"Life of Charlton Heston" Topic

"The acid test of a biography is if the reader can put down the book and feel like they have actually met the subject. It is a difficult thing to do and most biographers fail. Not here. Most readers of Marc Eliot's "Charlton Heston: Hollywood's Last Icon" (HarperCollins, 2017) will feel like they have met the actor.

When he was 10, Heston's parents divorced and his mother remarried, giving her son a new first and last name. As it is for many children, the divorce of his parents was a trauma that affected the actor for the rest of his life. He attended Northwestern University where he majored in drama. He did not graduate because of his service in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, but he met the love of his life, Lydia Clarke; the first girl he ever dated who became his wife in 1944. They remained married until his death in 2008.

After the war, Heston and his wife went to New York to become stage and live television actors. The Heston's were barely getting by and Lydia was getting more work than her husband. Then success suddenly struck. Heston made one movie, Dark City (1950) to supplement his work in New York, but while driving on to the Paramount Pictures studio lot, he waved to Cecil B. DeMille. The famed producer/director had already passed on Heston for a role in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), but was impressed by the confidence he showed in the moment and reconsidered his decision, casting him in the central role. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Heston was suddenly getting numerous roles, but many of the projects are not remembered much for a reason. DeMille intervened in his life a second time, giving him the role of Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956)…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Sounds like a good book about a class guy. I miss him.

Me too!….

Amicalement
Armand

He died three days after my Dad. In my mind, they went off together. My Dad was always positive about Heston. Of course, he became "my president" before I actually joined the NRA, and was influential in my joining as a life member. One of my favorite movies is "The Warlord", a huge influence on my getting into medieval wargaming. I could go on……..

One of my favourites too and unlike most of his Hollywood contemporaries did a lot of theatre work. Saw him in a "Man for all Seasons" in London back in the day.

And even parodied himself on SNL .

Even did ads for Bud Lite, etc.

He's one of my all time favorite actors and I enjoyed every historical epics that he was in. Those types of movies are no longer made.

You are right my good friend!.

Amicalement
Armand

He was far better than our current crop of male actors.

Made some great movies.

One of the best, ever.

Dan

He's one of my all time favorite actors and I enjoyed every historical epics that he was in. Those types of movies are no longer made.

Be careful what you wish for. Did you see the Ben Hur remake?

Or when he played an dying old ape general in the Mark Wahlberg version of Planet Of The Apes or his second appearance on SNL ,in the cold opening where he wakes up to find the cast and crew are all apes.