SubscribeIn 1956 Heston campaigned for Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy in 1960. In 1961, in Oklahoma on a publicity tour, he joined a picket line at the segregated theater premiering his movie. During the civil rights march held in Washington, D.C. in 1963, he accompanied Martin Luther King Jr., wearing a sign that read "All Men Are Created Equal"...In 1968, following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Heston appeared on The Joey Bishop Show and, along with fellow actors Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas and James Stewart, called for public support for President Johnson's Gun Control Act of 1968.Huh. What shifted his opinions so dramatically?
He was an opponent of McCarthyism and racial segregation, seeing it as helping the cause of Communism worldwide. He opposed the Vietnam War and considered Richard Nixon a disaster for America.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°° !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!A period won't do it, this time. Here's a salute to you, Mr. Heston.
Legendary actor, civil rights leader and political activist Charlton Heston passed away today, at the age of 84. He died at his home with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, at his sideReally, what more do you want, after that?
A large percentage of the weaponry used against the US forces in Iraq comes from former Iraqi Army supply dumps
i wonder what the kurds think about that
NRA curtails conventionIf Heston also disturbed a private funeral service with hundreds of NRA supporters to score political points a la Phelps as BP has insinuated, I can find no record of it. BP - Perhaps you could provide a link to this event so that we can judge for ourselves. It’s an honest request – I’m genuinely curious to what you are referring, if not the event described in the article above.
By Kevin Flynn
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
The National Rifle Association on Wednesday severely curtailed its national convention in Denver next week out of "profound sympathy and respect" for victims of the Columbine High School shooting.
….
Coincidentally, an NRA billboard along West Colfax Avenue advertising its convention was taken down Wednesday.
….
In a letter to NRA members Wednesday, President Charlton Heston and the group's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, said all seminars, workshops, luncheons, exhibits by gun makers and other vendors, and festivities are canceled.
All that's left is a members' reception with Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., and the annual meeting, set for 10 a.m. May 1 in the Colorado Convention Center.
Under its bylaws and New York state law, the NRA must hold an annual meeting.
The NRA convention April 30-May 2 was expected to draw 22,000 members and give the city a $17.9 million economic boost.
"But the tragedy in Littleton last Tuesday calls upon us to take steps, along with dozens of other planned public events, to modify our schedule to show our profound sympathy and respect for the families and communities in the Denver area in their time of great loss," Heston and LaPierre wrote.
Both men said they would still make major addresses at the members' meeting.
April 22, 1999
"Most mortals would be intimidated by meeting the actor who played Moses, Judah Ben-Hur and John the Baptist. But Charlton Heston was an extraordinarily genial and accessible gentleman who made you feel comfortable in his presence.
Michael Moore took advantage of this quality when he trapped Heston with a series of questions about gun control in the 2002 documentary, 'Bowling for Columbine.' No matter what you thought of Heston’s right-wing politics or his enthusiastic promotion of the National Rifle Association, the ambush backfired; Moore ended up with more egg on his face than Heston.
It’s not a moment that Heston fans prefer to remember, yet the 'Columbine' episode does say something about the graciousness of the man, who clearly didn’t have to invite Moore into his home. In interviews, Heston was almost always receptive, interested, willing to talk about his failures as well as his successes. Rarely did he let loose with a flash of ego, yet he was proud of his accomplishments.
Perhaps this even-handed quality was the inevitable result of his humble beginnings in the 1940s, when Heston was dealing with shoestring budgets, appearing in near-amateur productions, trying to make the best of desperate situations. By the time he became a Hollywood star in the 1950s, appearing in several of that era’s showiest blockbusters, he’d experienced such a wide range of showbiz hits and misses that he took nothing for granted." *
"Crush your enemies. See them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women."
« Older The Boneyard. I’ve come to bear witness to America... | D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 9:54 PM on April 5, 2008 [179 favorites]