Charlton Heston Tribute

Here is an inspirational song performed by the great mahalia Jackson, chosen to illustrate the fabulous figure of Charlton Heston, an all-American hero.
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; 1923 2008) was an American actor of film, theater and television. A brawny, virile classical actor whose physical presence, intelligent performances and authoritative voice left a distinctive mark on fifty years of Hollywood filmmaking, his career encompassed roles in numerous historical epics, period dramas, and Hollywood adventure films. At his best in the 1950's and 1960's, Heston continued to play leading roles through the 1990's and was also called upon to lend his voice or imposing stature to certain supporting roles no one quite as large ever really emerged to fill. Heston is best remembered for his heroic roles, such as Moses in "The Ten Commandments", Colonel George Taylor in "Planet of the Apes" and Judah Ben-Hur in "Ben-Hur", the role for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. In the 1950's and 1960's he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to speak openly against racism and was an active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. Heston earned recognition for his appearance in his first professional movie, "Dark City", a 1950 film noir. His breakthrough came when Cecil B. DeMille cast him as a circus manager in "The Greatest Show on Earth", which was named by the Motion Picture Academy as the best picture of 1952. Heston became an icon for portraying Moses in "The Ten Commandments", reportedly being chosen by director Cecil B. DeMille because he thought the muscular, 6 ft 3 in, square jawed Heston bore an uncanny resemblance to the statue of Moses by Michelangelo. After Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson turned down the title role of "Ben-Hur" (1959), Heston accepted the role, going on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, one of the unprecedented eleven Oscars the film earned. After Moses and Ben-Hur, Heston would be identified with Biblical epics more than any other actor. Heston went on to leading roles in a number of fictional and historical epics — "El Cid" (1961), "55 Days at Peking" (1963), as Michelangelo in "The Agony and the Ecstasy" (1965), and "Khartoum" (1966). In 1968, he starred in the hugely successful "Planet of the Apes". In 1970, Heston portrayed Mark Antony again in a Technicolor film version of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar". In 1971 he starred in the science fiction film, "The Omega Man". In 1972 Heston made his directorial debut, and starred, as Mark Antony in an adaptation of the William Shakespeare play he performed earlier in his theater career, "Antony and Cleopatra". He subsequently starred in successful films such as "Soylent Green" (1973), and "Earthquake" (1974). Beginning with playing Cardinal Richelieu in 1973's "The Three Musketeers", Heston was seen in an increasing number of supporting roles, cameos and theater.
But Heston was also a generous political activist. During the civil rights march held in Washington, D.C. in 1963, he accompanied Martin Luther King Jr. In later speeches, Heston said he helped the civil rights cause, "long before Hollywood found it fashionable". He opposed the Vietnam War. While filming "The Savage", he was initiated by blood into the Miniconjou Sioux tribe.
Enjoy Charlton Heston's immense and legendary class!

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[suealehman]

Love the pics! I don't think Chuck ever took a bad picture, though. Glad to see another fan! No one has come close to being his equal on stage or off.