I'm absolutely thrilled that Charlton Heston, my all-time favorite actor, is so loved by many members here on the forum. It warms my heart, I must say. It's been a very interesting thread to read, where some of you have even met the man!
I have a pretty cool story to share as well, it follows:
On the 31st of March 2008, after putting it off for a while, I finally sent my autograph request to Charlton Heston. At the time, I wasn't aware of just how bad his Alzheimers had gotten over the years. Sadly, five days after I sent out my autograph request, I heard the news; Charlton Heston had passed away. I was devastated, not even thinking about the autograph request I had just sent out to him. Naturally, receiving an autograph back was out of the question, I thought. Well...
Exactly 20 days after his passing, while having lunch with a friend, I got a call from my girlfriend who told me I had received a large envelope in the mail. It was the kind of envelope that could hold an 8x10 photo. I rushed home, curious of what it could be. Once I got home I sat down in my couch with the envelope in my hands. As I opened it and started pulling the picture out, I soon recognized it was the picture most fans had gotten over the last few years when writing to Heston. The question remained, was it signed? Milliseconds later I found out that it indeed was signed! I was shocked and glad beyond belief, I couldn't believe it.
I have read that writing your name is a very useful exercise for those who have Alzheimers, I figure he signed a lot of these photos before he got too ill. I was a member of an autograph community at the time, and someone on there sent an autograph request a week or so after his passing to see if he'd receive one as well. He got the same picture that I had gotten, but his was unsigned. So the autograph I got must have been one of the last ones sent out. I sent a thank you letter to his wife of 64 years, Lydia, a couple of months later. I waited a while because I didn't want to bother her more than I already had so soon after his passing.
The autograph is now placed in a nice wooden frame in my living room.
It is, understandably, my most prized Charlton Heston item.
I'm such a big fan of Heston's, I even started a forum where fans of his can discuss his life and movies. There weren't one to be found anywhere online and his section on IMDb was filled with trolls, so I took it upon myself to create a forum where we could discuss Charlton Heston without the interruption of some fools who've seen Bowling for Columbine and think they know him.
I made a tribute video to his memory that I think you'll all really like. I named named it Charlton Heston: Bad to the Bone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHXRWj6zf78
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[/extendedmedia](If someone could embed it so you can view it on this forum, I'd appreciate it. For some reason I couldn't make the darn thing work)
Chuck starred in both what I think is the best movie ever made and my all-time favorite movie. The best movie ever made IMO is Ben-Hur and my favorite movie is Planet of the Apes. Other great flicks of his are Soylent Green, El Cid, The Ten Commandments, The Omega Man, The Big Country, Will Penny & Khartoum. There are many more, his body of work is nearly impossible to match. He was a true legend in every sense of the word.
They were both in "The Greatest Story Ever Told," however they shared no scenes together.
Unfortunately for a period of time Duke and Charlton Heston did not get on very well, I'm not sure if they ever reconciled.
I know it's been a few years since this post, but since I have not heard anything about this I must ask if you know exactly what the problem was between them? Seems to me these two legends would have gotten along just fine.