The greatest epic movie actor of all time – the icon, Charlton Heston – died Saturday night at 84. Though it’s sad to see him go, I’d prefer to re-live and attempt explain Charlton Heston’s pure awesomeness for those of you who either 1. don’t know of him or 2. didn’t like his NRA affiliations.

The Ten Commandments

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Charlton Heston – the greatest epic movie actor of all time – is the greatest epic movie of all time: The Ten Commandments. Cecil B. DeMille cast Heston as Moses partially because he looked so much like Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses. Here’s the trailer for it:

http://www.youtube.com/v/pXyEcMG5bDs&hl=en

Ben-Hur

One of the most dominant Oscar winners was 1959’s Ben-Hur, a movie I’ll confess that I never have seen the whole way through. But I do know one thing: casting Charlton Heston was genius.

The movie is famous for a chariot race that features Heston:

http://www.youtube.com/v/pbQvpJsTvxU&hl=en

Touch of Evil

Orson Welles, cinematic genius that he was, knew that having a Mexican character was no reason not to cast the white Charlton Heston, so Heston appeared in Welles’ Touch of Evil. The movie opens with a famous tracking shot including Heston that doesn’t cut away for minutes:

http://www.youtube.com/v/0nn1VO1HIPk&hl=en

Planet of the Apes

I’ll just say this. There are few actors who can pull off the following line:It’s a MAAADHOUSE!!!! A MAAAADHOUSE!

http://www.youtube.com/v/TQME8mx4DMo&hl=en

Soylent Green Is People!

As above, Charlton Heston shows how to pull off dramatic Sci-Fi:

http://www.youtube.com/v/8Sp-VFBbjpE&hl=en

Pry It From My Cold, Dead Hands

While Charlton Heston was involved in the civil rights movement in the early 60’s, he actually became Republican in the 1980’s, supporting Ronald Reagan and opposing abortion.

For some reason, though, he never played the President of the United States (Edit: Yes, he did), even though his “believability” factor in Madden-style ratings form would definitely be 100.
Heston was an avid supporter of gun rights and famously held a rifle over his head in 2000 and said Al Gore could take his Second Amendment rights “from my cold, dead hands!”

I mean, how awesome is that? As I search Google Video, I see “from my cold, dead hands!” is one of the most blogged videos right now.

He also starred in a spoof of his own gun ownership affinity:

http://www.youtube.com/v/Un12bln0GpQ&hl=en

Wayne’s World 2

Somehow, they were able to recruit Heston for a cameo in Wayne’s World 2 as “good actor,” a last minute fill-in to replace a terribly acted bit part.

Since Charlton Heston’s appearance hosting Saturday Night Live is one of the best episodes ever, it’s clear he had a good sense of humor.

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