Monday, April 07, 2008

Things I Didn't Know About Chuck.


This morning I was completely shocked and saddened by the news that Charlton Heston passed away on Saturday evening. He was always one of my favorite actors. Ever since I was little. People always thought it was strange for a eight year old to want to watch Treasure Island over whatever popular and stupid kids shows were on at the time. He was such a great actor and an even better man. Here are some things I didn't know about Chuck...

-In the 1950s and 60s he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to speak out openly against racism and was an active supporter of the civil rights movement. Heston later came to advocate conservative politics, being a friend and confidant of President Ronald Reagan and standing against what he saw as the excessive influence of liberal media commentators to the detriment of the common man.

-He was President of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.

-In 1944, Heston enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces. He served for two years as a B-25 radio operator/gunner stationed in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands with the Eleventh Air Force, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant.

-After Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson turned down the role of Ben-Hur (1959), Heston accepted the role, going on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, one of the eleven unprecedented Oscars the film earned.

-Heston campaigned for Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in 1960.[9] When an Oklahoma movie theater premiering his movie was segregated, he joined a picket line outside in 1961.

-Heston was the president and spokesman of the NRA from 1998 until he resigned in 2003. At the 2000 NRA convention, he raised a rifle over his head and declared that the Bill Clinton administration would take away his Second Amendment rights "from my cold, dead hands."

-Heston died on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at his home in Beverly Hills, California with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, by his side. He was 84. The cause of death is currently unknown.

A sad day indeed. Such a great man, willing to stand up for what he believed in no matter if it wasn't the cool thing to do. Such a great example of what men should be. I always wanted to meet him. Tell him how his passion for people made me want to get out there and do something in the world. How he was inspiration for a generation that had none. Our government is beige. No life, no color. We're white toast with grits. We've got nobody willing to stand up and be a true leader and frankly that scares me. If you know me at all, you know I'm not political. I don't follow the news and what is going on with the candidates or what the current "man" in office has to say. I don't know much about the issues but I do know what I believe in and it takes people like Chuck and my husband who truly stand for what they believe and aren't ashamed of their beliefs to run this country. We need passion, purpose and compassion in our office today. It's gonna take an act of God. Thank the Lord He's able. Thank the Lord always...

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