The best action hero

If Hollywood had a yearbook, he would have been voted Most Likely to Survive an Apocalypse.

Charlton Heston outlived human civilization in "Planet of the Apes," a vampire plague in "The Omega Man" -- even the entire Egyptian army in "The Ten Commandments." If there was any shock at his death the other day, at 84, it was that he somehow hadn't managed to conquer that, too.

But if the end finally came for the star, his movies live on -- and they'll survive the controversies and cruel embarrassments that marked his last years.

Of course, in the days to come, Heston will be as deified by the right wing for his NRA cheerleading and plain-spoken conservative politics as he will be assailed by the left for the same. But both miss the point. What mattered about Heston were the movies. His greatest role wasn't as an advocate, but as an action hero.

Heston began his career in avant-garde cinema, local theater and live TV, but when the movies came calling in 1950 he answered, thinking it would last for a year or two. "The Greatest Show on Earth," however, made him a name and "The Ten Commandments," made him a star -- with TV broadcasts of the film making him as dependable a springtime presence in American homes as Easter eggs, or a Passover feast.

Heston's talent was more physical than anything else -- 6'2" with a booming voice, broad shoulders and a broken nose that just saved him from being beautiful, he looked, Cecil B. De Mille said, like a Michelangelo statue come to life. He was a hero sent by Central Casting, and unlike some of his contemporaries -- Kirk Douglas, say, or Burt Lancaster -- rarely subverted or even challenged that type. (According to Gore Vidal, the one actor who didn't know there was a gay subtext to "Ben Hur" was the actor actually playing Ben Hur.)

Yet -- even miscast as a Mexican -- Heston's good in "Touch of Evil," where his commanding presence stands in stark rebuke to his inability to protect his own wife. Some of his later characters -- the self-loathing astronaut of "Planet of the Apes," the aging athlete of "Number One," the sexist cop of "Soylent Green" -- showed a willingness to look beneath the image of the straight-jawed, clean-cut hero. And Heston also demonstrated, early on, a willingness to use that public image for private purposes -- making sure that Orson Welles got the directing job on "Touch of Evil," marching for Civil Rights in the early `60s.

Later, Heston turned more conservative, finally taking on the job of spokesperson for the National Rifle Association. It was a job he did with his usual vigor and, sometimes a clueless insensitivity; appearing at NRA rallies even in towns where there had been recent shootings brought him an onslaught of criticism, which he deserved. But it also brought Michael Moore and his camera crew to his door, which he did not.

Moore surprised the actor at his home for "Bowling for Columbine," peppering him with questions about the NRA and school shootings, following him even after the old actor concluded the interview and walked away. When the movie came out, I asked Moore about it. Didn't he think it was unfair to keep that footage in, I asked. After all, Heston had recently admitted he had Alzheimer's.

"He doesn't have Alzheimer's," Moore said flatly. "He announced that he had Alzheimer-like symptoms. It was a very skillfully worded announcement. And I hope he doesn't have Alzheimer's; I don't wish that on anybody. But how can you feel sorry for the guy that's the head of the most powerful lobby in Washington, D.C., a lobby that's responsible for making sure people have access to cop-killer bullets and assault weapons?"

Obviously Moore didn't. I wonder if he feels sorry today -- if not for Heston, than at least for his own nasty insinuation at the time that the actor was lying. I rather doubt it. (So far, Moore's site only has a picture of the star, and an AP report on his death.)

But I don't doubt that long after "Bowling for Columbine" is forgotten, "Ben Hur" and "The Ten Commandments" and "Planet of the Apes" and "Major Dundee" and "El Cid" and quite a few other Heston movies will be remembered. And that, in years to come, the man will be taken as he was -- as someone who, however much his politics changed over the years, stood by his beliefs of the time with damn-the-consequences plain talk and chin-out, take-me-on defiance.

Just like the heroes he played so well.