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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Charlton Heston
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston receiving Medal from President George W. Bush at White House ceremony
Charlton Heston is an Academy Award winning actor and an eloquent, early voice on behalf of civil rights in the United States and democracy around the world. His films include The Greatest Show on Earth, El Cid, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, and Planet of the Apes, among many others.
Born Oct. 4, 1924 , Evanston, Ill., U.S.
Original name John Charlton Carter (Chuck) American actor known for his chiseled features and compelling speaking voice and for his numerous roles as historical figures and famous literary characters.
Heston decided to become an actor after impulsively auditioning for a high-school play. His stage experience in high school resulted in a scholarship to Northwestern University. …
American motion-picture actor and director, best known for his portrayals of epic heroes in large-scale historical dramas. Born Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois, he studied speech and drama at Northwestern University. After serving in the United States Air Force (1944-1947), he went into theater and radio, making his Broadway stage debut in Antony and Cleopatra in 1947. He also performed on television in the late 1940s, making notable appearances in televised productions of Julius Caesar, Wuthering Heights, and The Taming of the Shrew. Heston made his Hollywood film debut as a tormented, cynical young man in Dark City (1950), a crime thriller, and then gained wide commercial and critical success with a starring role in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), by American director Cecil B. DeMille.
In the 1950s and 1960s Heston achieved tremendous fame by playing larger-than-life roles in historical epics that featured his rugged resolve and commanding physical presence, including The President's Lady (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), El Cid (1961), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). In 1959 he won an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in Ben-Hur. During this period Heston also starred in several films made on a more modest scale, including Touch of Evil (1958), 55 Days at Peking (1963), and Major Dundee (1965). In the late 1960s and early 1970s he adapted his powerful screen presence to star in several science-fiction and disaster films, such as Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), The Omega Man (1971), Soylent Green (1973), Earthquake (1974), and Airport 1975 (1974). Most of his later roles are as indomitable authority figures in war sagas and Westerns.
Heston made his motion-picture directing debut with Antony and Cleopatra (1973), starring himself as Antony. He also directed Mother Lode (1982) and A Man for All Seasons (1988), a film he made for television. An influential member of the Hollywood film community, Heston served six terms as President of the Screen Actors Guild, from 1966 to 1971. He also became an outspoken supporter for a number of conservative political causes. In 1998 Heston was elected president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), becoming a popular symbol for the pro-gun political lobby.
"For an actor, there is no greater loss than the loss of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can't part with you, which is why I won't exclude you from this stage in my life. ... For now, I'm not changing anything. I'll insist on work when I can; the doctors will insist on rest when I must. If you see a little less spring to my step, if your name fails to leap to my lips, you'll know why. And if I tell you a funny story for the second time, please laugh anyway."
(From a taped announcement concerning his having symptoms of Alzheimer's disease):
Charlton Heston
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Charlton Heston is an Academy Award winning actor and an eloquent, early voice on behalf of civil rights in the United States and democracy around the world. His films include The Greatest Show on Earth , El Cid , The Greatest Story Ever Told , Ben Hur , The Ten Commandments , and Planet of the Apes , among many others.
Heston receives Medal of Freedom
President Bush also gives top civilian prize to chef Child
Charlton Heston, the Academy Award-winning actor who headed the National Rifle Association and now has Alzheimer's, was awarded the Medal of Freedom Wednesday by President Bush. AN ECLECTIC GROUP received the nation's highest civilian award, including master chef Julia Child, whose television show brought gourmet cooking into millions of American homes, and the late Dave Thomas, the Wendy's hamburger magnate and philanthropist.
Others included nuclear bomb pioneer Edward Teller, concert pianist Van Cliburn, former Czech Republic president and playwright Vaclav Havel, former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, the late Hall of Fame baseball player Roberto Clemente and the late Supreme Court justice Byron White.
Still others were influential writer and historian Jacques Barzun and social commentator James Q. Wilson.
Bush took Heston's hand to help raise him from his chair in order to place the award around his neck during the ceremony in the White House East Room.
Heston, 79, whose movie credits included "The Ten Commandments," "Ben Hur" and "Planet of the Apes," was famous as the voice of the pro-gun National Rifle Association where his trademark phrase was that his gun would only be taken "from my cold, dead hands."
Heston made public last year that he had symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, a degenerative brain ailment.
Reuters
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Medal History
