Charlton Heston, born as John Charles "Chuck" Carter on October 4 1923, was an American actor of film, theater, and television.
Heston is best known for playig heroic figures, such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, George Taylor in Planet of the Apes, and Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur. He is also known for his roles in The Greatest Show on Earth and Touch of Evil.
In the 1950s and 1960s Charlton Heston became increasingly involved in the civil rights movement and political activism. He was one of the handful of Hollywood celebrities to openly speak against racism. Although initially a moderate Democrat (he supported John F. Kennedy), he later supported conservative and was president of the National Rifle Association for four terms from 1998 to 2003.
Charlton Heston died April 5, 2008 due to Alzheimer's disease. Upon his death, President George W. Bush stated, "He served his country during World War II, marched in the civil rights movement, led a labor union and vigorously defended Americans' Second Amendment rights."
The trouble with movies as a business is that it's an art, and the trouble with movies as art is that it's a business.
For an actor, there is no greater loss than the loss of his audience.
As an artist, I understand that, and I value the creative input of the artist.
Shakespeare is the outstanding example of how that can be done. In all of Shakespeare's plays, no matter what tragic events occur, no matter what rises and falls, we return to stability in the end.
Dirty Harry, for example. Clint Eastwood was not a rogue cop. He was a maverick cop, but he was a good guy.
Undeniably the American art form, too. And yet more and more, we see films made that diminish the American experience and example. And sometimes trash it completely.
In recent years, anyone in the government, certainly anyone in the FBI or the CIA, or recently, in again, Clint's film, In the Line of Fire, the main bad guy is the chief advisor to the president.
You can spend a lifetime, and, if you're honest with yourself, never once was your work perfect.
You cut their money back, for one thing... I go back a long way with the NEA.
You could think of extraordinary examples to the contrary: The Grapes of Wrath... and even into the 70s.