Charleton Heston dies

[Guest Havan_IronOak]

I remember this guy from his stint as Moses in the Ten Commandments and as a kinda sexy astronaut in The Planet of the Apes.

 

Lately all I remember is his being an outspoken proponent of the NRA.

 

Quick would someone pry that rifle "from his cold dead hands"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080406/ap_on_en_mo/obit_heston

[NorthWoods]

...and do not forget Heston's 1971 "classic" sci-fi film THE OMEGA MAN.

 

"Set in 1977, two years after biological warfare wiped out the entire world population, except for Richard Neville (Charlton Heston) and a few that have been mutated into light-sensitive flesh-eating psychopathic zombies. Neville, a military scientist who had experimented on himself with a vaccine now searches for a cure for these dying zombies before they kill him." [iMDB]

[Guest EuropTravl]

I went around my usual various places this Sunday morning, and "prying the gun out of his cold dead hands" is being furiously typed as we speak everywhere. I guess today's the day for that sort of thing. (sorry - missed it in #1)

[Guest ncm2169]

At long last, the Charl-a-ton gives it up.

 

< Quick would someone pry that rifle "from his cold dead hands"

 

An Obit might read:

 

< Gifted Actor. Dumb as a post thinker.

[+ purplekow]

"Soylent Green is people, it's.....peo....ple" Guess having visions of being made in People Chow by the government might explain heretical devotion to firearms. Or perhaps his love of the long barrelled shotgun was related to some personal shortcomings.

[TruYun]

Many people are remembering him as the face of Moses. Very long past. Now he was being the face of NRA. Its loss is world's gain.

 

Good on purplekow. Government program of obligatory penis enlargement for all NRA persons including women would stop much violence and cause much happiness.

[ariadne1880]

What lovely things to say about a man being universally hailed as "one of the nicest people who ever worked in movies." A quote first attributed to the late Orson Welles.

 

Hopefully, people will spit and defacate on your grave when you die as well. What trash.

 

Mark

[kjun]

You are attacking someone in retaliation for his negative statements. That does not make sense.

 

You are not such a nice guy yourself.

 

the Cajun

[Guest Jocoluver]

BEN-HUR

 

I was in my 20's! jo material (like Steven Boyd)

 

Chariot race is most exciting piece of film -- ever!

 

Probably can't pry that gun out of his cold dead hands.

[TruYun]

Welles said good things when they were together in Touch Of Evil in 1958, 20 years at least before Heston went to the side of darkness and started to receive support from people who recommend to spit etc. on graves of people who do not agree with them.

[Lankypeters]

I'm surprised that none of the obits of Mr. Heston, nor any of the comments here, note the actor's rather blatant homophobia. An anecdote has been making the rounds for years that during the filming of "Ben Hur," actor Stephen Boyd suggested to director William Wyler that Messala had an unrequited passion for Ben Hur. Wyler said, "It's a good idea, but don't tell Chuck." I think Gore Vidal acknowledges "coding" gay tensions into the relationship.

 

On another occasion, Heston repudiated the more enlightened histories of gays that began to appear in the last thirty years. Heston said he knew "for a fact" that Michelangelo was not gay. Presumably by that point in his imprersonations of biblical characters, Heston had acquired miraculous powers of insight into history that allowed him to know what a man long since dead had done during every moment of his life.

 

This omission of any note to Heston's bigotry echoes through many other obituaries of celebrities. Bob Hope was notoriously homophobic, gays being the brunt of his offstage, off-color jokes. During the rededication of the restored Statue of Liberty, Hope made some backstage comments about Lady Liberty contracting AIDS.

 

Racial prejudice, conservative/liberal attitudes, advocacy of gun control, but not homophobia, apparently are fair comment for obituaries.

 

As for Heston's acting, I think there are blocks of wood, columns of stone, even some fire hydrants more interesting and fascinating to watch. In one of Heston's big scenes in "Ben Hur" -- he learns his mother and sister have been sent by Messala to a leper colony -- Wyler has Heston express his rage and grief by turning upstage, away from the camera, and covering his face -- a tactic directors resort to when an actor can't plumb the depths of a scene. Another jaw clench just didn't do it here. As for Heston's transformation after the crucifixion, Wyler orders a different hair comb and make-up, changing from a sweaty to a fresh-from-the-shower do. For this, Heston won a best actor Oscar.

 

Heston rejected method acting. He told a reporter, "A guy playing Stanley Kowalski could really get into trouble if he wanted to sleep with Blanche."

 

Not one of the great minds..........

 

"I'd say that's a bit of an extreme reaction, now wouldn't you?" -- N.F. Bates

 

 

Lankypeters

[Guest zipperzone]

>On another occasion, Heston repudiated the more enlightened

>histories of gays that began to appear in the last thirty

>years. Heston said he knew "for a fact" that

>Michelangelo was not gay. Presumably by that point in his

>imprersonations of biblical characters, Heston had acquired

>miraculous powers of insight into history that allowed him to

>know what a man long since dead had done during every moment

>of his life.

 

It sounds as if he was a member of the same "church" as Mr Cruise whose enlightened members are blessed with a wisdom that eludes us mere mortals.

[Epigonos]

Hey Lankypeters it has been my understanding, for years, that the gay twist suggested for the Ben Hur - Messala relationship came from William Wyler rather than Stephen Boyd. I was told that Wyler approached Boyd with the idea. Knowing Heston, as he did, he was certain that Boyd would be more receptive to the idea than Heston. Supposedly Boyd though the whole idea was a hoot and played it for all it was worth with Heston remaining clueless during the entire scene.

As a kid I enjoyed his sword and sandal films. As an adult I say him on stage in one of the minor roles in Hamlet and he was god awful. A wooden 2x4 would have been more expressive.

[Guest ncm2169]

Well, nice to hear from you too. :*

 

I don't plan to have a grave, so you'd be well-advised to adjust your wishes accordingly. }(

 

What a jerk. x(

[jackhammer91406]

Can't quarrel with the characterizations of his acting skills. Men have been elected President with as much.

His politics and personal gun opinions aside,

his history with the Screen Actors Guild was one of the most destructive (in my opinion).

 

Hard to forget his presence in Ten Commandments and Ben Hur.

Liked him in some of the recent stuff when he didn't take himself so seriously.

[Lankypeters]

>Hey Lankypeters it has been my understanding, for years, that

>the gay twist suggested for the Ben Hur - Messala relationship

>came from William Wyler rather than Stephen Boyd.

 

Most of the published accounts I've read credit Boyd. But I think Vidal claims credit as well. Who knows? You may be right. Whatever......it's fun to watch their scenes and know what Boyd was thinking. At one point he says, "We'll be.......[pointed pause] friends." And you know what's on his mind. It's also interesting that Messala always has a gleaming male attendant at hand, as it were, in the background. The man looks aggrieved as he watches Messala die. What Heston needed was a really good fuck up the ass. (A friend just confided in me that he spent a decade fucking women. Then he got fucked by a man and he's been after gay sex ever since.)

 

At the risk of hijacking this thread......it's always interesting how people line up to take credit for what goes into a work. At least three or four people take credit for the black and white Ascot scene in the original stage production of "My Fair Lady." Alan Jay Lerner said the design originated in the black and white costumes for the beaux arts ball scene in the film "An American in Paris." Cecil Beaton, of course, took credit. Moss Hart.....Oliver Smith......time passes and facts blur.

>

 

 

"I'd say that's a bit of an extreme reaction, now wouldn't you?" -- N.F. Bates

 

 

Lankypeters

[+ glutes]

We have our own Ben Her right here!

[Guest Wetnwildbear]

When he died the funeral director

 

pulled Heston's Dick From His Cold Dead Hand.

 

Even in death Chuck was holding onto his pistol!