Who knew Cheeta, the chimp from the old Tarzan movies was still alive? He just turned 76 on Wednesday, according to DeadorAliveinfo.com. I think he holds the Guiness record for oldest ape. How about that?
I shouldn’t wait too long to pay tribute to Charlton Heston. Over the weekend, in the midst of my musings on classic ape movies, the star of “Planet of the Apes” passed away. Along with playing the astronaut Taylor in the that world turned upside down by simian domination, Heston was known far and wide for his roles as Ben Hur, Moses, John the Baptist, and the Voice of God.
More importantly, Heston was a moral and strong-willed person. He stood up for what was right and as far as I know never compromised. Maybe you didn’t agree with his views on guns, but there was more to him than the NRA and defending the Second Amendment. Something I never knew is Heston marched with Martin Luther King Jr. (Read more in this column by Chuck Colson.)
Many people in Alliance do know, however, that Heston lived there a brief time when he was child. A larger-than-life invidualist, he came from humble beginnings. The following appeared in The Alliance Review Monday:
Charlton Heston briefly lived in Alliance in 1934, attending South Freedom Elementary School and living on East Milner Street.
According to an Alliance Review article following Charleston’s win as best male actor for his role in “Ben-Hur” in 1959, Heston’s cinematic career began when he received a role in a fourth-grade play in the few brief months he lived in Alliance.
In the article published in 1960, Mrs. Ross Haines recalled Heston as a child in a grade 4-A class in 1934. Harry O. Wheaton, who was a playmate of Heston’s, recalled that Heston was known as a good checkers player in those days.
