Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Charlton Heston (Moses) passes away





The Great Charlton Heston, the critically acclaimed and one of my favorite actors of all time passed away on April 4, 2008 at the age of 84 reportedly of the effects of Alzheimers.


Heston was born John Charles Carter in an unincorporated area between Evanston and Wilmette, Illinois, the son of Lilla (née Charlton) and Russell Whitford Carter, a mill operator.


Genealogically speaking, Heston was of English and Scottish descent and a member of the Fraser clan.


His passing was definitely a loss to many of his adoring fans including myself who were inspired by his life-long work. His best work in my opinion was in the late Cecille B. De Mille's, "The Ten Commandments."



Mr. DeMille's should also go down in history as having produced, directed and written the epic movie. He delivered on that end and Charlton Heston, again in my opinion became "Moses."


The story chronicles the journey of the Biblical hero, Moses' life from his humble entry into the world as an infant son of slaves doomed for execution by edict of the reigning Pharoah of Egypt to his basket journey across the Nile into the hands of his adoptive Egyptian Royal mother that landed him into the House of Pharoah. From there, Moses rises to power as a strong, young Mighty Warrior Prince smitten by a beautiful Egyptian princess, Neferteri and is destined to assume the title of Pharoah until his true identity is learned and he is exiled from Egypt. He finds the strength to make it across the desert into a distant land where he marries and lives amongst the descendents of Ishmael until God speaks to him in the form of a "Burning Bush" on a high mountain and ordains him to lead the Hebrew people out of the bondage of Egypt. He does return to Egypt and following many God sent plagues and against strong opposition of his once brother, Ramses, leads a nation out of bondage across a parted Red Sea to receive "God's Ten Commandments" for living a good life only to have them lose faith and sin against God so they are made to wonder in the desert for 40 years until the ones that sinned died off. You may be thinking, I nailed that summary of the movie. If so, that is because I have literally seen the movie over 100 times since I own the movie and watch it at least 10 times a year.


This movie written in 1956 was spectacular in every way, shape and form. The setting, the scenes, the costumes and especially the actors. Highest honors in that regard as mentioned above goes to Charlton Heston. He was the central character, Moses and his fabulous portrayal of that role made the epic movie what it was. In the process, he touched many hearts and souls including mine and undoubtedly lead as many people to Glory and delivered them from the bondage of sin in real life as he did in his portrayal in the movie. I believe and pray that he is sitting on the right hand of God as we speak!


He leaves behind his wife, Lydia and the world who was blessed by his presence in the world and will forever cherish his memory.

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