Charlton Heston, RIP

Oct. 28, 1956
Los Angeles

Look at this! We had our religion writer Dan Thrapp interview Charlton Heston about his role as Moses in "The Ten Commandments." Fortunately, Thrapp was not from the "over a salad and mineral water at the Polo Lounge"  or "speaking by phone from Paris, where he is at work on his next picture" schools of celebrity interviewers but got something of substance.

Quote of the Day: It is interesting to note that once Moses climbs Mt. Sinai and talks to God there is never contentment for him again. That is the way it is with us. Once we talk to God, once we get his commission to us for our lives we cannot be again content. We are happier. We are busier. But we are not content because then we have a mission -- a commission, rather." --Charlton Heston, on how his life was influenced by playing Moses in "The Ten Commandments."

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Comments

[colin ambler]

i am saddened at the death of charton heston,one of the greats of hollywood .having grown up with his and other well known greats i am sad to say goodbye to yet another icon,an empty space where he once stood.
from his dead cold hand, never ,rest well big man, we may never see your kind again.
colin --england--uk

[Arye Michael Bender]

More than twenty years ago, I produced a TV piece about the American Film Institute for 'PM Magazine'. AFI arranged for our us to interview Mr. Heston on the grounds of the Doheny Mansion, where AFI was then located. At ten AM, Charlton Heston jogged over to where we had set up. Due to the jog, he was not quite impeccably groomed, but in too much a hurry to do anything about it. While Steve Fox conducted the short interview, I couldn't take my eyes off the top of Mr. Heston's head.

Had to bite my tongue hard to keep from blurting out, "Moses wears a bad toupee!"

I still carry those tongue scars today.

BTW: I enjoyed Mr. Heston most as Vargas, the Latino/American detective in Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil'.

Maybe that's when he found the NRA.

- Arye Michael Bender -

[jad]

The fact that CH made such delusional statements so early in his career proves he didn't suffer any decline in intellect toward the end.

[otttobig]

Those who lead happy, busy, purposeful lives are the most content people I know. Maybe if you're an actor playing a biblical character you might be able to misinterpret a messianic complex and make it seem profound. On a different tangent, scholars recently published their belief that Moses hallucinated his whole experience.

[Arye Michael Bender]

Actually it is the other way around. God hallucinated Moses and the scholars. We are all living inside God's dream, along with Charlton Heston and his all-girl-orchestra.

- Arye -

[Cindy W.]

I don't know WHAT THE HELL you guys are talking about; but, C. Heston was one of Hollywood's Greats, politics aside. Rest In Peace.
PS
They will have to pry it out of my dead cold hands too ! ! !
RIP

[Frank Fipps]

The quote sounds like something Starbuck might say on BSG. She, too, has apparently had an encounter, and now will know no peace.

[Vincent]

My parents knew Heston in the late 1940s, when he and wife were struggling actors in New York. We received Christmas cards from them for many years.

A heckuva actor, a fascinating man -- let us not forget the work he did for the civil rights movement and as head of the Screen Actors Guild. I certainly didn't agree with much of his politics in the final few decades of his life, but like Sinatra, one must separate the man's art from his politics. And Heston's art will live for generations.

[phm]

Actually I think that's a very profound statement from Mr. Heston. It's not that Moses doesn't have the "purposeful life" that poster ottobig finds so meaningful, but that it's hard to be "happy" when the truth has been revealed to you of just how lost we human beings are.

Moses didn't hallucinate. Sadly, God knows that all too often we will only notice the thunder and lightning, and confuse the mountain with true greatness.

[Wisecat Willis]

Hmmmm.... if God only brings discontent to one's life, wouldn't it be smarter to stop listening to him?