his wing-nut politics more so than for his schlocky portrayals in movies.

"...Nancy Reagan was heartbroken over Charlton Heston's death. President Bush hailed him as a "strong advocate for liberty," while John McCain called Heston a devotee for civil and constitutional rights..."

That pretty much sums it up! Not a word about his "acting." Considering it was so bad, I suppose that's as it should be.

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...he was in some great movies. Yes, I know, he turned into a right-wing nutter in his dotage, but my childhood would have been a poorer place without Ben Hur, Planet Of The Apes, and Omega Man.

I remember one of the few times my parents argued was when my mother wanted to take me to a double feature on a Sunday night when I was about 11: Spartacus and Ben Hur. Beefcake for Jesus, honestly. Mum won, I got to stay up past midnight the night before school, and spent the next couple of weeks glaze-eyed over all the violence and sweaty manliness (6-odd hours of it!).

And I think Omega Man, despite it looking a bit cheesy now, defined the modern horror of the mundane world slightly out of whack. Plus it had the velvet-voiced Anthony Zerbe as one of the most effective villains of all time. They don't make 'em like that any more.

But there'll always be something about Ben Hur: maybe it was the rowing. Or the leather straps. Or the fraternal hi-jinks. Or just the acreage of chest he seemed to display for the whole 3 and a half hours. That kind of thing can really turn a girl's head, you know.

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"Soylent Green", how the extremes of corporatism finally break down the ultimate taboo of cannibalism to feed a grossly overpopulated world.

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Standing up to the Mob.... using his celebrity, unpaid, to help preserve the liberties enshrined in the Bill of Rights, hardly qualifies one as a 'right wing nutter'.

His movies with Cecil B. DeMille were icons of the time. Who can forget his great character in the Chariot Race scene in Ben-Hur?

Posters who denigrate his acting skill are the true losers of the world whose only printed memory will be on the Obituary page.

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By today's standards, many of the great stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood appear incredibly ham-fisted -- hackneyed and way, way over-the-top.

As if Brad Pitt's unendurable freaking out at the end of Seven, or anything Brando ever did at all, wasn't over the top.

Good acting, bad acting, it's all really about what you like, about what you think is interesting. I mean, there's what they teach in university MFA programs and all, but that, too, is very much from a particular point of view, very biased towards what's desired by professional theaters, and also a sort of self-perpetuating ideology, given that most acting teachers learned their craft from a university in the first place.

Acting snobs can say what they want, but college drama teachers don't own the definition of the word "acting." Nor do Meisner, Adler, or Strasberg.

Heston was great. It's as simple as that. He was interesting. Really, really interesting. Besides, who wants to see "convincing" acting in a movie about God, or talking apes, or futuristic vampire cult people? As if anybody really believes what they see in the movies. When we're viewing modern mythology, what we really want to see are actors who can rise to the level of myth, and Heston could do that in spades.

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...you damn, dirty ape!!!

One of my favorite movies of his was The Naked Jungle. It's cool when he's watching that little ant crawling around in the jar...Sometimes I'll still stop for a few minutes of Ben Hur when I'm flipping through channels.

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Every critic has the right to pan an actor's abilities, but you have truly done so at a time when most people would have the decency to respect the memory of an actor who did not need paparazzi to make him great in the minds of the public, only a good, powerful script, a great director, and his own abilities. But more than that, you miss the point on his politics in part.

You have touched on his right wing actions as leader of the NRA. Did you forget that he was at one time a civil rights activist who worked with Martin Luther King; or that he voted Democratic for years until the early-70's? Did you forget that he was considered one of the most liberal of the SAG presidents in the 1960's or that the reason he became a member and later President of the NRA was to preserve the Constitutional right of citizens to bear arms, not give every person a gun? We talk a great deal about our Constitutional rights on this blog, well, here was someone fighting to preserve them for those who want to exercise them, even if you do not agree with gun ownership. If the Bush politics are still going strong in a few years, you might be glad the 2nd Amendment is still intact, thanks to Charlton Heston, as you defend your home and country in a civil war.

Charlton Heston may have been a bad actor in your estimation who made cheesy movies, but the rest of the world will remember him for his Moses, his Michaelangelo, his character in Soylent Green, and for standing up for our Constitution. Perhaps a little more respect would be in order at this time, not just for his fans, but for his family.

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Never liked his movies, politics

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...but I believe it was the great Adam Felber (it was certainly on NPR'S "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me") who said, several years ago, "You know, the man's going to die eventually; who do you think is going to actually pry the gun from his cold, dead hands?"

In a more serious vein, I was no fan of Heston's pro-gun views, but I admired his early civil-rights activism (at a time when it was NOT fashionable and cost him in the currency of Hollywood), and even several of his performances-- his Long John Silver in the 1990 TV movie of "Treasure Island" (directed by his son, Fraser) was particularly good.

And I've known many individuals and their families who lived for years with Alzheimer's Disease. Believe me, no matter what you thought of Charlton Heston, you wouldn't wish this condition on anyone or those who loved/cared for him.

I'm not sorry to see a pro-gun voice silenced, but I'm sorry for his family, and I'm glad his diagnosis-to-death span was (relatively) short.

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How juvenile it is to sit in front of a PC in 2008 and make fun of what passed for inspirational in the 1950's. Tacky? Charlton Heston had the personal integrity to appear in some of the most thought provoking films in Hollywood history, march for Civil Rights, and defy political correctness to express his support for personal liberty. Mr. Holland, you should aspire to inspire even a fraction of the millions who were moved by the life of Charlton Heston, because you ain't doing it here.

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Has anyone removed his gun from his cold dead hand?

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Moses wandered around in the lost politics of the NRA and Republican right wing-nuts for 40 years. Then he went ape for the NRA. Definately won't be missed for his cockyness, acting or politics. I'm sure that heaven won't take his NRA card or his RNC card. Too bad!!!

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I was young when I saw Ben Hur and it moved me deeply. As an adult I came to abhor Charleton Heston for what he stood for...violence and killing and other things. I do not mourne him at all, sorry to say. His legacy is that of guns and hatred. Sick, sick man before he got Alzheimers!!

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"Planet of the Apes," Heston is forgettable, and even these two roles could have been played better by finer actors.

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I met Heston at a tennis tournament in Johannesburg in 1975. He was playing a “Celebrity Doubles” match, which pairs a celeb with a professional: his partner was Arthur Ashe. After the match, they went into the locker room. I followed. I had just finished making a very low budget movie, which I’d written, co-produced and acted in, and that’s how I introduced myself to Heston. I asked if he could spare a few minutes, to give me some advice. I was 29, with beard, and hair below my shoulders: hippy. He smiled, “Sure, I hope I can help.” But first he wanted to shower off the sweat, and he gestured me to follow him. So our discussion began in the shower room, which was a bit surreal: interviewing a movie star, and also Moses, who was naked. After he toweled off, we sat on a bench in the locker room and continued talking.

One of the other pro players approached us. It was Bjorn Borg, then only 19. (The celebrity match was just an adjunct to a real tournament, with real players: Borg didn’t even reach the finals.) He was painfully shy, almost groveling, and addressed his first words to me. “Excuse me for interrupting, sir. May I have a few seconds with Mr. Heston?” He asked for his autograph. Heston gave him his autograph, and more than a few seconds, even offering some tips on his backhand. Then we continued talking.

He was warm, gracious, supportive and totally genuine. When I asked complicated questions, he thought hard before answering. He gave me inside scoop on some major Hollywood players, and warned me about some tricks and traps. He had no airs or affectations, no ego trip, he just sincerely wanted to be helpful. We talked for over an hour, and he was happy to go longer, but I ran out of questions. Just before we parted, he wrote something on a scrap of paper: I thought he was giving me his autograph, which I didn’t want. “If you’re in LA,” he said, “Call me. I’ll set you up with an agent.” He handed me his home phone number.

So I was a bit pissed off at Michael Moore. It was the same scenario: young filmmaker seeks advice from old pro. Old pro is happy to oblige. But Moore was just setting him up. I like Moore, and I did not agree with Heston’s gun control position. Yet there’s something inherently nasty about exploiting a person’s genuine kindness, to sucker-punch him. And it didn’t add anything to the film, Moore didn’t score any real points: all he did was humiliate an old man who’d kindly invited him into his home, while at the same time adding box office value to his movie by having a real movie star in it, for free. It was a cheap shot—but I’m biased: I liked and respected Heston as a human being, whose natural impulse was always to be kind and helpful.

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I like what Ben Afflick's mom said to Charleston Heston when she met him at an Academy Awards show: "Love your movies. Hate your politics."

Unlike Mr. Holland and Ben Afflick's mom, I can't say I was ever a fan.

However, in today's New York Times, some critic said that Mr. Heston's walking away from Michael Moore in "Bowling For Columbine" showed that he was courteous. That's not the impression that I got at all. It seemed to me that, faced with the awful truth, he rudely departed, without so much as a fare-thee-well.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, as my grandmother used to say.

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...built and paid for by the movie moguls for profit. He was a bad actor at best and could not measure up to today's standards as evidenced that he did not act in any contemporary productions of note.

As far as his politics, his position is responsible for innumerable deaths like those at Virginia Tech and Columbine.

His interview with Moorer showed him for who he was, nothing more, nothing less, just someone whose positions were in part responsible for many deaths and many more to come.

May he rest in peace with his friends like Fallwell...and if there were a hell that is where they would be chatting.

Of course, we all know such a place does not exist because these people would not behave as they did. Their lives were totally self serving.

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Add my vote to those of the others who've pointed to 'Soylent Green.' Heston jumped at the chance to be in it because of its strong pro-environment message.

How many of you knew that Edward G Robinson was so deaf by the time it was filmed that he couldn't hear the other actors - or the director shouting 'Cut!' Go back and watch him in a scene where he doesn't even face Heston. How many of today's 'actors' could function with such a handicap?

The profession has been in decline for some time, and today's pool of actors is pathetic. Even the kids of the Golden Age of Hollywood were better than most of the adults of the last few decades, (never mind the kids).

I won't even watch most movies made in the last couple of decades. Mostly they are forgettable films with forgettable 'stars.'

Most of these oafs can't even get intonation right. What's so believable about performances in which the actors don't even know which are the most important words in a line? (Neither, apparently, do the directors.) Watch them: you can see them thinking. They just stand there waiting till the other actor finishes his/her lines.

Even the comedians were better.

Go look at any re-make of any old film: talk about ham-handed.

Oh, yes:

1. Charlton Heston was a little late for the Golden Age of Hollywood, generally accepted as being the '30s and '40s.

2. a Biblical film would make me gag, no matter who was in the cast.

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Thanks for ruining Soylent Green for me. Sheesh!

You damn, dirty Alternet apes!

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Easy to see how that might be.

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Sorry I didn't edit my draft, including insering an appropriate word for 'thing.' Like many writers, I use vague place-fillers in order to allow me to get the gist of my idea down quickly. (Unfortunately, I clicked on the 'post' button by mistake.)

Correction:

You're the one who decided to respond to my comment and attempt to defend your piece. However, when I demonstrated how your assertion was wrong-headed, well...

No, you don't have to comment on anything. If you do, however, you leave yourself open to people pointing out when you discontinue to do so, not to mention speculating about it.

That your (rather petulant) reply didn't address my comment only supports my belief that you *had* no response.

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First, Heston was an excellent classical actor according to Olivier. Second, I defy any actor (even Olivier) to shine in the pachydermatic epics that he made. Third, I saw Khartoum recently, and I thought Heston was brilliant in it. Fourth, I think there is a democratic (small 'd') case for the individual possession of fire-arms - a standing professional army is a standing threat to democracy.

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Charlton Heston's support of the NRA is based on the principal that we need a well armed citizenry to protect ourselves from abuses of government power. He made a great spokesperson for that cause and I agree whole heartedly with it.

If you think gun control is such a good idea, I suggest you first try and take the guns from the govenment.

As far as his acting skills go, I'm sure that he got type cast very early in his acting career. He played a great action hero and he was very good at it.

Did he have an acting range beyond what he demonstrated in public life and acting career? I do not know and only his closest friends can answer that question.

Charlton Heston will be remembered for three things. 1) A great action hero on the silver screen. 2) An avid supporter of our Second Amendment rights. 3) A great Moses.

When they bury me, I'd like to check out with a resume like that.

Jay Lindberg

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