LOS ANGELES, Ca (Los Angeles Times), April 6, 2008:
By Robert W. Welkos and Susan King,
Special to The Times
Charlton Heston, the Oscar-winning actor who achieved stardom playing larger-than-life figures including Moses, Michelangelo and a time-traveling astronaut on a planet ruled by apes, has died. He was 84.
Heston died Saturday at his Beverly Hills home, said family spokesman Bill Powers. In 2002, he had been diagnosed with symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer's disease.
With a booming baritone voice, the tall, ruggedly handsome actor delivered his signature role as the prophet Moses (photo) in Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 Biblical extravaganza "The Ten Commandments," raising a rod over his head as God miraculously parts the Red Sea.
Heston won the Academy Award for best actor in another religious blockbuster in 1959's "Ben-Hur," racing four white horses at top speed in one of the cinema's legendary action sequences: the 15-minute chariot race in which his character, a proud and noble Jew, competes against his childhood Roman friend.
Heston stunned the entertainment world in August 2002 when he made a poignant and moving videotaped address announcing his illness.
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John Charles Carter was born October 4, 1923, in Evanston, Illinois. His father, Russell Whitford Carter, moved the family to St. Helen, Michigan, where Heston lived an almost idyllic boyhood, hunting and fishing.
He entered Northwestern University's School of Speech in 1941 on a scholarship from the drama club. While there, he fell in love with a young speech student named Lydia Clarke. They were married March 14, 1944, after he had enlisted in the Army Air Forces. Their union was one of the most durable in Hollywood, lasting 64 years in a town known for its highly publicized divorces, romances and remarriages.
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In later years, Heston battled physical ailments. In 1996, he underwent hip replacement surgery and two years later he was treated for prostate cancer. In 2000, he revealed in the National Enquirer tabloid that he had entered a rehab clinic for a drinking problem.
In addition to his wife and son, Heston is survived by a daughter, Holly Heston Rochell; and three grandchildren.
Read the complete obituary and detailed tribute to the legendary hero.
Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times
