Charlton Heston -- The Ironic Icon

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Charlton Heston died on Saturday.

He was a man of contradictions, and there appears to be some contradiction, in the sources I've found, as to whether he was born in 1923 or 1924.

But there's no contradiction about his marriage. Heston's widow, Lydia, became his wife in 1944, and their 60-plus-year union was an anomaly in Hollywood, where many people seeem to change spouses as frequently as they change their shoes.

Heston will be remembered for many things.

For those who are old enough, he will be remembered as Moses in Cecil B. De Mille's "The Ten Commandments," or as the protagonist in William Wyler's "Ben-Hur," competing in a chariot race that will endure for generations.

For moviegoers in my generation, he will be remembered for his role in Richard Fleischer's "Soylent Green" (uttering the memorable phrase, "Soylent Green is people!") with its environmental message, or the original "Planet of the Apes" directed by Franklin Schaffner (younger moviegoers saw him in a bit role in Tim Burton's inferior 2001 remake of "Planet of the Apes").

Heston appeared in more than 100 films, and he shared top billing with most of the great movie stars of his lifetime.

He will also be remembered for his sometimes contradictory (and sometimes ironic) political stands.

In 1963, Heston was seen in Washington, D.C., in the company of Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, on hand for the historic civil rights march and Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech. Thirty-four years later, Heston was elected vice president of the National Rifle Association, and he became the NRA's president the following year.

That development was ironic, given the fact that Heston had been a supporter of civil rights and King, who was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. Heston called King a "a 20th-century Moses for his people."

In fact, there's a double irony at work here. Friday was the 40th anniversary of King's assassination. Heston died (apparently of Alzheimer's disease) the following day.

Even more irony -- Heston's final film role (other than appearances via film footage in documentaries or vocal presentations in animated features) was in Michael Moore's 2002 documentary about violence in America, "Bowling for Columbine."

In the film, Moore came to Heston's home, confronted the aging actor about his appearances at pro-gun rallies in the days following high-profile gun killings in American communities (including one in Littleton, Colo., a few days after the massacre at Columbine High School) and asked him how he could defend his pro-gun politics, prompting a clearly flustered Heston to get up and walk out of the interview.

Heston famously challenged his critics to pry his gun "from my cold, dead hands." We can only imagine if anyone tried to do so yesterday.