Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter) played a vast number of historical figures on-screen, among them: Moses, William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Andrew Jackson (as a general in one movie and president in another), Michelangelo, Cardinal Richelieu, Brigham Young, and Marc Antony. He is also fondly remembered for his roles in fictional movies such as Planet of the Apes, Ben-Hur, and even Wayne’s World 2.
Heston’s 60 years of public life set the bar for longevity. His career spanned acting (both on stage and screen), president of the Screen Actors Guild, and also leader of the National Rifle Association. Some acting roles were more enriching than others. This was made evident when receiving a role in a film based on one of William Shakespeare’s plays, Heston exclaimed, “Shakespeare is the real Super Bowl of acting. Thousands of years from now, if they are still acting, they will be acting Shakespeare.”
Heston was a shy person, yet he kept his public persona in the spotlight for the rest of his life. When assessing his own image, Heston noted, “You just can’t overestimate the importance of an audience’s perception of a performer.” Heston even exposed his one-time bad habit when he was enlisted to join several public service announcements on behalf of the American Cancer Society and Action on Smoking on Health (ASH) condemning his former vice of smoking tobacco. Having previously sold Camel cigarettes for a living, Heston’s about face was noteworthy. He elaborated that he had his children’s welfare to be concerned with and admitted, “[G]rowing evidence that smoker’s endanger not only their own health, but the health of others, which puts another adjustment on it.”
Author Wills weaves an enthralling narrative. Besides being a fun read, this book is like a walk through memory lane for Americans. Pick up a copy and enjoy the ride through Charlton Heston’s public life.
—Richard H. Holloway
Passing and Then Some
Ilyan Woo’s Master Slave Husband Wife is as its subtitle advertises. Against all the slavocracy’s oppressive illogic and violent constraints but inspired by fellow enslaved persons who had emancipated themselves through clever ruses, Ellen and William Craft, improving on those schemes with a gambit seemingly destined to fail, instead succeeded in late 1848. In the manner of illusionists persuading a crowd that an elephant has vanished, the couple up and walked away from bondage in the midst of their enslavers.
Self-emancipating predecessors like William “Box” Brown (“Thinking Outside the Box,” December 2021) had had themselves packed up and shipped
