# Charlton Heston - RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153 "2008-04-06T04:19:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/41 "2008-04-06T21:28:22Z")
'take your hand off of me, you damned filthy ape!" ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/42 "2008-04-06T21:42:43Z")
Such a shame. He struck me as a class act. I found _The Ten Commandments_ embarrassingly scripted, but he still pulled it off. RIP, sir. You will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/43 "2008-04-06T21:59:18Z")
I’m hoping the funeral arrangements involve him being strapped to his horse in armour. So he can ride out into history … [QUOTE=Veuve\_ClicquotNJ] Wow, he’s about the only surviving cast member, when bingo - I saw the news on [cnn.com](http://cnn.com) [/QUOTE] _Touch of Evil_ is one of my all time favourite films and until you posted this I hadn’t thought of his passing in those terms. Damn, you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/44 "2008-04-06T22:07:50Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] I’ve never read a more lovely story. Thanks, **Wile E**. [/QUOTE] Thank you for the compliment. The memory of giving my mom those tickets was a happy time, all of us kids were together on it and it was the perfect gift and she loved it. Because of that connection I guess I will always have a bit of a soft spot for him. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/45 "2008-04-06T22:08:25Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Let us eat Soylent Green in remembrance of him. [/QUOTE] :::Stops Hell Express Bus, leaps out, shows [this sign](http://www.jeffchabotte.com/gallery/d/1083-1/heston.jpg) to **BrainGlutton**.::: Come on! I’ve saved you a seat. :::Turns and races back to the bus.::: ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/46 "2008-04-06T22:17:48Z")
> [@](#): > > And you sat there thinking, “Why wasn’t there more of this?” There is, but it’s not well enough known. Heston did quite a bit of Shakespeare, and some of it made it onto film: **Julius Caesar** (1950) **Julius Caesar** (1970 – and Marc Anthony both times!) **Anthony and Cleopatra** (three times!) He wanted to play Thomas More in **A Man for All Seasons** He didn’t get the movie role, but he did play it later on for a made-for-TV version. He played Sherlock Holmes on stage (and later in the TV movie **Crucifer of Blood** , and his Watson was ---- Jeremy Brett! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/47 "2008-04-06T22:59:16Z")
[NPR has a nice tribute to Heston.](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89421208) > [@](#): > > When he brought one of those to the Kennedy Center in the 1980s, I interviewed him for a local paper. I’m guessing he knew — well into his _Earthquake, Airport, Dynasty_ period — that any press he got from an alternative weekly was likely to be skeptical. > > But he showed up without a public relations person, and sat for photos and answered questions. A few days later, a letter arrived — embossed stationery, typed note above his signature — saying he had thought the interview went well, and thanking me for my time. The first and last note of that sort I’ve ever gotten from an actor — and an indication, I suspect, of the sort of thoroughgoing professional he had always been. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/48 "2008-04-06T23:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Let us eat Soylent Green in remembrance of him. [/QUOTE] That sounds good. What’s it made of? ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/49 "2008-04-06T23:49:41Z")
> [@](#): > > December 22, 1980 > > Dear Scouts: > > Growing is a life-long process, one I’m not finished with yet. My time as a Boy Scout was an important way statino for me along this path. > > This is the most improtant thing I’ve learned in my life: KEEP YOUR PROMISES. > > Best wishes, > > Charlton Heston From the Hears of Heroes, by George W. Shaffer (A collection of letters sent to the Boy Scouts of Troop 26, Tulsa OK) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/50 "2008-04-07T01:07:46Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] **great CH lines** 'take your hand off of me, you damned filthy ape!" [/QUOTE] Most memorable to me: “No! NO! **My king** kneels to no man!” A scene almost at the end of _El Cid._ If you’ve seen the movie up to that point I dare you not to choke up. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/51 "2008-04-07T01:58:43Z")
I have the open letter that he published to his friends and fans after his diagnosis. It’s on my computer at work so I’ll try to post it tomorrow. It is quite touching. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/52 "2008-04-07T02:01:53Z")
Found it [here](http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/News/08/09/heston.statement/index.html) . ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/53 "2008-04-07T02:57:25Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Most memorable to me: “No! NO! **My king** kneels to no man!” A scene almost at the end of _El Cid._ If you’ve seen the movie up to that point I dare you not to choke up. [/QUOTE] I didn’t choke up, because that was a bad movie. The acting was all stilted and amateurish. But I do admit to enjoying _Touch of Evil_, which we saw for the first time just last year. He was really good in that. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/54 "2008-04-07T09:39:51Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] I watched Planet of the Apes last night, too [/QUOTE] It was just a week or so ago I saw all of Ben Hur for the first time, in two sittings. [QUOTE=cochrane] His rant at the end of “Planet of the Apes” stays with me to this day. “You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to Hell!” [/QUOTE] I appreciated the Irish news reporting his death with an out take from Apes as well as the inevitable Ben Hur and Moses clips; “Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty apes!” Excellent 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/55 "2008-04-07T12:26:14Z")
When I turned on the radio Sunday monring I heard “get your paws off me, you damned filthy ape.” My thoughts were: 1. Troy McClure singing 2. The SDMB thread will have something about his prying his gun out of his cold dead hands (that clip was shown about a thousand times on the TV yesterday). 3. He was so good as Michelangelo in “The Agony & The Ectasy.” ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/56 "2008-04-07T13:18:21Z")
As we celebrate the great body of work he left behind, let’s not overlook [_Major Dundee_](http://imdb.com/title/tt0059418/externalreviews) - Heston directed by Peckinpah. Just amazing, especially the extended version released in 2005. RIP, Amos! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/57 "2008-04-07T13:41:10Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] 1. Troy McClure singing [/QUOTE] "I hate every ape I see “From chimpan-A to chimpanzeeeeee . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/58 "2008-04-07T14:07:31Z")
Thanks, **EJsGirl** , for the link to his open letter. Wonderful. I haven’t liked him much in recent years because of the whole NRA thing, and I agree he wasn’t the greatest actor in the world, but I respected him as a civil rights supporter and a hardworking but down-to-earth actor. One of my favorite of his later appearances was as the head of Omega Sector (yes, I get the joke), Ah-nuld’s supersecret spy agency, in _True Lies_. Best line: “I have to say, gentlemen, that what you’ve shown me so far isn’t blowing my skirt up!” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/59 "2008-04-07T14:34:07Z")
[QUOTE=Cardinal] He had a small statue of himself as some mountain man from a movie (sorry, don’t remember which)… [/QUOTE] That would be [_The Mountain Men_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081187/) with Brian Keith. Cool memories, **DMark** , thanks for sharing, especially about the telegrammed tackle box. That gave me chills. I’m a little miffed that as I think back on all my memories of Heston, that Michael Moore trying to make him appear the fool creeps in there too along with all the outstanding, moving, iconic roles he played. Thanks, Chuck, for decades of good stuff. Lordy but you were a pleasure to watch. (Is there a man here bad enough to have messed with Will Penny?) ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153/60 "2008-04-07T17:27:40Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] (Is there a man here bad enough to have messed with Will Penny?) [/QUOTE] Did Clint Eastwood name his character in _Unforgiven_ “William Munny” as an homage to Heston’s Will Penny? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlton-heston-rip/444153.md?page=4)