Name	Judah Colt
Birth date	July 01, 1761
Birth place	Lyme, Connecticut
Death date	October 11, 1832
Death place	Erie, Pennsylvania
Resting place	Erie Cemetery
Nationality
Known for	Settling Erie County
Spouse	}}

Judah Colt (July 1, 1761 – October 11, 1832) was an early pioneer of Erie County.

Hill country

Colt was born on July 1, 1761 in Lyme, Connecticut. He left Connecticut in 1795 and moved to Erie County. He soon decided that the lake shore was inhospitable, so he looked to join earlier pioneers in the hill country south of Erie. In 1796, he attempted to buy thousands of acres of land from the Pennsylvania Population Company, but they declined, hiring him instead to replace Thomas Rees, Jr. as their agent, a job he held until his death in 1832.

Colt established Colt's Station in 1797 in present-day Greenfield. That same year he built the "earliest road after the American occupation" in Erie County (after Old French Road) as a supply route from Lake Erie. Soon goods that were traveling by ship from Buffalo, New York to Erie were being transported overland to his settlement. He extended the road in early 1798 to French Creek, where he established a boat landing. He continued the road to the forks of the creek at Wattsburg later that same year.

Colt's wife joined him at Colt's Station in May 1798. In the absence of a minister, Colt conducted the first Protestant service in the county on July 2, 1797.

City life

Colt realized that prosperity would be found near the lake, so he left Colt's Station for Erie in 1804. He joined the Presbyterian church in Erie that formed in September 1815, attending worship services in the old court house and soon becoming an elder. He built a frame building on Sassafras Street, known locally as the "yellow meeting house", which became the first regular place of worship in Erie.

He served three terms as Burgess in Erie (1813, 1820-1821). Colt died in Erie on October 11, 1832 and is buried in the Erie Cemetery.

References

''Nelson's Biographical Dictionary And Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I''. Erie: S. B. Nelson, 1896. Reprinted by Erie County Historical Society (Salem, WV: Don Mills Inc, 1987), pp. 110, 120, 138, 313, 437.

External links

Judah Colt, Historical Markers, Explore PA History

Judah Colt Daybook (1798-1799)

Greenfield Twp Before 1810

Erie Cemetery Association biography

200th Anniversary of the Presbytery of Lake Erie quotes Colt journal in 1801

Turner, Orasmus. Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New York (Buffalo: Jewett, Thompson and Co, 1849), p. 372

Category:1761 births Category:1832 deaths Category:People from Connecticut Category:People from Erie, Pennsylvania

The Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan (the modern day Israel, western Jordan, southern Lebanon and Palestinian Territories) during the monarchic period (11th to 7th centuries BCE).

The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל (Standard: ; Tiberian: ; ISO 259-3: ). The Hebrew Bible etymologizes the name as from ''yisra'' "to prevail over" or "to struggle/fight with", and ''el,'' "God, the divine". The ethnonym is attested as early as the 13th century BCE in an Egyptian inscription. The eponymous biblical patriarch of the Israelites is Jacob, who was given the additional name "Israel" after wrestling with God. (Genesis 32) Jacob demands a blessing from the God which he eventually receives, hence "prevailing over the divine" or "fighting with God". (Genesis 32:28-30)

The biblical term "Israelites" (or the Twelve Tribes or Children of Israel) means both a people, the descendants of the patriarch Jacob/Israel, and the historical population of the kingdom of Israel, or a follower of the God of Israel and Mosaic law. In Modern Hebrew usage, an Israelite is, broadly speaking, a lay member of the Jewish faith, as opposed to the priestly orders of Kohenim and Levites.

The name Hebrews is sometimes used synonymously with "Israelites". For the post-exilic period, beginning in the 5th century BCE, the remnants of the Israelites came to be referred to as Jews, named for the kingdom of Judah. This change is explicit in the Book of Esther (4th century BCE). It replaced the title children of Israel.

Although most literary references to them are located in the Hebrew Bible, there is also abundant non-biblical archaeological and historical evidence of ancient Israel and Judah.

Terminology

Israel was the name given to the biblical patriarch Jacob after wrestling with an angel on the shores of the Jabbok, prior to a meeting with his brother Esau. Jacob had an intense rivalry with Esau, and this confrontation with the angel bears special significance in the story of the Israelites. ;Pentateuch The Torah traces the Israelites to the patriarch Jacob, grandson of Abraham, who was renamed Israel after a mystical incident in which he wrestles all night with an angel of God. Jacob's twelve sons (in order), Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin, become the ancestors of twelve tribes, with the exception of Joseph, whose two sons Mannasseh and Ephraim become tribal eponyms.

Jacob and his sons are forced by famine to go down into Egypt. When they arrive they and their families are 70 in number, but within four generations they have increased to 600,000 men of fighting age, and the Pharaoh of Egypt, alarmed, first enslaves them and then orders the death of all male Hebrew children. The God of Israel reveals his name to Moses, a Hebrew of the line of Levi; Moses leads the Israelites out of bondage and into the desert, where God gives them their laws and the Israelites agree to become his people. Nevertheless, the Israelites lack complete faith in God, and the generation which left Egypt is not permitted to enter the Promised Land.

;Former Prophets Following the death of the generation of Moses a new generation, led by Joshua, enters Canaan and takes possession of the land in accordance with the curse placed upon Canaan by Noah. Yet even now the Israelites lack strength in God in the face of the peoples of the land, and periods of weakness and backsliding alternate with periods of resilience under a succession of Judges. Eventually the Israelites ask for a king, and God gives them Saul. David, the youngest (divinely favoured) son of Jesse of Bethlehem would succeed Saul. Under David the Israelites establish the kingdom of God, and under David's son Solomon they build the Temple where God takes his earthly dwelling among them. Yet Solomon sins by allowing his foreign wives to worship their own gods, and so on his death the kingdom is divided in two.

The kings of the northern kingdom of Israel are uniformly bad, permitting the worship of other gods and failing to enforce the worship of God alone, and so God eventually allows them to be conquered and dispersed among the peoples of the earth; in their place strangers settle the northern land. In Judah some kings are good and enforce the worship of God alone, but many are bad and permit other gods, even in the Temple itself, and at length God allows the Judah to fall to her enemies, the people taken into captivity in Babylon, the land left empty and desolate, and the Temple itself destroyed.

;Ezra-Nehemiah-Chronicles Yet despite these events God does not forget his people, but sends Cyrus, king of Persia as his messiah to deliver them from bondage. The Israelites are allowed to return to Judah and Benjamin, the Temple is rebuilt, the priestly orders restored, and the service of sacrifice resumed. Through the offices of the sage Ezra Israel is constituted as a holy community, holding itself apart from all other peoples, bound by the Law.

Tribes and peoples

Although most traditional interpretations of Jewish history view the ''Israelites'' as the ancestors of both the Kingdom of Israel and that of Judah, which arose only after David's rule, and ''Hebrews'' as an alternative name for them, the text makes a distinction between groups labeled ''Hebrews'', ''Judahites'', and ''Israelites''. Israelites consistently refers to Saul's forces. It also is used to refer to the supporters of the rebellions against David's reign, in contrast to his supporters. Judahites consistently refers to David's supporters during the rebellions against his rule, in contrast to the rebels. Hebrews is consistently used to designate a group distinct from both Israelites and Judahites, and who sometimes take the side of the Philistines against Israel and Judah. It is weakly associated with Jonathan initially, and then more strongly with David's band of outlaws. However, this labeling appears to be only for convenient grouping, since there are several textual examples that clarify that the Hebrews are of the same people as the Israelites: I Samuel 13:3-4, I Samuel 13:19-20, and I Samuel 14:11-12.

Gilead and Jezreel are listed as tribes of Israel, rather than being treated strictly as locations. In accordance with evidence of this kind elsewhere, all attributed by scholars to the earliest sources, such as in the Song of Deborah, scholars have concluded that the tribal system known as the tribes of Israel evolved over a period of time:

Gilead, Jezreel and Joseph were originally three tribes in the confederation. Jezreel later split into Zebulun and Issachar. Gilead later split into Machir, Gad, and Reuben. Machir later merged with part of Joseph to form Manasseh, while the other part split off to become Ephraim.

Hasmonean conversions

After the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 Judah (Hebrew: יְהוּדָה Yehuda) remained a province of the Persian empire. This continued into the following Hellenistic period, when Yehud was a province sometimes of Ptolemaic Egypt and sometimes of Seleucid Syria, but in the early part of the 2nd century BCE a revolt against the Seleucids led to the establishment of an independent Jewish kingdom under the Hasmonean dynasty. The Hasmoneans adopted a deliberate policy of imitating and reconstituting the Davidic kingdom, and as part of this forcibly converted to Judaism their neighbours in the Land of Israel. The new Israelites included Nabatean groups such as the Zabadeans and Itureans, the peoples of the former Philistine cities, the people of Galilee, and the Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites.

"Israelites" in modern Judaism

In the Hellenistic and early Roman periods (i.e., around the time of Christ), and despite the exclusivism championed by the Book of Ezra, (contradicted by other biblical books from the same time, such as Ruth), Judaism became a proselytising religion. As proselytised (and conquered) groups were assimilated into the Israelite lineage the old tribal divisions fell into disuse, and the major divisions within Judaism thus became:

''Kohanim'' (descended from the lineage of Aaron, the first High Priest in the time of Moses)

Levites (other descendants of Levi)

Israelites

This threefold division of the Jewish people persists to this day. To avoid confusion with the broader use of the term Israelite or the modern term Israeli, a member of the Israelite, as opposed to Levite or Aaronite, lineage is usually referred to as a ''Yisrael'' (an Israel) and not a ''Yisraeli'' (which could mean Israelite in the broader sense or in modern Hebrew, an Israeli).

Modern groups descendant from the Israelites

Jews

Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדִים‎, Yehudim), also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. Converts to Judaism have been absorbed into the Jewish people throughout the millennia. There are distinct ethnic divisions among Jews, most of which are primarily the result of geographic branching from an originating Israelite population, and subsequent independent evolutions. According to the Books of Chronicles chapter 9 line 2, the Jews who took part in The Return to Zion (whom modern Jews are originated from) are stated to be from the Tribe of Judah (alongside the Tribe of Simeon that were absorbed into it), the Tribe of Benjamin, the Tribe of Levi (Levites and Priests) and also from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (which some biblical scholars consider to be a referring name describing the remaining population of the Northern Kingdom of Israel from all ten tribes who were not exiled during the famous Ten tribes exile; they had stayed to live in their homes and later joined the Israelites of the Kingdom of Judah at the time of King Hezekiah, and formed the Jews of the Babylonian Exile era).

Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenaz is the Hebrew word for "Germany". There are several populations which have lived in Germany at some point in the past 1,000 years and fall under the umbrella term for the group. There is evidence that Jews had settled in Germany since the Roman Era; they were probably merchants who followed the Roman Legions during their conquests. Some Ashkenazi Jews are the descendants of Jews who migrated into northern France and Germany around 800–1000 CE, and were later sent into Eastern Europe. Many Ashkenazic Jews are also Sephardic in origin as a result of diaspora from the Spanish Inquisition. In this sense "Ashkenazi" refers to religious practice, appropriated over time, rather than to a strict ethno-geographic division.

Arthur Koestler claimed in his book "The Thirteenth Tribe" (1976) that Ashkenazi Jews are descendants of central European Khazars who converted into Judaism during the 8th century. Koestler argued that by proving Ashkenazi Jews to have no connection with the biblical Jews, European anti-Semitism would lose all basis. In 2006 Doron Behar and Karl Skorecki of the Technion and Ramban Medical Center in Haifa, Israel claimed that a study carried out by them demoinstrated that: 1) the vast majority of Ashkenazi Jews have some Middle Eastern ancestry; 2) Ashkenazi Jews share a common ancestry with other Jewish groups of European origin; and 3) only 5%-8% of the European Ashkenazi Jews (according to recent studies) were found to have originated in non-Jewish European populations. Dr. David Goldstein, a Duke University geneticist and and director of the Duke Center for Human Genome Variation, has noted that the Technion and Ramban team confirmed that genetic drift played a major role in shaping Ashkenazi mitochondrial DNA, therefore mtDNA studies fail to draw a statistically significant linkage between modern Jews and Middle Eastern populations, however, this differs from the patrilineal case, where Dr. Goldstein said there is no question of a Middle Eastern origin.

Sephardic Jews

Sephardim are Jews whose ancestors lived in Spain or Portugal, where they lived for possibly as much as two millennia before being expelled in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs (see Alhambra decree); they subsequently migrated to North Africa Maghreb and Ottoman Empire (both at the time considered safe havens for Jews). In the Ottoman Empire the Sephardim mostly settled in the European portion of the Empire, and mainly in the major cities such as: Constantinople, Thessaloniki and Bursa. Thessaloniki, which today is to be found in modern-day Greece, had a large and flourishing Sephardic community as was the community of Maltese Jews in Malta. Others settled in Italy, the Netherlands and Latin America. A large population of Sephardic refugees who fled via the Netherlands as Marranos eventually settled in Hamburg and Altona Germany in the early 16th century, eventually appropriating Ashkenazic Jewish rituals into their religious practice (see above). One famous figure from the Sephardic Ashkenazic population is Glückel of Hameln. Others among those who settled in the Netherlands, were some who would again relocate to the United States, establishing the country's first organized community of Jews and erecting the United States' first synagogue. Other Sephardim remained in Spain and Portugal as anusim (forced converts to Catholicism), which would also be the fate for those who had migrated to Spanish and Portuguese ruled Latin America.

Mizrachi Jews

Mizrahim are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus. The term Mizrahi is used in Israel in the language of politics, media and some social scientists for Jews from the Arab world and adjacent, primarily Muslim-majority countries. This includes Iraqi Jews, Syrian Jews, Lebanese Jews, Maghreb Jews , Yemenite Jews, Persian Jews, Afghan Jews, Bukharian Jews, Kurdish Jews, Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews and Ethiopian Jews.

Yemenite Jews

Temanim are Jews living in Yemen whose geographic and social isolation from the rest of the Jewish community allowed them to develop a liturgy and set of practices that are significantly distinct from those of other Oriental Jewish groups; they themselves comprise three distinctly different groups, though the distinction is one of religious law and liturgy rather than of ethnicity.

Karaite Jews

Karaim are Jews living mostly in Egypt, Iraq, Crimea and Israel. They are distinguished by the form of Judaism they observe. Rabbinic Jews of varying ethnicities have affiliated with the Karaite community throughout the millennia. As such, Karaite Jews are less a Jewish ethnic division, than they are members of a particular branch of Judaism. Karaite Judaism recognizes the Tanakh as the single religious authority of the Jewish people. Linguistic principles and contextual exegesis are used in arriving at the correct meaning of the Torah. Karaite Jews strive to adhere to the plain or most obvious understanding of the text when interpreting the Tanakh. By contrast, Rabbinical Judaism regards an Oral Law (codified and recorded in the Mishnah and Talmuds) as being equally binding on Jews, and mandated by God. In Rabbinical Judaism, the Oral Law forms the basis of religion, morality, and Jewish life. Karaite Jews rely on the use of sound reasoning and the application of linguistic tools to determine the correct meaning of the Tanakh; while Rabbinical Judaism looks toward the Oral law codified in the Talmud, to provide the Jewish community with an accurate understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures.

There are approximately 50,000 adherents of Karaite Judaism, most of whom live in Israel, but exact numbers are not known, as most Karaites have not participated in any religious censuses. The differences between Karaite and Rabbinic Judaism go back more than a thousand years. Rabbinical Judaism originates from the Pharisees of the Second Temple period. Karaite Judaism may have its origins in the Sadducees of the same era. Unlike the Sadducees who recognized only the Torah as binding, Karaite Jews hold the entire Hebrew Bible to be a religious authority. As such, the vast majority of Karaites believe in the resurrection of the dead. Karaite Jews are widely regarded as being halachically Jewish by the Orthodox Rabbinate. Similarly, members of the rabbinic community are considered to be Jews by the Moetzet Hakhamim, if they are patrilineally Jewish.

Anusim

During the Jewish diaspora, Jews who lived in Christian Europe were usually attacked by the local population and were portrayed by many Anti-semites motives, many of them were forced to convert to Christianity by the local population or by the religious leadership, and were called by Jews: "Anusim" ('forced-ones'), they continued practicing Judaism in secret, while living outside as ordinary Christians. The most known case of "Anusim" was the one of the Jews of Spain and Jews of Portugal (although "Anusim" were also in other European countries). On the Muslim countries, many Jews were forced to convert to Islam by force over the years since the rise of the Islamic religion, and the most known case of those conversion was the case of Mashhad Jews, that lived as ordinary Muslims in Persia but kept practicing Judaism, and eventually made an Aliyah and returned being Jewish in Israel. Many Anusim's descendants left Judaism over the years. On December 2008, genetic test showed that 19.8% of the Iberian Peninsula are originated from the Anusim.

Samaritans

The Samaritans, who were once a comparatively large group but are now a very small ethnic and religious group of not more than about 700 people who live in Israel and the West Bank, regard themselves as descendants of the tribes of Ephraim (named by them as ''Aphrime'') and Manasseh (named by them as ''Manatch''). Samaritans adhere to a version of the Torah, known as the Samaritan Pentateuch, which differs in some respects from the Masoretic text, sometimes in important ways, and less so from the Septuagint.

Samaritans do not regard the Tanakh as an accurate or truthful history, and regard only Moses as a prophet. They have their own version of Hebrew and their own script for writing Hebrew, which, is descended directly from the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, unlike the Jewish script for writing Hebrew which is a stylized form of the Aramaic alphabet the Jews adopted during their captivity in Babylonia.

The Samaritans consider themselves ''Bnei Yisrael'' ("Children of Israel" or "Israelites"), but do not regard themselves to be ''Yehudim'' (Jews). They view this term "Jews" as a designation for followers of Judaism, which they assert is a related but altered and amended religion brought back by the exiled Israelite returnees which is not the true religion of the ancient Israelites, which according to them, Samaritanism is.

Judaism regards the Samaritans as descendants of the northern tribesmen whom the Assyrians settled in the territory they conquered from the kingdom of Israel. Since one of those tribes was the Cutheans, this is the name used for the Samaritans in the Talmud. Both the Bible and external sources such as Josephus record intermarriage between Jews and Samaritans in the Hellenistic period.

Modern DNA evidence has proven both most of the world's Jews and the Samaritans have a common ancestral lineage to the Israelites, largely on the paternal lines in both cases. Maternally, both Jews and Samaritans have very low rates of intermarriage with local host (for Jews, local populations in their host diaspora regions) or alien (for Samaritans, foreigners resettled in their midst in attempts by ruling foreign elites to obliterate national identities) populations. Both populations' DNA results indicate the groups having had a high percentage of marriage within their respective communities; in contrast to a low percentage of interfaith marriages.

Historical Israelites

The name Israel first appears c. 1209 BCE, at the end of the Late Bronze Age and the very beginning of the period archaeologists and historians call Iron Age I, in an inscription of the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah. The inscription is very brief and says simply: "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not". The hieroglyph accompanying the name "Israel" indicates that it refers to a people, most probably located in the highlands of Samaria.

Over the next two hundred years (the period of Iron Age I) the number of highland villages increased from 25 to over 300 and the settled population doubled to 40,000. There is general agreement that the majority of the population living in these villages was of Canaanite origin. By the 10th century BCE a rudimentary state had emerged in the north-central highlands, and in the 9th century this became a kingdom. The kingdom was sometimes called Israel by its neighbours, but more frequently it was known as the "House (or Land) of Omri." Settlement in the southern highlands was minimal from the 12th through the 10th centuries, but a state began to emerge there in the 9th century, and from 850 onwards a series of inscriptions are evidence of a kingdom which its neighbours refer to as the "House of David."

See also

Bible

Gentile

Half Jewish

House of Israel (Ghana)

Israeli Jews

Israelis

Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)

Noahides

Portuguese Jewish community in Hamburg

Shavei Israel

Tribal allotments of Israel

References and notes

External links

Category:Semitic peoples Category:Jewish history Category:Ancient peoples Category:Ethnonyms Category:Jews

ar:بنو إسرائيل bg:Дванайсетте израилски племена ca:Tribus d'Israel cs:Izraelské kmeny da:Israelit de:Israeliten et:Iisraellased el:Δώδεκα φυλές του Ισραήλ es:Tribus de Israel eo:Izraelidoj fa:بنی‌اسرائیل fr:Tribus d'Israël ko:이스라엘 민족 hr:12 izraelskih plemena id:Bani Israil it:Dodici tribù di Israele he:שבטי ישראל lt:Izraelitai ml:ഇസ്രായേൽ ജനത ms:Bani Israel nl:Israëlieten ja:イスラエル (民族) no:Israelitter pnb:بنی اسرائیل pl:Dwanaście Plemion Izraela pt:Tribos de Israel ro:Triburile israelite ru:Колена Израилевы simple:Israelite sk:Izraeliti sr:Дванаест племена Израела fi:Israelin heimot sv:Israeliter tl:Labindalawang lipi ng Israel ta:இசுரவேலர் th:วงศ์วานแห่งอิสราเอล tr:İsrailoğulları ur:بنی اسرائیل zh:以色列人

Name	Killah Priest
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Walter Reed
Alias	Priest
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, producer, actor
Years active	1993–present
Label	Geffen Records, MCA Records, Legion of D.O.O.M.
Associated acts	Wu-Tang Clan, HRSMN, Almighty, One Over, Black Market Militia, Starkim, Sunz of Man, Felony Fights, Ras Kass
Notable instruments	}}

Walter Reed, better known as Killah Priest, Iron Sheik from the Middle East, or Masada, is an American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan affiliate who was raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant & Brownsville neighbourhoods in Brooklyn. He is known for intensely spiritual lyrics loaded with metaphors and religious references. He is connected to the Nation of Gods and Earths through his rhymes, and is known for controversial and Afrocentric subject matter. He is also a part of supergroup the HRSMN along with Canibus, Ras Kass, and Kurupt. He has a hardcore fan base and has been known to be very generous and giving of his time to his fans and various charitable organizations.

Biography

1990s

Priest first made himself known to the hip hop world rapping on two songs on the Gravediggaz album ''6 Feet Deep'' in 1994, and followed this with two appearances on each of two Wu-Tang Clan solo albums, Ol' Dirty Bastard's ''Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version'' and GZA's ''Liquid Swords'', both from 1995 (see 1995 in music). ''Liquid Swords'' in fact included a Killah Priest solo track titled "B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)". Also in 1995, Priest's group Sunz Of Man with rappers Hell Razah, 60 Second Assassin, Prodigal Sunn were signed to Wu-Tang Records and released three 12" singles through the label. Initially Sunz Of Man included Shabazz the Disciple, who had previously been in a duo with Priest called The Disciples, but Shabazz basically left the group before the contract with Wu-Tang Records was signed, thus only appearing on the B-side "5 Arch Angels".

Killah Priest's first solo album was ''Heavy Mental'', released on Geffen Records in May 1998. It mostly expanded on the themes of "B.I.B.L.E.", featuring religious references and allegory woven into commentary on African American society and history. The album was mostly produced by the Wu-Elements producers, a group of in-house Wu-Tang producers mentored by Wu leader RZA. Sunz Of Man released their debut album ''The Last Shall Be First'' later in 1998, but by that time Priest's ties to the Wu were beginning to weaken, as he and long-time friend Shabazz clashed with RZA (their business ties with the Wu also began to weaken after the GZA Entertainment management agency, which they were both signed to, dissolved in 1996). After unsuccessful attempts by the pair to create new post-Wu Tang crews (Priest proposed a crew called the Maccabeez which would include himself, Shabazz and Timbo King among others, while Shabazz proposed a group including himself and Priest called the Sunz Of Thunder) they both effectively went their separate ways and cut their respective Wu-Tang ties.

2000s

After leaving the Wu stable, and consequently also effectively leaving Sunz Of Man, Priest helped form the hip hop supergroup The HRSMN with Ras Kass, Canibus and Kurupt. In October 2003, Killah Priest and Dreddy Kruger released a nine track album entitled The Horsemen Project. It was released independently through ''Think Differently Music''/''Proverbs Music Inc.'' and was only available to purchase off the internet. Each track featured at least two members of the group as well as an appearance by Pak Man. It is currently unknown who handled the majority of the production on the album, although it is known that Mark Sparks was responsible for two songs. On Killah Priest's HipHopGame.com journal, he mentions the Horsemen a few times. The talks about a new album were mentioned on the May 1, 2006 entry. He said "The Horsemen project is definitely going to come. Right now we just have to get Kurupt. He's been doing the Dogg Pound thing, but it's definitely going to come. We have songs recorded and we have more in store."

Ras Kass and Canibus were featured on Priest's second album, ''View From Masada'', which featured no Wu-Tang input whatsoever (though the album's liner notes included the note "Peace to Wu-Tang Clan"). The album had a decidedly more commercially minded style than ''Heavy Mental'', and introduced his new Maccabeez crew, featuring a crew of then-unknown rappers. The album was also an important early stepping stone to stardom for producer Just Blaze, who would later go on to produce countless mainstream hip hop hits for the likes of Cam'ron, Erick Sermon, Fabolous and Jay-Z. However, ''View From Masada'' received mixed reviews.

Priest had to leave the major labels behind after ''View From Masada'' sold poorly. His first independent release ''Priesthood'' (2001), released on Proverbs Music, his own record label, was critically acclaimed though it suffered from very limited distribution. ''Black August'' followed in 2003 on Recon Records, and was also well-received. Priest also released an album on the Internet titled ''Black August Revisited'' a few months after the release of ''Black August'' which shared few similarities with the original, save its title. ''Black August Revisited'' also saw Priest rediscover his Wu-Tang ties, including collaborations with Hell Razah and Ol' Dirty Bastard. He also appeared in the music video for the single "Made You Look" by fellow New York rapper Nas.

In 2004, Priest performed numerous times with other Wu-Tang Killa Beez and also appeared on Masta Killa's album ''No Said Date''. November 2005 saw the re-release of ''Priesthood'' on Mic Club Music, a label owned by Louis Lombard III (aka Luminati), who produced ''Priesthood'' as well as recent albums by Canibus. March 2007 saw the release of Killah Priest's mixtape album "End of the World".

On August 21, 2007, Killah Priest released The Offering, which was sequenced by his former manager, Stacey Castro and featured appearances from Nas, Immortal Technique, his fellow HRSMN, & 4th Disciple as well as Hell Razah, who appears on the advance single title track that was released in October 2005.

Killah Priest has a new album titled ''Behind the Stained Glass'', released on May 20, 2008 on the label Good Hands Records. It's reported that he's also in the midst of recording ''Behind the Stained Glass Part Two''. Killah Priest also released an album titled ''Elizabeth'' on October 20, 2009 on Proverbs Records, which Priest owns. Killah Priest is also recording another double album called ''The Psychic World of Walter Reed'', produced by Dutch producers Godz Wrath, 4th Disciple, RZA, DJ Woool and more. Killah Priest also mentioned in a YouTube interview for ''Pyramid West'' that he is also working on a sequel to ''Heavy Mental'' called ''Heavier Mental.''

In a August 2010 radio interview with Mista Montana, Killah Priest discussed the creation of his next album PWOWR, stating that the Rza and many other key Wu Tang Clan members will feature on there, including the Four Horsemen.

Discography

Solo albums

Album information
	* Released: March 10, 1998	* Billboard 200 chart position: #24	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: #4	* Singles: "Tai Chi", "Cross My Heart", "One Step"/"Fake MC's", "If You Don't Know"/"Blessed Are Those"
	* Released: May 9, 2000	* Billboard 200 chart position: #73	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: #18	* Singles: "Whut Part of the Game?", "I'm Wit That"/"Gotta Eat"
align="left"	* Released: July 10, 2001	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles: "My Hood"/"C U When I Get There"
	* Released: July 8, 2003	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles: "When I'm Writing"/"Excalibur", "Do The Damn Thing"/"Robbery (Remix)"
	* Released: August 21, 2007	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles: "Gun for Gun (Rivers of Blood)"/"Happy", "Truth B Told"/"The Offering"
	* Released: May 20, 2008	* Billboard 200 chart position:	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position:	* Singles:
	* Released: March 7, 2009	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles:
align="left"	* Released: May 19, 2009	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles:
align="left"	* Released: October 20, 2009	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles: "The 7 Crowns of God"
	* Released: July 27, 2010	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles:
	* Released: August/September 2011	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles:
	* Release Date: TBA	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles:
		Group albums

Album information
	* Released: July 21, 1998	* Label: Red Ant Entertainment	* Singles: "Natural High", "Shining Star"/"Cold", "The Plan"/"Collaboration '98"
	* Released: January 31, 1999	* Label: Red Hook Records	* Singles: "Deep in the Water"/"In the Beginning..."/"The Sins of Man","Who are the Sunz of Man?"/"The Valley of Death"/"Bring Back the Mike"/"Valley of Kings"
	* Released: 2003	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles: -
align="left"	* Released: March 22, 2005	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles: "Audobon Ballroom"/"Thug Nation"/"Hood Lullabye", "Gem Stars (Remix)"/"Mayday!"
	* Released: July 22, 2008	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles: "Obey (The Statesmen)"
align="left"	* Released: September 23, 2008	* Billboard 200 chart position: -	* R&B;/Hip-Hop chart position: -	* Singles: -

Guest appearances

1994 "Diary of a Madman" and "Graveyard Chamber" (Gravediggaz album ''6 Feet Deep'')

1995 "Where Ya At?" and "Where Ya At? (extended version)" (with Ice-T, Ice Cube, Chuck D, RZA, Kam, Mobb Deep, DA Smart, Insane, Shorty, & Smooth B) and "Wicked Ways" (with Sunz Of Man) (from ''One Million Strong'')

1995 "Greyhound, Pt. 2" (from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album ''Experimental Remixes'')

1995 "Snakes"; "Proteck Ya Neck II The Zoo"; & "Don't U Know" (from the Ol' Dirty Bastard album ''Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version'')

1995 "4th Chamber" & "B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)" (from the GZA album ''Liquid Swords'')

1996 "America" (from the AIDS compilation album ''America Is Dying Slowly'')

1996 "Parle (Hip-Hop Remix)" (with Kavalier album ''Nikera'')

1997 "Repentance Day" (off the Gravediggaz album ''The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel'')

1998 "Degree Zero" (from the DJ Spooky album ''Riddim Warfare'')

1998 "Abide By" (with other HRSMN members Canibus, Ras Kass, & Kurupt from a 12" single called "White Label")

1998 "No Superstar" (from the Bounty Killer album ''Next Millennium'')

1998 "Moanin"(By Antonio Chance,Killa Sin) and "Street Opera" (from the "One Step" UK single)

1998 "5 Boroughs" (with KRS-One, Buckshot, Cam'Ron, Redman, Run, Keith Murray, Prodigy, & Vigilante) (''The Corrupter'' Soundtrack)

1999 "4 Bars" (along with Canibus & Rose Cartel from Universal)

1999 "Real Nigga Livin" (with Fat Kat Kareem) (album unknown)

1999 "Temple of the Mental" (from the Material album ''Intonarumori'')

1999 "Beneath The Surface" Feat, RES (From GZA/Genius "Beneath The Surface")

1999 "1112" Feat, Masta Killa & Njeri (From GZA/Genius "Beneath The Surface")

1999 "Feel Like An Enemy" Feat, Hell Raizah, Trigga & Prodigal Sun (From GZA/Genius "Beneath The Surface")

2000 "Horsementality" (from the Canibus album ''2000 B.C.'')

2000 "Im a Horseman (Promo)" (on Tim Westwood's ''Radio 1 Rap Show'' with HRSMN members Canibus & Ras Kass)

2001 "Bread of Life" (from the Cappadonna album ''The Yin and the Yang'')

2001 "Catechism" (with DJ Spooky off the ''Wu-Chronicles, Chapter 2'')

2001 "In Here" (from the Guru album ''Baldhead Slick & Da Click'')

2002 "Catechism Part 2" (with DJ Spooky)

2002 "Out Tha Spot” (with Kurupt) (Released: 2002 (Unknown)) 2002 "No Chaser" (with Raze, Hot Rod, & Fokis) (also released in 2003 by Raze on "Leavin Empty Shells")

2004 "Masters Degree" (with Block McCloud, Jean Grae, & Pumpkinhead on album ''Uncle Howie'')

2004 "Ain't No Way" ((with the HRSMN) off the unreleased album ''Catch Me If You Can'')

2004 "Never Imagined" (with Main Flow & Master Foul, off the album ''Hip-Hopulation'')

2004 "Chains" (with Masta Killa) (from R.A. The Rugged Man album ''Die, Rugged Man, Die'')

2004 "Secret Rivals" (from the Masta Killa album ''No Said Date'')

2004 "Saviorself" (from the Jedi Mind Tricks album ''Legacy of Blood'')

2005 "Champions" (with Soulstice) and "Wannabattle Tactics" (with Buckshot & Donte) (from Main Flow album ''Notebook Assassins'')

2005 "Horsemen" (by Pak-Man and the HRSMN off the Pak-Man album ''Chow Time'')

2005 "The Saints" (with Nas) (From the Dirty Harry mixtape ''The Warriors'')

2005 "The 10 Plagues" (by Socalled off the Socalled album ''The Socalled Seder'')

2005 "Testimony" (with SHI 360 and Remedy)

2006 "Beastin" (from the Chino XL album ''Poison Pen'')

2006 "Constant Dreams" (from The UNDC album ''Closed captioned'')

2006 "Pagan Helmets" (from Neurologists album ''As The Dark Settles'')

2007 "Awaiting The Hour" (From The Ill Bill mixtape ''Black Metal'')

2007 "Divine Sacred" (from Lightborn album "''The Psychology of Fire''")

2007 "Shall I Continue" (from Gumz album ''From Fetus to Genius...'')

2007 "In The Name Of Allah" (from the Cilvaringz album ''I'')

2007 "Liquid Wordz" (from the Canibus album ''For Whom the Beat Tolls'')

2007 "Taarruz Basladi" (from the ''Ako-Akonomi'' album)

2007 "Build" (from the Contribution X album ''Cobra Of The North'')

2007 "Law & Order" (from the iCON the Mic King & Chum album ''Mike and the Fatman'')

2007 "Picture of Selassie I (Remix)" (from the Picture of Selassie album by Khari Kill Feat. Jah Bami)

2008 "Galaxies" (from the Praxis album ''Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)'')

2008 "Eat Ya Food" (from the Brooklyn Zu album ''Chamber #9, Verse 32'')

2008 "Bloody Moon" (from VoodooCore {Shaka Amazulu The 7th & Wasabifunk})

2008 "One Day" (From Endemic (Terminal Illness) ft. Killah Priest & Timbo King)

2008 "Theory Of Dominance" (with Corown Da Sensei/Da Shogunz)

2008 "Se7en" (With Shaka Amazulu The 7th ft. Timbo King)

2008 "Walking The Line" (with Annakin Slayd from the album ''Stalwart Empire'')

2008 "Immaculate for the Babylon A.D. Film" (With Michael Arkangelo and Shakura Holiday Prod by RZA and Shavo (Achozen))

2009 "Babylon Beast" (from the Heavyweight Dub Champion album ''Rise of the Champion Nation'')

2009 "Where I Come From (Remix)" (with Tha Advocate, Willy Northpole, Hussein Fatal, Stat Quo, DoItAll, Big Lou, Sha Stimuli, Mr. probz)

2009 "God is Love" (from the U-God album ''Dopium'')

2009 "Memoir Of A Gravedigga" (from Shaka Amazulu The 7th [Black Stone of Mecca album] ft. 9th Prince, Warcloud, Frukwan, and Shabazz The Disciple)

2009 "Murder" (with Chino XL & Sean Price, off the DJ-JS1 album "Ground Original 2- No Sellout")

2010 "Soul Purpose" (from Dusty Philharmonics album "The Audiotopsy", Unexpected Records)

2010 "Purified Thoughts" feat GZA/Genius (From Ghostface Killah Apollo Kids)

2011 "Wu Crime" feat GZA/Genius (from Raekwon Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang)

References

External links

Official Site

HRSMN official website

Interview on DUBCNN

Uncensored Interview on Conspiracy Radio

Category:1970 births Category:African American rappers Category:Black Hebrew Israelites Category:Living people Category:Geffen Records artists Category:MCA Records artists Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Wu-Tang Clan affiliates Category:Rappers from New York City

de:Killah Priest fr:Killah Priest pl:Killah Priest sv:Killah Priest

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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