Charlton Heston passes away
Screen legend Charlton Heston passed away at his Coldwater Canyon on Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was 84.
Its hard to know what this iconic figure will be best remembered for – parting the Red Sea as Moses in “The Ten Commandments,” growling, “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!” in “Planet of the Apes,” chariot racing in “Ben-Hur,” or possibly as a life-long vocal advocate, and President, of the National Rifle Association.
Politically, while Heston is recognized for his pro-gun and conservative views, prior to the 1980s he was anti-war, anti-gun, and active in the civil rights movement. In 1960 he campaigned for John F. Kennedy and three years later marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C. Shortly after Robert Kennedy’s assassination, Heston supported the Gun Control Act of 1968.
By the 1980s, Heston opposed affirmative action, supported gun rights and changed his political affiliation from Democratic to Republican. He campaigned for Republicans and Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. [Wikipedia]
Among his final screen roles was in a cameo in the Tim Burton 2001 remake of “Planet of the Apes,” where he repeated his final line from the original,”Damn them! Damn them all to hell!” [IMdB]
Sadly, his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1628 Vine is apparently inaccessible due to construction. However, his handprints can still be touched at the Chinese.
Photo of his signature and prints at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre by Legendary Classic, used under Creative Commons.
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Soylent Green is people!!
I remember him in Earthquake 77 (in surround sound). I can still remember in the movie the young girl he had a romantic affair with while his miserable old wife drowned in an underground garage flood when The Hollywood Dam collapsed.
I beg to differ, djerniepearl, but Earthquake was in SENSOROUND!!!
I swear for a second I read "his hands can still be touched by the chinese"
Can we have his gun now?
Yes. Now we can pry that gun from his cold-dead-hands, and turn his body into Soylent Green.
It’s quite clear that CH should have been a blogger:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-hestonletters8apr08,1,7830276.story