It’s very fashionable, indeed almost required, among my circle, to loathe Charlton Heston.  What a creep, right?  Can’t believe he was for gun rights!  What a right-wing wacko!

Even George Clooney attacked Heston in 2003, saying that he deserved whatever happened to him because of his position on the NRA.

George Clooney:  What a moron!

The fact is, Heston was a Hollywood giant who deserved our respect.  I’ve always greatly admired him, even though I disagree sharply with the politics of his later life.  In fact, I don’t even think he was the greatest actor.  But he was a great movie star, tireless political activist, and gentleman.

Heston may not have had the acting chops of Paul Muni or Spencer Tracy, but he starred in many important films, from The Greatest Show On Earth to The Agony and the Ecstacy to El Cid to Ben-Hur and Touch of Evil to his signature role as Moses in the greatest trash film of all time, The Ten Commandments.

He was also in many of the most significant science fiction films of the late 60s and early 70s, such as Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes and The Omega Man.

He created many iconic moments in cinema, including Moses holding his staff over the Red Sea, Captain George Taylor’s immortal rant at the foot of the half-buried Statue of Liberty to his dying warning that “Soylent Green is people!”

He also had a good sense of humor about himself, parodying his Planet of the Apes persona both on Saturday Night Live and in a beautiful cameo in the 2001 remake.

His last great part was as the Player King in Kenneth Branaugh’s monumental 1996 film of Hamlet. 

Why doesn’t it bother me that this mediocre actor became the President of the National Rifle Association?  Because guess what, Heston was simply being a citizen activist, which he had been his whole life.

Originally a liberal democrat, he championed civil rights and fought institutionalized racism. He campaigned for Adlai Stevenon and John Kennedy.  He picketed a segregated movie theater.

In 2001 he quit Actors Equity in protest of the union’s refusal to let Jonathan Pryce, a caucasian actor, reprise his award-winning role as a Eurasian character in Miss Saigon from London to Broadway.  And you know what?  Heston was right.  Equity’s involvement in the affair, largely driven by actors B.D. Wong and Colleen Dewhurst (who heself had played Asian roles in Broadway, for heaven’s sake), was shameful and wrong headed.

And sure, he championed gun rights.  But so what?  He believed in them.  Since when is it wrong for an American to stand up for what he believes in, especially when it’s a constitutional issue?  And while the Second Amendment is perhaps my personal least favorite amendment, the wording is concise and unambiguous.  And is it fair for liberals like me to demand we ignore this provision while we decry the efforts of others to degrade the First Amendment?  I don’t think so.  In a democracy, good men of good will can disagree.

For the record, as much as I like Michael Moore, his ambush of Heston at his home in his film Bowling For Columbine was tasteless and low-class.

I would also like to point out that if I snubbed my nose at everyone I disagreed with politically I wouldn’t have much family left.  I am from Texas and Louisiana, after all.

I’m happy that I have one personal memory of Heston.  About twelve years ago the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood was having a festival of 70mm films.  My friend David and I attended a screening of Heston’s 1961 epic El Cid.  Right before it was time for the movie to start, a hunched, fairly feeble looking older man shuffled down the aisle to the front of the screen and turned around.  It was Heston!

The startled audience began to applaud (the theater had made no announcement about an appearance by the actor).  I turned to my friend and said, “Uh. . . I say you stand up for Charleton Freaking Heston.”  My friend agreed, and we began an extended standing ovation for the cinema legend.

He accepted the applause graciously and then proceeded to introduce the movie.  He then sat down with his wife Lydia in the audience and watched part one of the film.  During intermission he spoke with everyone who wanted to meet him.  He then sat down again and watched the rest of the movie.  Afterwards he hung out with the audience again for awhile, then drove off with his wife.

I was struck by his generosity of spirit, taking the opportunity to turn a screening of an old movie into a truly memorable event.  

My favorite quote of Heston’s was his answer to the question, “What do you think is your greatest film.”  His answer, “I don’t think I’ve made it yet.”

Mr. Heston, I for one will greatly miss your titanic presence in the movies and even in politics.  You were a true original and you had a true respect for acting.

Heston is survived by his wife of sixty-four years. 

Moses parts the Red Sea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUR-OdR3egU&feature=related

It’s people!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sp-VFBbjpE

Greatest shock ending ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUR-OdR3egU&feature=related