Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Country	England
Map type	Greater London
Region	London
Official name	Heston
Latitude	51.4852
Longitude	-0.3788
Os grid reference	TQ125775
Post town	HOUNSLOW
Postcode area	TW
Postcode district	TW5
London borough	Hounslow
Constituency westminster	Feltham and Heston }}

Heston is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. It is a suburban development area, based on a former farming village west south-west of Charing Cross.

History

The village of Heston lies towards the north of Hounslow, and has been settled since Saxon times. A charter of Henry II gives the name as Hestune, meaning “enclosed settlement," which is justified by its location in what was the Warren of Staines, between the ancient Roman road to Bath, and the Uxbridge Road to Oxford.

Prior to 1229, Heston was part of the parish of Gistleworth (Isleworth) before being taken by Henry III, who subsequently granted it to the Earl of Cornwall. Following Henry's death in 1316, Heston was owned by the Crown, and later to the wardens of St Giles Hospital, prior to being surrendered to Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Elizabeth I granted Heston to Sir Thomas Gresham, and after eating some bread made from locally grown wheat, insisted on a supply for her own personal use.

The separation from Isleworth in the 14th century gave the locals a sense of independence from their southern neighbours, with whom they frequently quarrelled. The practice of “beating the bounds” was practised annually when the inhabitants went in procession around the parish boundaries, to show locals the extent of their lands. A contemporary account of such a procession describes an occasion when the parishioners of Heston came across some from Isleworth, and the ensuing “quarrel” saw men from Heston trying to throw the others across a ditch.

Churches

St Leonard’s Church (Church of England) dates from the 14th century, though there are records of a priest in Heston in the Seventh century. The church tower survived the necessary rebuilding works in the 19th century, as did the lychgate. The grave of Private Frederick John White, who was flogged to death at Hounslow Barracks in 1846, can be found in the graveyard. The outcry at the manner of his death brought about a reduction in the maximum number of lashings that could be given as punishment, and eventually the banning of the practice altogether.

Naturalist Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was laid to rest at St Leonard's Church.

Our Lady Queen of Apostles is the Catholic Church in the area, built in the 20th century, it is smaller than St Leonard's, though has a larger congregation, and is popular among families who send their children to the local Rosary RC Junior School. Notably, all the altar-servers from Our Lady Queen of Apostles are specially chosen by the parish priest from the Rosary RC Junior School. As of 2006, with the replacement of the Parish Priest Father Michael Tuck, for the first time in the parish's history, females may be chosen to be altar-servers.

Schools

There are three primary schools in Heston, in order of academic ranking, The Rosary Catholic school, Springwell Junior School and Heston Community School. Heston Community school is also a secondary and sixth form school.

Transport and locale

Heston Aerodrome

Heston Aerodrome was operational between 1929 and 1947. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, flew from Heston to Germany three times in two weeks for talks with Adolf Hitler, and he returned to Heston from the Munich Conference with the paper referred to in his later "Peace for our time" speech from 10 Downing Street.

In 2010, some of the area that was Heston Aerodrome is now used for housing and industrial estates, and the M4 motorway with its large service area (Heston services) cuts across the former aerodrome site east-west, but a substantial area to the north of the M4 is host to the Airlinks 18-hole golf course. Many of the roads in the area have aviation-related names, such as Alcock Road (Alcock and Brown), Brabazon Road (Brabazon), Bleriot Road (Louis Bleriot), Cobham Road (Sir Alan Cobham), De Havilland Road (de Havilland), Norman Crescent (Nigel Norman), Phoenix Way (Heston Phoenix), Sopwith Road (Thomas Sopwith), Spitfire Way (Supermarine Spitfire), Whittle Road (Frank Whittle), Wright Road (the Wright Brothers).

Road network

The Great West Road was completed in 1925, and the farming and market gardens around the village were snapped up for housing developments.

Nearest places

Osterley

Norwood Green

Southall

Harlington

Hounslow

Isleworth

Nearest tube station

Hounslow West tube station

Osterley tube station

Notable residents

Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.

Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow

Notes

References

Sherwood, Tim. 1999. Coming in to Land: A Short History of Hounslow, Hanworth and Heston Aerodromes 1911-1946. Heritage Publications (Hounslow Library) ISBN 1899144307

Category:Districts of London Category:Districts of Hounslow Category:M4 corridor

hi:हेस्टन nl:Heston

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Heston BlumenthalOBE
birth date	May 27, 1966
birth place	London, England, United Kingdom
style http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2008/nov/28/heston-blumenthal-little-chef-menupoph	Molecular Gastronomy
education	Self-taught
ratings	Michelin stars
restaurants	The Fat Duck The Hind's Head Dinner
television	Kitchen ChemistryIn Search of PerfectionBig Chef Takes on Little ChefHeston's Feasts
website	http://www.fatduck.co.uk/ }}

Heston Marc Blumenthal (), OBE (born 27 May 1966 in London, raised in Buckinghamshire) is an English chef and owner of The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire voted Best Restaurant in the UK by The Good Food Guide 2007 and 2009, and voted best restaurant in the world by ''Restaurant'' magazine in 2005. His restaurant has been a perennial runner-up to Ferran Adrià of El Bulli in the world rankings, achieving 2nd place in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, 3rd in 2010 and 5th in 2011.

Biography

Heston Blumenthal attended the John Hampden Grammar School, High Wycombe and Latymer Upper School, London. Apart from a week's work experience in Raymond Blanc's kitchen and a short time in Marco Pierre White's, he is self-taught. According to an interview with ''The Observer'' in 2004, he has been cooking "seriously" since the mid-1990s. In that year he sold his share in Riverside Brasserie to colleague Garrey Dawson, having two years earlier invested in the nearby Riverside Brasserie with former Arsenal FC footballer Lee Dixon and Alfie Hitchcock.

Books

Blumenthal has had four books published: ''Family Food: A new approach to cooking'' in 2004, ''Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection'' in 2006 (in which he attempts to find the best way of preparing classic dishes, including fish and chips and Black Forest gateau), ''Heston Blumenthal: Further Adventures In Search of Perfection'' in 2007 and ''The Big Fat Duck Cook Book'' in 2008 published by Bloomsbury. His take on traditional British cuisine is served at the Hinds Head Hotel near the Fat Duck.

Television shows

In 2005 he produced a series of six half-hour television programmes called ''Kitchen Chemistry with Heston Blumenthal'' which were transmitted on Discovery Science along with a book ''Kitchen Chemistry'', published by the Royal Society of Chemistry and distributed to 6,000 schools in the UK and Ireland. He was ranked 3rd chef by caterersearch.com in that year.

This was followed by two BBC series called ''Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection'' and ''Heston Blumenthal: Further Adventures In Search of Perfection''. These series had higher production values, and followed Blumenthal's research and varied re-creation of classic British cuisine. The first series had seven episodes and included bangers and mash, fish and chips and spaghetti Bolognese; the second ran to eight episodes, and featured chicken tikka masala, hamburgers and Peking duck.

Blumenthal signed a two-year deal with Channel 4 in March 2008, joining the channel's roster of celebrity chefs which already included Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsay. In January 2009 a 3-part series of television programmes on Channel 4 covered his efforts to revamp the menu at a Little Chef motorway restaurant on the A303 road at Popham in the hope that his recipe ideas would be introduced in all 193 outlets. A follow-up programme was broadcast in October 2009. In March 2009 Blumenthal began a short series of 45 minute programmes, called ''Heston's Feasts'', showing Victorian, Medieval, Tudor, Christmas (including dormouse and venison) and Roman themed dinner banquets with various celebrities as guests. A second series of this was commissioned and began a few days after Easter 2010. In this series he created, among others, a Charlie and The Chocolate Factory style feast, a Fairytale feast and an Edwardian style feast based on the last meal eaten on the Titanic.

In the "Chili Con Carne" episode of the series ''In Search of Perfection'' he said that he was unable to participate in the MRI study of chili's effect on the brain as he had a metal plate inserted in his back after hurting it falling off a roof at the age of ten.

From 22 February 2011, Channel 4 began airing Heston's new show, titled ''Heston's Mission Impossible'', in which Heston targets lack-luster food served in various industries and aims to update the food to things people enjoy to eat. So far broadcast are Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Cineworld, British Airways and The Royal Navy (aboard the HMS ''Turbulent''). The series is currently ongoing. However, in May 2011, the series was cancelled due to lack of willing participants and money shortage

Cooking methods

Blumenthal is a proponent of modern cooking; he opened his own research and development kitchen in early 2004. It could be said that he is a molecular gastronomist, though he dislikes the term, believing it makes the practice sound "complicated" and "elitist." He holds multiple honorary degrees in recognition of his scientific approach to cooking.

One of his signature techniques is the use of a vacuum jar to increase expansion of bubbles during food preparation. This is used in such dishes as an aerated chocolate soufflé–like dessert. The reduction in air pressure inside the jar causes bubbles to grow to a larger size. He has experimented with amplification to enhance the sounds, such as the crunch, created while eating various foods.

Blumenthal is a proponent of low temperature, ultra–slow cooking, whereby a joint of meat is cooked for up to 24 hours so as to contain the fat content while preventing collagen molecules from re-forming within the meat. In his ''In Search of Perfection'' series, he cooks a Bresse chicken at 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). Ultra-slow cooking does not melt the fat or release many juices, making the creation of gravy impossible, but Blumenthal says that gravy is unnecessary as the meat itself is sufficiently moist.

Blumenthal is also a proponent of the sous-vide cooking technique. Sous-vide, which means ''under vacuum'' in French is a technique that entails cooking something that has been vacuum sealed in a plastic bag. The sealed bag is placed in a thermostatically controlled water bath and held at a relatively low temperature for long periods of time. In the case of Beef steak cooked using the sous-vide method, the steak is held at around for a minimum of thirty minutes. The steak is then removed from the bag and is then seared in a very hot pan. Searing the outside of the steak not only improves the flavour and texture of the meat, it also kills the harmful bacteria on the outside of the steak that survived the water bath.

Blumenthal's signature dishes include snail porridge and parsnip cereal.

Blumenthal and his restaurant "The Fat Duck" have been credited as instigators of the bacon dessert "craze". He was preparing sweet and savoury bacon-and-egg ice cream as early as 2004, and news "about the intriguingly odd confection quickly spread through the food world."

Collaborations

Blumenthal has collaborated with scientists, including:

Professor Peter Barham, Professorial Teaching Fellow in Physics at Bristol University and author of the book ''The Science of Cooking''

Professor Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist at the University of Oxford, with whom he collaborated in experiments with the use of headphones during eating

Professor Andy Taylor at the University of Nottingham with whom Blumenthal has sponsored a PhD studentship

Professors Don Mottram and Margot Gosney of the University of Reading, which in 2006 awarded Blumenthal an honorary degree.

Heston is also a mentor for the British Airways Great Britons Programme, and will mentor an up and coming chef to produce a dish served on board flights in the run up to the London 2012 Games.

Cookbook

''The Big Fat Duck Cookbook'' is a 532 page cookbook written mostly by Blumenthal. The book is divided into 3 parts. The first part contains an essay by Blumenthal recounting his history and that of The Fat Duck. The story is interspersed with semi-abstract illustrations by artist Dave McKean, relating to the story. The second part contains recipes, all of which were at one point on the menu at The Fat Duck, as well as a short story explaining the inspiration behind each dish. The third part is devoted to the science of cooking, with essays contributed by his collaborators.

Bibliography

''Family Food: A New Approach to Cooking'' (2002)

''In Search of Perfection'' (2006)

''Further Adventures in Search of Perfection'' (2007)

''The Fat Duck Cookbook'' (2008)

''Total Perfection:In Search of Total Perfection'' (2009)

''Heston's Fantastical Feasts'' (2010)

''Heston At Home'' (2011)

References

External links

Official website of the Fat Duck restaurant

Blumenthal's biography

Heston Blumenthal's column in The Times

Heston Blumenthal recipes at www.bbc.co.uk

Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:People from High Wycombe Category:People from Bray, Berkshire Category:English chefs Category:English food writers Category:English Jews Category:British Jews Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Michelin Guide starred chefs Category:Molecular gastronomy Category:Old Latymerians Category:English television chefs Category:People educated at John Hampden Grammar School

cs:Heston Blumenthal de:Heston Blumenthal es:Heston Blumenthal fr:Heston Blumenthal he:הסטון בלומנטל nl:Heston Blumenthal

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
birth name	John Charles Carter
birth date	October 04, 1923
birth place	No Man's Land, Illinois, U.S.
death date	April 05, 2008
death place	Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
nationality	American
education	New Trier High School
alma mater	Northwestern University
occupation	Actor, film director, activist
years active	1941–2008
spouse	Lydia Clarke (1944–2008, his death) }}

Charlton Heston born John Charles Carter (October 4, 1923 April 5, 2008) was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as ''El Cid'', ''The Ten Commandments'', ''Planet of the Apes'' and ''Ben-Hur'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also is well known for his roles in the films ''Touch of Evil'' and ''The Greatest Show on Earth''.

Heston was also known for his political activism. In the 1950s and 1960s he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to speak openly against racism and was an active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. Initially a moderate Democrat, he later supported conservative Republican policies and was president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.

Early years

Heston was born John Charles Carter, the only child of Lila (née Charlton; 1899–1994) and Russell Whitford Carter (1897–1966), a mill operator. Most sources state that he was born in Evanston, Illinois. Heston's autobiography, however, and some other sources place his birth in No Man's Land, Illinois, which usually refers to a then-unincorporated area now part of Wilmette, a wealthy northern suburb of Chicago. Heston said in a 1995 interview that he was not very good at remembering addresses or his early childhood.

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

In his autobiography, Heston refers to his father participating in his family's construction business. When Heston was an infant his father's work moved the family to St. Helen, Michigan. It was a rural, heavily forested part of the state, and Heston lived an isolated yet idyllic existence spending much time hunting and fishing in the backwoods of the area.

When Heston was 10 years old, his parents divorced. Shortly thereafter, his mother married Chester Heston. The new family moved back to Wilmette. Heston (his new surname) attended New Trier High School.

Throughout Heston's life he was known by friends as "Chuck" although his wife always called him "Charlie." His stage name Charlton Heston is drawn from his mother's maiden surname (Charlton) and his stepfather's surname (Heston), and was used for his first film, ''Peer Gynt''.

Career

Heston frequently recounted that, while growing up in northern Michigan in a sparsely populated area, he often wandered in the forest, "acting" out the characters from books he had read. Later, in high school, Heston enrolled in New Trier's drama program, playing in the silent 16 mm amateur film adaptation of ''Peer Gynt'', from the Ibsen play, by future film activist David Bradley released in 1941. From the Winnetka Community Theatre (Or, the Winnetka Dramatist's Guild as it was then known) in which he was active, he earned a drama scholarship to Northwestern University. Several years later Heston teamed up with Bradley to produce the first sound version of William Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'', in which Heston played Mark Antony.

World War II service

In 1944, Heston enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces. He served for two years as a radio operator and aerial gunner aboard a B-25 Mitchell stationed in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands with the Eleventh Air Force. He reached the rank of Staff Sergeant. Heston married Northwestern University student Lydia Marie Clarke in the same year he joined the military. After his service and rise to fame, Heston was chosen as a narrator for highly classified Military and Department of Energy instructional films, particularly relating to nuclear weapons, and "for six years Heston [held] the nation's highest security clearance" or Q clearance."

Theater and television

After the war, Heston and Clarke lived in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, where they worked as artists' models. Seeking a way to make it in theater, Heston and his wife Lydia decided to manage a playhouse in Asheville, North Carolina in 1947. They made $100 a week on the job. In 1948, they went back to New York where Heston was offered a supporting role in a Broadway revival of Shakespeare's ''Antony and Cleopatra'', starring Katharine Cornell. Heston had success in television, playing a number of roles in CBS's ''Studio One'', one of the most popular anthology dramas of the 1950s. Film producer Hal B. Wallis of ''Casablanca'' spotted Heston in a 1950 television production of ''Wuthering Heights'' and offered him a contract. When his wife reminded Heston they had decided to pursue theater and television, he replied, "Well, maybe just for one film to see what it's like."

Heston's most frequently played roles on stage include the title role in ''Macbeth'', Sir Thomas More in ''A Man for All Seasons'', and Mark Antony in ''Julius Caesar'' and ''Antony and Cleopatra''.

In 1995, Heston starred with Peter Graves, Mickey Rooney and Deborah Winters in the Warren Chaney docudrama, ''America: A Call to Greatness''. Then in 1998, he had a cameo role, playing himself, on the American television series ''Friends'', in ''The One with Joey's Dirty Day''.

Hollywood

Heston earned recognition for his appearance in his first professional movie, ''Dark City'', a 1950 film noir. His breakthrough came when Cecil B. DeMille cast him as a circus manager in ''The Greatest Show on Earth'', which was named by the Motion Picture Academy as the best picture of 1952. In 1953, Heston was Billy Wilder's first choice to play Sefton in ''Stalag 17''. However, the role was given to William Holden, who won an Oscar for it. Heston became an icon for portraying Moses in the hugely successful film ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956), reportedly being chosen by director Cecil B. DeMille because he thought the muscular, 6 ft 3 in, square jawed Heston bore an uncanny resemblance to Michelangelo's statue of Moses. In 1958, Heston played a Mexican police officer named Ramon Miguel Vargas in Orson Welles's widely acclaimed film noir ''Touch of Evil''.

After Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson turned down the title role of ''Ben-Hur'' (1959), Heston accepted the role, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, one of the unprecedented eleven Oscars the film earned. After Moses and Ben-Hur, Heston was identified with Biblical epics more than any other actor. He voiced the role of a cartoon version of the Lew Wallace novel in 2003.

Heston played leading roles in a number of fictional and historical epics: ''El Cid'' (1961), ''55 Days at Peking'' (1963), as Michelangelo in ''The Agony and the Ecstasy'' (1965), and ''Khartoum'' (1966). Heston also played a leading role in the western movie, ''Will Penny'' (1968).

In 1965, Heston became president of the Screen Actors Guild. He remained in the position until 1971, the second longest tenure to date in that office.

In 1968, Heston starred in ''Planet of the Apes'' and in 1970, he was in a smaller supporting role in the sequel, ''Beneath the Planet of the Apes''. Also in 1970, Heston portrayed Mark Antony again in another film version of Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar''. His co-stars included Jason Robards as Brutus, Richard Chamberlain as Octavius, Robert Vaughn as Casca, and English actors Richard Johnson as Cassius, John Gielgud as Caesar, and Diana Rigg as Portia. In 1971, he starred in the science fiction film, ''The Omega Man''. Although critically panned, the film is now considered a classic of apocalyptic horror. In 1972, Heston made his directorial debut, and starred, as Mark Antony in an adaptation of the William Shakespeare play he performed earlier in his theater career, ''Antony and Cleopatra''. Hildegarde Neil was Cleopatra, and English actor Eric Porter was Enobarbus. After receiving scathing reviews, the film never went to theaters, and rarely turns up on television. It was finally released on DVD in March, 2011. He subsequently starred in successful films such as ''Soylent Green'' (1973) and ''Earthquake'' (1974).

Beginning with playing Cardinal Richelieu in 1973's ''The Three Musketeers'', Heston was seen in an increasing number of supporting roles, cameos and theater. From 1985 to 1987, he starred in his only prime-time stint on series television with the soap, ''The Colbys''. With his son Fraser, he produced and also starred in several TV movies, including remakes of ''Treasure Island'' and ''A Man For All Seasons''. In 1992, Heston appeared in a short series of videos on the A&E; cable network reading passages from the King James Version of the Bible, called ''Charlton Heston Presents the Bible''. It was filmed in the Middle East and received excellent reviews, achieving great success on video and DVD. Never taking himself too seriously, he appeared in 1993 in a cameo role in ''Wayne's World 2'' (in a scene wherein main character Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) requests that a small role be filled by a better actor). After the scene is reshot with Heston, Campbell weeps in awe. That same year, Heston hosted ''Saturday Night Live''. He had cameos in the films ''Hamlet,'' ''Tombstone'' and ''True Lies''. He starred in many theatre productions at the Los Angeles Music Center where he appeared in such plays as ''Detective Story, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial,'' and as Sherlock Holmes in ''The Crucifer of Blood'' opposite Jeremy Brett as Dr. Watson, later winning acclaim for his interpretation of the famous detective in a television version. In 2001, Heston made a cameo appearance as an elderly, dying chimpanzee in Tim Burton's remake of ''Planet of the Apes''. Heston's last film role was as the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele in ''My Father, Rua Alguem 5555'', which had limited release (mainly to festivals) in 2003.

Heston's distinctive voice had also landed him roles as a film narrator, including ''Armageddon'' and Disney's ''Hercules''.

Heston played the title role in ''Mister Roberts'' three times and cited it as one of his favorite roles. In the early '90s, he tried unsuccessfully to revive and direct the show with Tom Selleck in the title role.

Political activism

Heston campaigned for Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson in 1956 and John F. Kennedy in 1960. Reportedly, when an Oklahoma movie theater premiering his movie ''El Cid'' was segregated, he joined a picket line outside in 1961. Heston makes no reference to this in his autobiography, but describes traveling to Oklahoma City to picket segregated restaurants, much to the chagrin of Allied Artists, the producers of ''El Cid''. During the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom held in Washington, D.C. in 1963, he accompanied Martin Luther King Jr. In later speeches, Heston said he helped the civil rights cause "long before Hollywood found it fashionable."

Following the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, Heston and actors Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas and James Stewart issued a statement calling for support of President Johnson's Gun Control Act of 1968. He opposed the Vietnam War during its course (though he changed his opinion in the years following the war) and in 1969 was approached by the Democratic Party to run for the U.S. Senate. He agonized over the decision and ultimately determined he could never give up acting. He is reported to have voted for Richard Nixon in 1972, though Nixon is unmentioned in his autobiography.

By the 1980s, Heston opposed affirmative action, supported gun rights and changed his political affiliation from Democratic to Republican. When asked why he changed political alliances, Heston replied "I didn't change. The Democratic party changed." He campaigned for Republicans and Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Heston resigned from Actors Equity, claiming the union's refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in ''Miss Saigon'' was "obscenely racist". He said CNN's telecasts from Baghdad were "sowing doubts" about the allied effort in the 1990–91 Gulf War.

At a Time Warner stockholders' meeting, Heston castigated the company for releasing an Ice-T album which included the song "Cop Killer", which depicted the killing of police officers.

While filming ''The Savage'', Heston was initiated by blood into the Miniconjou Lakota Nation, but claimed no natural American Indian heritage. He claimed to be "native American" to reclaim the term from exclusion to American Indians.

In a 1997 ''Fighting the Culture War in America'' speech, Heston rhetorically deplored a culture war he said was being conducted by a generation of media, educators, entertainers and politicians against:

"...the God fearing, law-abiding, Caucasian, middle-class Protestant – or even worse, evangelical Christian, Midwestern or Southern – or even worse, rural, apparently straight – or even worse, admitted heterosexuals, gun-owning – or even worse, NRA-card-carrying, average working stiff – or even worse, male working stiff – because, not only don’t you count, you are a down-right obstacle to social progress. Your voice deserves a lower decibel level, your opinion is less enlightened, your media access is insignificant, and frankly, mister, you need to wake up, wise up, and learn a little something from your new-America and until you do, would you mind shutting up?"

He went on:

"The Constitution was handed down to guide us by a bunch of wise old dead white guys who invented our country! Now some flinch when I say that. Why! It's true-they were white guys! So were most of the guys that died in Lincoln's name opposing slavery in the 1860s. So why should I be ashamed of white guys? Why is "Hispanic Pride" or "Black Pride" a good thing, while "White Pride" conjures shaven heads and white hoods? Why was the Million Man March on Washington celebrated by many as progress, while the Promise Keepers March on Washington was greeted with suspicion and ridicule? I’ll tell you why: Cultural warfare!"

In an address to students at Harvard Law School entitled ''Winning the Cultural War'', Heston said, "If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys – subjects bound to the British crown."

He said to the students:

"You are the best and the brightest. You, here in this fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River. You are the cream. But I submit that you and your counterparts across the land are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that and abide it, you are, by your grandfathers' standards, cowards."

Heston later stated, "Political correctness is tyranny with manners."

In a speech to the National Press Club in 1997, Heston said, "Now, I doubt any of you would prefer a rolled up newspaper as a weapon against a dictator or a criminal intruder."

Heston was the president and spokesman of the NRA from 1998 until he resigned in 2003. At the 2000 NRA convention, he raised a rifle over his head and declared that a potential Al Gore administration would take away his Second Amendment rights "from my cold, dead hands". In announcing his resignation in 2003, he again raised a rifle over his head, repeating the five famous words of his 2000 speech. He was an honorary life member.

In the 2002 film ''Bowling for Columbine'', Michael Moore interviewed Heston in his home, asking him about an April 1999 NRA meeting held shortly after the Columbine high school massacre, in Denver, Colorado. Moore criticized Heston for the perceived thoughtlessness in the timing and location of the meeting. Heston, on-camera, excused himself and walked out. Moore was later criticized for his perceived ambush.

Actor George Clooney joked about Heston's failing health at a 2003 National Board of Review award ceremony, saying that Heston "announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's." When questioned, Clooney said Heston deserved whatever was said about him for his involvement with the NRA. Heston responded by saying Clooney lacked class, and said he felt sorry for Clooney, as Clooney had as much of a chance of developing Alzheimer's as anyone else.

In April 2003 Heston sent a message of support to US forces in the Iraq war, attacking opponents of the war as "pretend patriots".

Heston opposed abortion and gave the introduction to a 1987 pro-life documentary by Bernard Nathanson called ''Eclipse of Reason'' which focuses on late-term abortions. Heston served on the Advisory Board of Accuracy in Media, a conservative media watchdog group founded by Reed Irvine.

Later life and death

In 1996, Heston had a hip replacement. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998. Following a course of radiation treatment, the cancer went into remission. In 2000, he publicly disclosed that he had been treated for alcoholism at a Utah clinic in May–June of that year. On August 9, 2002, Heston publicly announced he was diagnosed with symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease. In July 2003, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House from President George W. Bush. In March 2005, various newspapers reported that family and friends were shocked by the progression of his illness, and that he was sometimes unable to get out of bed.

Heston died on April 5, 2008, at his home in Beverly Hills, California, with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, by his side. He was also survived by his son, Fraser Clarke Heston, and adopted daughter, Holly Ann Heston. The cause of death was not disclosed by the family. Heston's family released a statement, reading:

Early tributes came in from leading figures; President George W. Bush called Heston "a man of character and integrity, with a big heart", adding, "He served his country during World War II, marched in the civil rights movement, led a labor union and vigorously defended Americans’ Second Amendment rights." Former First Lady Nancy Reagan said that she was "heartbroken" over Heston's death and released a statement, reading, "I will never forget Chuck as a hero on the big screen in the roles he played, but more importantly I considered him a hero in life for the many times that he stepped up to support Ronnie in whatever he was doing."

Heston's funeral was held a week later on April 12, 2008, in a ceremony which was attended by 250 people including Nancy Reagan and Hollywood stars such as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olivia de Havilland, Keith Carradine, Pat Boone, Tom Selleck, Oliver Stone, Rob Reiner, and Christian Bale.

The funeral was held at Episcopal Parish of St. Matthew's Church in Pacific Palisades, California, the church where Heston regularly worshipped and attended Sunday services since the early 1980s. He was cremated and his ashes were given to his family.

Legacy

Richard Corliss wrote in ''TIME'' magazine, "From start to finish, Heston was a grand, ornery anachronism, the sinewy symbol of a time when Hollywood took itself seriously, when heroes came from history books, not comic books. Epics like ''Ben-Hur'' or ''El Cid'' simply couldn't be made today, in part because popular culture has changed as much as political fashion. But mainly because there's no one remotely like Charlton Heston to infuse the form with his stature, fire and guts."

In his obituary for the actor, film critic Roger Ebert noted "Heston made at least three movies that almost everybody eventually sees: ''Ben-Hur'', ''The Ten Commandments'' and ''Planet of the Apes''."

Heston's cinematic legacy was the subject of ''Cinematic Atlas: The Triumphs of Charlton Heston'', an eleven-film retrospective by the Film Society of the Lincoln Center that was shown at the Walter Reade Theater from August 29 to September 4, 2008.

On April 17, 2010, Heston was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Western Performers.

Filmography

Bibliography

Heston's books include autobiographies and religious books:

''The Actor's Life'' (ISBN 0-671-83016-3)

''In the Arena: An Autobiography'' (ISBN 1-57297-267-X)

''The Courage to be Free'' (ISBN 978-0-9703688-0-5)

''Beijing Diary'' (ISBN 0-671-68706-9)

''To Be a Man: Letters to My Grandson'' (ISBN 0-7432-1311-4)

''Charlton Heston Presents the Bible'' (ISBN 1-57719-270-2)

''Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years in American Film'' with Jean-Pierre Isbouts (ISBN 1-57719-357-1)

*

References

External links

Hollywood.com entry

Reel Classics

BBC News Obituary

Obituary and public tribute

'From Our Files: An Interview with Charlton Heston' by Phil Elderkin, ''The Christian Science Monitor'', November 4, 1959

Charlton Heston, The Actor – French PDF (14 Mo)

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