CHARLTON HESTON

The first time I saw Charlton Heston he was 40 feet tall. He commanded the entire movie screen at the Majestic Theatre in my hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas. In the Era of movie stars he was a MOVIE STAR.

Like me, when you first heard of his death, you were probably reminded of that fantastic 15 minute chariot-race in "Ben-Hur." Did you know it took five weeks to film and required 15,000 extras. Also, Heston was most proud that he did all of his own stunts in that race. I looked at it again last night and even on the small screen of my computer it is still unbelievably exciting.

Growing up in small-town mid-America I had that movie business all figured out. You see, they just made one copy and then sent it first to the big cities. Eventually it worked its way down to small towns for either a three day or four day run. Then, if you missed it, that was it. Your only chance.

If you were under 12 years old the movies cost 11 cents and for adults 12 years or older it cost 35 cents. There were no senior citizen cut-prices.
However sometimes the theatres gave you a kitchen dish when you left the theatre. The biggest bargain in Fort Smith was the New Theatre. On Saturday afternoon for one ticket you saw the double feature, a cartoon, a popcorn advertisement, a Pete Smith Speciality, and the on-going 13-Week Serial. (The forerunner of television.)

The other thing I remember about movies when I was growing up, was that we never got in at the start of the picture. If our date was at 7:30 we got into our seats at 7:40 and then when we recognized the scene, that's where we came in, so we got up and left and headed for the drive-in.

The movies were a major part of our lives. After all no television, no video tape, no VTR, no IPod, no Blockbuster, no NetFlex. And of all the MOVIE STARS I remember most is Charlton Heston, "The Ten Commandments," "The Greatest Show On Earth,""The Big Country,""The Greatest Story Ever Told,""Major Dundee,""Will Perry,""El Cid,""The Agony and the Ecstasy,""Khartoum,""Planet of the Apes," any of which would be a career for many of today's movie stars.

In 1998 Heston was diagnosed with prostate cancer. As a survivor of prostate cancer I had written a book containing many personal stories of cancer survivors. I mailed a copy to Charlton Heston, wishing him well. Three weeks later, I received the nicest letter thanking me for thinking of him and for sending my book. It was signed CHARLTON HESTON. It is one of my proudest possessions.