Charlton Heston 1923--2008

Jim Trotter

April 14, 2008

CHARLTON HESTON, who died last Saturday at 84, was never much of a jock; as a high school kid in Willamette, Ill., he was more into drama. But thanks to his steely-eyed mien, his 6'3" frame and superior acting chops, he was very believable as an athlete, be it a chariot racer, in 1959's Ben-Hur (above, left), or an aging New Orleans Saints quarterback, in 1969's overlooked Number One (right). Heston's best sports movie, though, was probably 1976's Two-Minute Warning, in which he played a cop tracking down a sniper on the loose at a football game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.