Charlton Heston has died at 84! (1 Viewer)

[Douglas Monce]

Yes he was, and Airport 75 also. He did his share for the disaster epics!

Doug

 

[Karl_Luph]

Very sad to hear about Charlton Heston passing away. What a class act his whole career.He really was one of the greatest movie stars of all time. I can't think of any recent movie star that can even hold a candle to him.May he R.I.P.

 

[Robert Crawford]

TCM will be having their Heston tribute on 04-11-08.



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Crawdaddy

 

[Gary_E]

I attended a local book signing for In the Arena: An Autobiography when it was released. Not really being enamored by celebrities and never having attended a book signing before, I was unsure of what to expect. I arrived about an hour early and was amazed at the amount of people waiting in line. I had brought along my original FOX Laser Disc of Planet Of The Apes, hoping he would sign it.

After a while, the room began buzzing and Mr. Heston began his way to the table set up against the back wall. It was a sight I will always remember. This large man, head and shoulders above the parting crowd, was smiling and shaking hands while the assembled people applauded.

He stood behind the table and thanked all of us for coming and said he would not leave until every book was signed. When I was next up, his (or the store’s) assistant took my copy of the book and prepared it for Mr. Heston’s signature. As I stood in front of him at the table, he signed my book with a blue sharpie.

I thanked him and asked him if he would sign my LD. He said he was very sorry but he was contracted to only sign the book at these events. He asked me my name and then asked to see the disc. He looked at it for a bit, reading the jacket, almost as if he had never seen it before.

He handed it back to me and I thanked him for the enjoyment he provided me through the years. With that he stood up and extended his hand. Smiling, he shook my hand, covering it with his other hand and thanked me, by name, for coming to the signing and said ‘God bless you’.

I will never forget that night and the realness Mr. Heston exuded. It is a story close to my heart and upon his passing, I wanted to share it.

Regards,
-Gary

 

[Mike Frezon]

Gary (and to everyone else who have shared their meetings with Heston): Thanks. Great story.

I especially liked the part where he "parted" the crowd. I guess when a trick works for you once, you stay with it.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Gary, that was a great story. It's the kind of man Charlton Heston was, and is why people who may not like his politics should see that he really was a gentleman, just with different beliefs on certain things.

If you read my own story from 1990 when I met Mr. Heston at the TV studio, I didn't add that, unbeknownst to me at the time, later that afternoon he was doing a book signing. He had a book out at the time called BEIJING DIARY, and he most likely would only have been able to sign the book, as he was contracted. But as I met him early that morning at the TV studio, he was more than happy to personalize and autograph the still photo I brought with me, with no reservations. Also, over the years I did send a few stills to his home with self-addressed stamped envelopes on separate occasions, and he ALWAYS signed them himself and returned them (and they were not secretarial signatures -- you can't fake that autograph!). Autograph collectors always knew he was very gracious about that. So in your case, it was just a matter of what he had to do. Still, it sounds like a wonderful meeting.