Charlton Heston R.I.P.

CNN:

Actor Charlton Heston died at Beverly Hills home at the age of 84 Saturday, his family said.

Heston, known for portrayals of larger than life figure including Moses and Ben Hur, was suffering the late stages of Alzheimer's Disease.

Heston's wife of 64 years, Lydia, was by his side at the time of his death, according to the family statement.

Heston is survived by a son, a daughter and three grandchildren.

"We knew him as an adoring husband, a kind and devoted father, and a gentle grandfather, with an infectious sense of humor," the family said. "He served these far greater roles with tremendous faith, courage and dignity. He loved deeply, and he was deeply loved."

Like many others I'll mostly remember Charlton Heston for what a great actor he was, especially his classic role as Moses in the epic "Ten Commandments" flick, which I first saw when I was like 7 or 8. But unfortunately others (mostly on the Left) will recall Heston for his role as leader of the NRA, which made him an enemy for life to many of the loons. In turn, many of libs were more than happy to see Heston get bullied by the unscrupulous Michael Moore in the ruthless, propaganda-fest "Bowling For Columbine". Heston (who was suffering from Alzheimer's at the time) sat down for a 15-minute interview (which was later heavily edited for the flick) with Moore that made him look incoherent and borderline racist--the interview was so bad that Heston gets up and walks away in a confused manner. Yeah, as George Clooney (who once joked that Heston "deserved to have Alzheimer's") can certainly attest to, revenge is sweet when you're a left-wing lunatic.

But Moore and the rest of the morally bankrupt Left wouldn't dare mention the fact that Heston, a longtime political activist, was one of the first Hollywood actors to publicly oppose racial segregation, or that he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or that Heston helped to organize boycotts of Hollywood restaurants that wouldn't serve blacks during the Civil rights era. Indeed, in his later years Heston, a former Democrat, would later join the GOP and take on roles that even rattled me (such as his opposition to affirmative action), but that still doesn't take away from the fact he was an icon both on and off the big screen.