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Academy Award-winning actor Charlton Heston passed away on April 5, 2008. His film career spanned move than five decades and included more than 85 roles, including Moses in "The Ten Commandments" and the title role in "Ben Hur." Heston is also remembered by many for his political activism and tenure as president of the National Rifle Association.
Charlton Heston, 83, an Academy Award-winning actor who starred in epics such as "Ben-Hur" and "The Ten Commandments" and then became a conservative political activist and influential president of the National Rifle Association, died last night at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif.
A family spokesman did not release the cause of death, but Heston said in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease. In a message at the time, he told fans, "I've lived my whole life on the stage and screen before you. I've found purpose and meaning in your response. For an actor there's no greater loss than the loss of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can't part with you."
With his deep voice and noble physique, Heston was for five decades the symbol of confident authority on film. He parted the Red Sea as Moses in "The Ten Commandments" and won an unforgettable chariot race in "Ben-Hur." In 1994, he was the boss of spy Arnold Schwarzenegger in "True Lies" and joked that the film's director, James Cameron, "said that I was the only actor who could plausibly intimidate Arnold."
Of more than 85 movie parts, "Ben-Hur" (1959) was a career-defining performance. It won 11 Oscars, including best actor for Heston, who played a Jewish prince seeking revenge on those who harmed his family and sent him into slavery.
Charlton Heston, 83, an Academy Award-winning actor who starred in epics such as "Ben-Hur" and "The Ten Commandments" and then became a conservative political activist and influential president of the National Rifle Association, died last night at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif.
A family spokesman did not release the cause of death, but Heston said in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease. In a message at the time, he told fans, "I've lived my whole life on the stage and screen before you. I've found purpose and meaning in your response. For an actor there's no greater loss than the loss of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can't part with you."
With his deep voice and noble physique, Heston was for five decades the symbol of confident authority on film. He parted the Red Sea as Moses in "The Ten Commandments" and won an unforgettable chariot race in "Ben-Hur." In 1994, he was the boss of spy Arnold Schwarzenegger in "True Lies" and joked that the film's director, James Cameron, "said that I was the only actor who could plausibly intimidate Arnold."
Of more than 85 movie parts, "Ben-Hur" (1959) was a career-defining performance. It won 11 Oscars, including best actor for Heston, who played a Jewish prince seeking revenge on those who harmed his family and sent him into slavery.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=topnews
