Charleston Heston: B. Oct 4, 1923/24 -D. April 5, 2008

Well y'all, Charleston Heston died. I'm still working on The South posts but I needed to go ahead and acknowledge his passing. Charleston Heston, was at one time on my husbands & my list of Old Men Who Could Still Kick Your Ass. He fell off the list because of his failing health. I look on the man w/ both admiration & condemnation. Heston campaigned for John Kennedy & Adlai Stevenson. In '61, he picketed a segregated movie theatre in Oklahoma showing one of his movies. He also accompanied Dr. King on the civil rights march in D.C. Then, for some reason, 20 yrs later he campaigned for Reagan, (who as no friend to the black people)for Bush Sr. & for Bush Jr. He also opposed Affirmative Action. He did a complete & shocking 180. He became a spokesperson for the NRA & while I am a gun enthusiast, I totally disagreed w/ the NRA holding a gun rally only a week after the Columbine shootings which he was a part of. During his speech, he raised a rifle over his head and said: "From my cold dead hands". It was disgraceful and tactless. There's a time and place for everything & that wasn't it. Brian & I put him on the list of O.M.W.C.S.K.Y.A after watching Bowling for Columbine. If you saw the movie, you may recall his reaction to Michael Moore that landed him on our list. Now of course, he is probably more well known for his movies than his political affiliation. Even w/ all the negative things I know about him, I still can't bring myself not to watch The Ten Commandments every year on ABC. He had many great films like, Ben Hur (which he won an Oscar for),Soylent Green & Planet of the apes, just to name a few. In the 90's, I don't know if y'all will remember, he did some Bud Light commercials that were especially funny. Now I'm left wondering, who was the real Charleston Heston? Was it the kind & compassionate man w/ all his mental faculties of the 1960's or was it the grizzled, crotchety, Republican curmudgeon?