Why don’t you Americans keep your “freedom” and stay at home. Leave the rest of the world in PEACE.

- Remembering Charlton Heston: The Man In The Arena
by Mark McIntire

April 9, 2008 11:42 AM

Charlton Heston kept his promises. He was good to his friends. He believed in a merciful God, and he loved his country. As though that was not enough to separate him from today’s Hollywood elite, he was married, too, and lived with the same woman for over 60 years.

Chuck well may be the last iconic gentleman of his era about whom all of the preceding statements were true.

Many will recall Chuck’s epic stage, movie and TV triumphs, and think he actually was Moses or Ben Hur or Will Penny or Mark Antony. That would amuse as much as bemuse him. “My dad pretends to be other people for a living,” his only son, Fraser Heston, would tell his classmates.

Chuck was an actor’s actor whose only complaint was: “I never got it right. I always thought I could have done that role better.”
Some will recall meeting Chuck at a premiere, posh party, political convention, or just on the street. They’d be struck to find he had the same commanding presence and honest grit, and the same gentlemanly manners, on screen and off.
He was a gentleman’s gentleman. “Daddy lives by his principles, not by the costumes he wears in movies,” his only daughter, Holly, would tell all who asked what he was really like as a person.

Once a liberal Democrat who campaigned with Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, Chuck later became identified with the conservatism of his friend Ronald Reagan. “I didn’t change . . . my party did,” he’d explain to those who asked about his transformation.

Of all the things that will be written and said of Chuck now that he is dead, a most important key to his character will be overlooked. Charlton Heston derived his moral and political values from ethical principles that did not change over the course of his spectacular life. His detractors argued this only proves he was a fool. But when we look at what his detractors have accomplished in their lives by comparison, we are left with the suspicion that Chuck was no fool. He was a centered man, comfortable in his own skin.

At their 50th wedding anniversary dinner, some upstart (that would be me) had the impertinence to ask his beloved wife, Lydia: “How did you manage to stay married to that man for so many years?” In her typical serenity and graciousness, she replied: “Through Chuck, I learned to keep a center of my being to myself . . . else there would be no one there for him to love.”

The Holy Bible and the complete works of William Shakespeare were never far from Chuck’s fingertips in his study. It’s hard to think of my friend Chuck now without remembering these lines from “Romeo and Juliet,” Act 3, Scene 2:
“And when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars. And he shall make the face of heaven so fine, that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.”

Mark McIntire, a Santa Barbara resident, knew
Charlton Heston for 27 years.
http://markmcintire.com

Dont judge him by whats in Michael Moores movie. Moore edits his footage to the point where the truth doesnt even exist anymore. And Im a liberal saying that, but a lair is a liar. He interviewed Heston when Heston had alzheimers disease, and misled people about the nra meeting he attended after columbine. Moore spliced together several different meetings to make Heston look as bad as possible.

I think Charlton Heston was the first of the action heroes. He was the first that then led to Eastwood, Arnold, Stallone,…. Other than some good performance and great movies thats what stands out to me about his film career. That and Ben Hur, which is the greatest Biblical epic of all time.

I edited one of his last projects, America The Beautiful, a documentary about the places and things that make America great. It’s still not commercially released even, only available through its website. Even though I never got to meet him and was only given his audio, he was always an inspiration to me. He will be greatly missed.

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I Loved Charlton Heston. He was my favorit movie star. I think he was an inspiration to all that wanted to be a star, but he was a star in his-self! I cried when I found out that he had died. I don’t remember the movie that he was in on the beach scene, but I know other people will! That was very beautiful! I am 54 yrs. of age and old fashioned person, so it was very exciting to me! I will keep himgive my condolance to his family! I
him in My! PRAYERS!!!
Sincereely,
Victoria Clark