Talk:Charlton Heston

Talk:Charlton Heston/Archive 1

Is he really dead?

Why is that noted?

Agreed. They've noticed at alt.obituaries. Anybody have a cite? --Susan 14:53, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Photo of Heston

This picture is rather old. Can we find another that doesn't date from the sixties?

(On another note, I'm rather surprised that the talk page for as controversial a figure as Heston hasn't received attention in a year and a half.) --Saforrest 00:53, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

It is unlikely that we could find another free image of that quality. Arniep 01:20, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Birthdate

For the love of God, Heston was born in 1923. I have all his books, I think he knows the right date........

Forgive me, but you are a bit naive here about how the old studio system worked. Old-time actors were notorious for providing inaccurate information about their own birthdates. Actors from Humphrey Bogart to Al "Grandpa" Lewis tweaked their birthdates anywhere from a few days to 13 years. Some actors even had their birthdates changed by the studios for PR purposes. Unfortunately, after 60 years, it becomes difficult to change the date back without embarrassment. Without a certified copy of a birth certificate obtained directly from the registrar of the state in question (in other words, not from the actor himself or his representative but directly from the government), I would not accept the word of any old-time actor as to his birthdate. --Charlene.fic 16:22, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Since every other source I find on the internet says 1924 as the year of birth, I have changed it to that date. When he dies, we'll see how old they report him as.

Trivia sections are the scourge of wikipedia pop-culture articles

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY just copy out the (already stupid) trivia section on the IMDB and paste it here? It serves no purpose and is almost certainly a copyright violation. If no-one can advise me otherwise in the next few days I will delete the whole section wholesale. Badgerpatrol 01:04, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it's a copyvio, so no keep. Tawker 00:51, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Done. As a compromise, I have added an explanatory note to the IMDB link. Badgerpatrol 00:53, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Much of the info in the "Trivia" section was not trivia, such as the names of his children and his tenure as president of SAG. I hope we're not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. -Will Beback 05:28, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

My major complaint was not the content (although much of it was naff), but rather the fact that it was ripped off from the IMDB, almost word-for-word. It looked amateurish at best, and at worst was a copyright violation (IMDB material is copyright). I agree that some of it (if verifiable) would enhance the article if it could be added as proper, continuous prose. Cheers, Badgerpatrol 22:06, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

How can we be sure that imdb contributors didnt copy some of the info from Wikipedia? Arniep 16:11, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Ha- Touche! How do you want to prove that however? Assuming it is copyright material- which I think is likely- is it more parsimonious (and legally safest) to assume (given that these 'trivia' sections are the accepted format on IMDB but not ubiquitous on wikipedia) that the material originated here or there? The style is VERY reminiscent of IMDB, as I'm sure we all agree. Also, apart from the copyright issue (which may be debatable, I'm not a lawyer), what's your opinion of the actual format of the section itself? I must confess, I think that these sections are amateurish and silly. I strongly agree that (if verifiable) some of the information could go back into the main article, but only as continuous prose rather than bullet-point text - consisting of such illuminating statements as:

- Prior to starring in The Omega Man, a remake of Vincent Price's film The Last Man On Earth, Heston and Price appeared together in Cecil B. Demille's The Ten Commandments. - His wife calls him Charlie, but everyone else calls him Chuck. - While they were starring in a play together in 1960, Laurence Olivier told Heston that he had the potential to become the greatest American actor of the century. Although the play received unfavorable notices, Olivier told Heston that he must to learn to forget good notices in order to do better next time. - *His favorite food is Loushka; a Hungarian dish made with noodles, spinach, and chicken broth. - Was nicknamed "Cheston," on his appearance on "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast" (Episode 3.20, "Dam")

Ahem. If this material originated on wikipedia, then it was contributed by a very poor editor (or, more likely, a very inexperienced one). In any case, these bullet points are a) not continuous text; and b) not verified ('Any unsourced material may be challenged and removed.'). I do not feel that it is a valuable contribution to the article. Equally, I do not feel myself to be knowledgable enough re this subject to separate the wheat from the chaff. I gave prior notice of my intention to delete this section, and received only one assent and no dissenters. If you however feel that reverting to the previous version improves the article (I do not, and I believe that my opinion (re these trivia sections) is shared by other wikipedians, although I accept fully that there are no hard-and-fast rules), or that you have the specialist knowledge to pick out and properly reference the material worth preserving, then please do so! Cheers, Badgerpatrol 21:48, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

The Olivier item has been corrected on the imdb. What Olivier was basically saying to Heston was that in order to improve as an actor it is essential to forget good reviews, and instead look at the bad notices to understand how one can do better next time.

Year of birth

There seems to be a dispute over the year of birth. Does anyone have a hardcopy of one of his memoirs? -Will Beback 21:39, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I have an original copy of "In the Arena", first published in 1995. Heston writes, "In 1933, when I was ten ..."

In his book, "The Actor's Life", he mentions turning 35 while shooting "Ben-Hur" in Rome, October, 1958.

That means he was born in 1923!! 58 minus 35 is 23!!! This is from his own journals. He was born in 1923...NO DOUBT. I met him in April 1998 here in OKC.~~MikeR~~

Politics

Was Heston actually against Nixon and Vietnam as the article says, because according to the Internet Movie Database he attended Richard Nixon's victory celebration in 1972 along with John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Glenn Ford.

"Actor George Clooney was quoted as saying that Heston deserved Alzheimer's..." This is not supported by the link which is provided, which only quotes Clooney as saying that Heston deserved whatever was said about him. Corrected. Aretnap 19:12, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Missing Something

Shouldn't something be said about his announcement that he has Alzheimer's Disease? Looking over the talk pages, I realize there was some controversy about that a while back, but shouldn't there at least be a sentence in the article mentioning it?Gershwinrb 06:37, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

There is. Badgerpatrol 15:30, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Whoops, my mistake, didn't see that there. Gershwinrb 05:28, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

Quotes

How about moving the quotes to wikiquote (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charlton_Heston) an deleting them here, and then concentrate on Heston and not what he might have said?

It's always better to move quotes to Wikiquote. -Will Beback 22:08, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Tratior

Charlton Heston should have been impeached for betraying the Democrat Party.

So I guess you believe Ronald Reagan should have been, also?Rlloyd3 06:17, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

And Frank Sinatra.

Impeached from what office? FancyPants 08:16, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

The Chairman of the Board of Showbusiness.

It's traitor, not tratior.....Sheesh!Jlujan69 05:54, 19 July 2006 (UTC)