Charlton Heston dead at 83

Hollywood actor Charlton Heston died of undisclosed causes over the weekend. He had been battling Alzheimer's and had also suffered from prostate cancer in the last decade.

Heston's film career spanned from Ben Hur to Moses to Michelangelo, with memorable roles in Orson Welles' Touch of Evil and a run of sci-fi classics in the sixties and seventies, including Omega Man, Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, and Earthquake.

In recent years his alliance with the National Rifle Association (and infamous "punking" in Bowling for Columbine) may have overshadowed his contributions to cinema for many. Similarly, his political comments late in life (many in opposition to President Bill Clinton) stick in the mind for many. In a 1997 speech he noted the following:

"Many homosexuals are hugely talented artists and executives... also dear friends ... I don't despise their lifestyle, though I don't share it."

"As long as gay and lesbian Americans are as productive, law-abiding and private as the rest of us, I think America owes them absolute tolerance. It's the right thing to do ... But on the other hand, I find my blood pressure rising when Clinton's cultural shock troops participate in homosexual-rights fund-raisers but boycott gun-rights fund-raisers, and then claim it's time to place homosexual men in tents with Boy Scouts, and suggest that sperm donor babies born into lesbian relationships are somehow better served and more loved."

Heston's right-leaning golden years overshadow his younger days, in which he fought vocally for civil rights. He appeared in over 100 movies over his lifetime, and notably played gay-positive roles in Ben-Hur and The Agony and the Ecstasy, although both were thickly-veiled characterizations.

How do you remember Heston? A slashvid tribute to Ben Hur and Messala is after the break, to refresh your memories...