Charlton Heston dies

Chicago North Shore native and legendary actor Charlton Heston died last night at the age of 84. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

His film successes are being lauded throughout the media and the blogosphere as I write this. He's of course best known for such films as Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, and El Cid, but to a kid growing up in the 1970s, I was enthralled by the Heston's dystopian films such as Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, and The Omega Man.

Later in life, which is why I chose the picture of Heston shooting at deranged mutants in the latter movie, Heston became politically active on conservative issues especially as an outspoken proponent of gun owner's rights. He served as president of the National Rifle Association for five years.

When I was working at the Bismarck Hotel in the late 1980s, I met Heston just after he finished dining with his mother at the hotel's Chalet Restaurant. He was quite gracious to me.

Heston's last great role in my opinion, although a brief one, was as the Player King in Kenneth Branagh's superb version of Hamlet.

Rest in peace.

Thanks for the link:

ThirdWaveDave

Technorati tags: Charlton Heston movies entertainment Chicago guns NRA 2nd amendment