Heston and On and On and On
I've always had a place in my heart for Charlton Heston. Back in 1994, I interviewed Heston for an arts and entertainment show I was producing in Miami. At the time, he hadn't yet assumed control of the NRA and was years away from making his painful declaration that his flintlock rifle could be pried "from my cold, dead hands." Although Heston had campaigned hard for Reagan and Bush Sr. and had taken up the somewhat silly cause of speaking out against Ice-T and Body Count's "Cop Killer" song, he was still best remembered for having stood alongside Dr. Martin Luther King and the Kennedys during the 60s and for publicly castigating McCarthyism.
In other words, even at my young age, I understood that he was a fascinatingly well-rounded man -- as well as a Hollywood legend, obviously -- and someone I should feel honored to be given the opportunity to speak with. Truth be told, I admit that going into the interview, I was nervous as hell to even be in the same room with such an imposing cultural figure. The guy played both Moses and God at various points, after all. But all his larger-than-life achievements aside -- the Oscar, the honors and the personal and professional triumphs and tragedies -- when you sat down with Charlton Heston and began to chat with him, he put you at ease and made you feel like you were the only person on Earth. He did this, apparently, whether you were a close friend, Edward R. Murrow or some 24 year old kid from South Florida whose name happened to come up in the interview rotation.
After spending an hour just talking to Charlton Heston about anything and everything -- from his career and his politics, to his personal life, to his thoughts on pop culture and his place in it (he and I threw our favorite lines from his movies back and forth to each other until we were both blue in the face from laughter), to his take on the romantic life of a legendary leading man (he offered some surprisingly simple yet sage advice to an impetuous boy like myself on the subject of making love work and last) -- I found myself starstruck not by his pomp and stateliness but by his warmth and charm.
At the end of our time together -- our lengthy, casual conversation -- he placed his hand on my shoulder and said something to me that, true or not, was exactly what I needed to hear and would wind up providing me with a genuinely memorable moment in my career: "Son, I've been doing this for a very long time, and that was honestly one of the best interviews I've ever had. Thank you." He then met my girlfriend at the time, who happened to work with me, and told her that she was a very lucky woman (which was completely untrue of course, but through no fault of his). To this day, Heston's compliment stands among the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. And that's why, when I learned over the weekend that Charlton Heston had died, I had to force myself not to cry a little. They really don't make them like him anymore, and I can't help thinking how unfortunate that is.
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He was a great actor, and a great President (of the NRA), he will be greatly missed. Thank you, Mr. Pazienza for a fantastic article.
He was great at everything he touched. He was even (unexpectedly, to me) great as the Player King in a movie version of "Hamlet" 10 or 12 years ago.
What a warm and telling memory, thank you for sharing this wonderful experience, the things dreams are made of.
We are truly the losers for we will not see your kind again. Wherever you are now appearing, God bless Mr. Heston.
I thought that was a very fine post.
Thank you. Too many people just saw him at the end as the NRA blowhard, not the great icon from Hollywood epics ala El Cid or Ben-Hur, nor actually had ever met the man. This is the kind of post I like to see.
It's funny you brought up the Cop Killer controversy. I remember how irritated I was at Heston for attempting to "censor" Ice-T/Body Count's song. I bought into the 1st amendment argument that all entertainers use when they are faced with censorship. I felt I had to support the artist. I bought the CD. Looking back on it now, too often, a lot of mediocre artists use that crutch (like 2 Live Crew, Andrew Dice Clay, etc., etc.) to sell a crappy product. Body Count was one of them.
Cop Killer was a pretty stupid song. It was devoid of any real art, just a visceral, angry, profanity laden song. Sometimes that can be cathartic, but in this case, I don't think so. Frank Zappa wrote a startling song called "Trouble Every Day" off his Freak Out! album that said a lot more about the Watts riots than Cop Killer ever said about the Rodney King riots. Cop Killer wasn't directly written about Rodney King (even though he is referenced in it), but it's still not a very good song.
For the record, I don't have the CD anymore. I sold it on ebay a few years back, and I don't miss it.
So I can forgive Heston for that incident. Overall, it didn't matter much in the scheme of it all.....
One of the best.
This is a beautiful, touching post. As a major fan of Heston's, I, along with many others, were deeply saddened by his death. Even though he was ill, knowing that doesn't cushion the deep sadness that a great actor/artist has passed on. I love his work, and I have defended him to the best of my ability when people have attacked him simply for his politics without acknowledging the complexity of the man and his numerous artistic triumphs.
Many have already mentioned The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, Soylent Green (which the line "Soylent Green is people" is now folklore), and the final, famous, powerful line from Planet of the Apes (which, despite the numerous parodies, mostly by The Simpsons, is still a very powerful scene), but let's not forget his wonderful turn as the circus boss in The Greatest Show on Earth (an underrated, charming DeMille film) and his role as John the Baptist in George Stevens's underrated, unjustly trashed The Greatest Story Ever Told.
A friend of mine emailed me today and said he was one of the last of the great, old Hollywood. They're all gone, the McQueens, the Lancasters, the Gables, and today's actors, while not as terrible as some have said, are nowhere near the class and grace that many of the old ones displayed.
PBS's News Hour tonight showed a clip from Ben Hur. All I had remembered of Ben Hur was the chariot race. But this clip -- it was like a parable for us now -- rue empire!
Messala: Who are these criminals who don't agree when you speak against violence?
Judah Ben-Hur: They're not criminals, they're patriots.
Messala: Patriots? Help me Judah!
Judah: I would do anything for you, Messala, except betray my own people. If I cannot persuade them, that does not mean I will help you murder them. Besides, you must understand this, Messala. I believe in the past of my people, and in their future.
Messala: Future? You are a conquered people!
Judah: You may conquer the land. You may slaughter the people. But that is not the end. We will rise again.
Messala: You live on dead dreams. You live on myths of the past. There is only one reality in the world today. Look to the West, Judah! Don't be a fool, look to Rome!
Judah: I would rather be a fool than a traitor or a killer!
Messala: I am a soldier!
Judah: Yes! Who kills for Rome, and Rome is evil!
Messala: I warn you...
Judah: No! I warn you! Rome is an affront to God. Rome is strangling my people and my country, the whole Earth! But not forever. I tell you, the day Rome falls there will be a shout of freedom such as the world has never heard before!
Like every other fan I only knew the icon, not the man. I won't sully the moment by interjecting politics. I will say that Huffpo should be proud of the comments I see here.
They should be ashamed that there aren't more.
A great man. And to hear he was humble too. Quite a guy, I'd say.
RIP
Thanks for the beautiful tribute. You described him as I always thought he would be. You were fortunate to spend that time with him. What a lovely memory you will always have.
Amen.
It's funny because of his NRA leadership that you would peg him as a right-winger. But the roles he selected (Apes, Omega Man, Soilent Green) often projected a very different image.
I had the priviledge to very briefly chat with him and shake his hand at a book signing for his autobiography. On the way home I kept looking at my hand thinking "I touched the hand that parted the Red Sea!".
Yeah, I was star-struck big time.
God Bless and farewell Chuck.
As drspaceman mentioned ... Heston made some incredible films, I thought it telling of his psyche that he would pick so many post-apocalyptic stories to be a part of ... "Plant of the Apes","Omega Man", and "Soylent Green" ... it is obvious he was in tune with a greater concern for mankind than his right-wing image would lead one to believe. He was a great talent and a thoughtful man.
I plan on re-watching "Planet of the Apes" (1968) this week ... his character of Taylor is quite complex and the message from the film (which Tim Burton unfortunately overlooked in his remake) is thought provoking.
"God damn you all to Hell." is just the beginning of the message, and Mr. Heston delivered that message as only a Movie Star, in the truest sense of the word, can.
Thanks for posting your rememberances of Charlton Heston. I had a similar reaction when I heard that he had died. He was the last, outside of Kurt Douglas, of the larger than life movie stars of another era. His movies were some of my favorite as a young man. Planet of the Apes, El Cid, Ben Hur and others that I don't even know the name of. There was one particular movie based on a short story where Charlton Heston fought off an army of killer ants that threatened his South American plantation. That was very cool. He also was in some of the campiest, over the top movies ever made. Who can forget his scenery chewing performance in Soylent Green where at the end he shouts, 'Soylent Green is people, Soylent Green is people!' He also played a broken down New Orleans Saints quarterback who looked like he hadn't worked out in a very long time. No matter what movie he was in, he was fun to watch. But nothing can top the startling last scene of Planet of the Apes. 'God damn you all to hell!'
Everybody remembers the end of Planet of the Apes. But I wonder that nobody tied it to Rev. Wright's "God damn America." It was the same thing. Rev. Wright was angry and in despair about Hiroshima and Nagasaki and America heedlessly killing innocents, children, civilizations, and there was Charlton Heston facing the ruins of the Statue of Liberty saying "God damn you, God damn you all to hell."
How strange to learn that Heston stood with Martin Luther King before he became the NRA icon. Rest in peace.
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