Skip to main content

Charlton Heston

I've known for a while now that Charlton Heston was gravely ill, still his passing affected me in odd ways. I first became familiar with his acting in the mid 1970s after watching The Planet of the Apes on tv. I thought Taylor was cool, although I didn't understand why he was screaming at the Statue of Liberty at the end of the movie. I wasn't very political at 6 years old, so the message was lost on me.

Of course I knew that Heston was Moses in The Ten Commandments. My mother would watch it every time it came on tv, about once a year. I would always get bored and fall asleep before the plagues. I don't think I've ever seen the end of that movie.

As an adult I have really enjoyed watching Ben Hur, and highly recommend it. No joke, good movie.

While I have not always appreciated Heston's acting abilities, I have always loved his voice. I think I could sit and listen to him read the phonebook. When I was in high school the traveling exhibit on Ramses II came to Fair Park in Dallas, and it was a really big deal, similar to what will take place when King Tut rolls through north Texas later this year. A group from my church went, because Ramses may have been the Pharaoh of the Exodus. We all got the audio guided tours and wore headphones and carried tape recorders (hey, it was 1988 or 89). When the tour began and I turned on the tape, it was Charlton Heston talking to me. I listened to every word about Ramses and all the different artifacts and enjoyed every minute of it.

My favorite Charlton Heston acting moment is from Wayne's World. I'm so glad Chuck could laugh at himself and have fun. You can watch the clip below. For some reason I think this is funny.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Eulogy for Dr. Evelyn Romig, Who Is Not Dead but Merely Retiring

How does one honor the career of a teacher like Dr. Evelyn Romig, who taught English and Literature for 44 years? I was her student four of those years at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, TX. Honestly, she teaches me still. I loved Dr. Romig fiercely when I was a college student. I took every class she offered. She was my adviser and I spent time in her office being advised on academic matters and other things. I often reflect on what her life means to me. My recollections and anecdotes here will be personal, but I do not think they are unique. I was 18 years old and a freshman when I first met Dr. Romig. I was a Baptist ministerial student, majoring in something from the School of Christianity. She was my British Literature teacher. Because of things I had done in high school and because of how well I tested on the ACT and SAT, I did not have to take the typical Freshman English courses. I had no way of knowing at the time how much this small woman, an English Literature p...

Her Own Woman

Kathryn is here now. She was born Sunday night, 5:57 p.m., and weighed 7 pounds, 10 oz., and measured 20.25 inches long. Kim was in labor since about 9:00 a.m. Saturday. After hours of waiting and miles of walking around that hospital, Kim never progressed beyond 6 cm. Every time we came close to making a decision about what to do next, it seems Kathryn would change the game on us and we would have to wait for another couple of hours to see what would happen next. We almost went to the OR at least twice before we finally did because Kathry would do this or that. She was letting us know she was in charge. After whe was born I stood with her in the nursery while they cleaned her up and checked her out. She cried for a while and then got real calm and collected. I watched her as she sized me up with her eyes, took a good look around the room, and then looked at me and kind of smirked knowingly. I got the distinct impression that she was very much amused by everything that had gone on the ...

More pictures...