dead hands.” In August 2002 Heston released a video statement saying he had “symptoms consistent with Alzheimer’s disease.” “If you see a little less spring to my step, if your name fails to leap to my lips, you’ll know why,” he said. However, he still finished his term as NRA president after the diagnosis.
He was a great man touching the lives of millions with his activities in the movies and outside as well.
