American Legend: Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston, one of American cinema's finest products, turns 81 today.

Charlton Heston is one of my favorite actors and I credit him with one of the Great Moments in Cinema.

His inspired body of work is not limited to this hilarious screen capture. Though Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments were great, epic films, I've always particularly enjoyed Chuck's "message movies" of the 1970s. "Global biological warfare is bad; Caesar is a good chess player." (Omega Man); "Racism is bad; non-lingual proto-human cave chicks are hot." (Planet of the Apes); "Overpopulation is bad; Soylent Green is made out of people!" (Soylent Green)

Some, seeing these movies, might claim Chuckles was a bit melodramatic. Balderdash! I say. Mr. Heston simply perfected the art of righteous indignation far before its time and it's difficult for people to appreciate how avant-garde he was. When you sit down to watch a Chuck Heston movie, you know you're in good hands for the next two hours.

So, happy birthday to Charlton Heston, the man who inspired many a woman to say to me, "Get your stinkin' paws of me you damned, dirty ape!"