R.I.P. Charlton Heston

And yet another icon of my childhood bites the dust.

I must confess that I knew of Heston more from his work in science fiction films like The Omega Man and Planet of the Apes than in his more mainstream work. He most definitely was the definite Moses in 1956's The Ten Commandments, so much so that he has become identified with that role in the same way Charles Laughton became identified with Henry VIII.

His most famous role, however, the title role of 1959's Ben-Hur, I have yet to see. Nor am I very proud of the fact that his movie El Cid has been on the top of my rainy-day movie list* for weeks.

I do intend to catch up with his work though. Just as Paul Scofield's passing inspired me to finally catch up with The Train (no pun intended), Heston's passing will no doubt make me catch up with his films.

As it stands, I've yet to see a movie that ever made me especially hate Heston's performances. (Earthquake and Airport '75 did come close, but my issues with these films have nothing to do with Mr. Heston.)

As for his politics, well, Heston opposed McCarthyism when such opposition was unfashionable and supported the civil rights movement when such support was not fashionable. And I must admit to admiring the fact that Heston was one of the few politically-oriented celebrities who chose to stick to his guns (no pun intended) without interjecting his politics into his acting career. Nowadays, we could use more people like that.

He will be missed.

* A list of movies to see on rainy days, natch.