Sunday, April 6, 2008

R.I.P. Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston, star of such epic films as The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, and The Greatest Show on Earth, has died. He was 84.
I few years ago, while working at Waldenbooks, we hosted an autographing for Charlton Heston. My job was to hand him each book as customers came through the line. Despite a nice crowd, we had plenty of time to talk about his film career, including his roles in The Omega Man, A Touch of Evil, Soylent Green, The Naked Jungle, and, of course, Planet of the Apes.

We even talked a little theology, since the book he was signing was Charlton Heston Presents the Bible. One interesting comment he made is pointing out that Noah's Ark is the only post-creation Bible story that physically involves the rest of the world--not just the Middle East. (He dodged my question regarding whether he thought Noah's Ark was a true story or merely allegorical in nature). My only regret regarding the autographing is that I didn't take any photos.

Charlton Heston, one of the nicest, most interesting celebrities that I have ever met, will truly be missed--by genre buffs and by film fans in general.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

>>He dodged my question regarding whether the Flood was a real or fake event naturally.
>>
I think he's asking you to read his book. Don't ask me I never read his book. (The Bible does say it is real right?)

Brett said...

The Bible does seem to regard Noah's Ark as a true story, but many moderate theologians, viewing the past through the prism of modern science and rational thought, view it as cruel and impossible, and try to rationalize it by calling it metaphor or allegory.