Charlton Heston

Having decided to call it an early night, I arrived at home and learned of Charlton Heston's death.

Charlton Heston's most notable role, to me, was that of Moses in The Ten Commandments. ABC plays that movie every year around Passover and every year I make a point to at least watch most of it. I love that movie and it is mostly because of Heston's performance. Heston had an on-screen presence that was second to none. Any time that he appeared in a more recent movie, it was something special. Almost as if a piece of motion picture history was playing out any time a camera was on him.

He brought an element of stage acting to his roles that more modern actors never really attempt. He projected and articulated his lines like he was standing in a theater rather than on a set. That's why he was hands done the greatest person who ever played a minor Shakespeare character on screen (the Player King in Kenneth Branagh's amazing version of Hamlet). I even love the scene in Wayne's World 2 where he is brought it to replace a lackluster actor in a very small role.

I have to mention Ben Hur, Planet of the Apes, and Soylent Green as well. All are amazing movies in their own right...but they certainly would only have been footnotes in American popular culture if Heston had not immortalized them with his performances.

His use of his popularity to call attention to civil rights issues was also quite admirable. Any man who once marched along side Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deserves all the respect in the world.