By Kelline Linton, Staff Writer
Actor Charlton Heston died April 5 at the age of 84, leaving behind friendships and a legacy at ACU through visits, speaking engagements and two endowment scholarships.
Gary McCaleb, vice president of ACU, first met Heston in 1983 when he visited the campus to speak for the President’s Circle Dinner, an event that honored and thanked ACU donors. The acquaintance quickly grew into a lasting friendship.
Whenever McCaleb was in Los Angeles, the Hestons would always invite him to their house for lunch or dinner.
In 1994, he and Dr. William J. Teague, 9th president of ACU, attended the Hestons’ 50th wedding anniversary dinner in Los Angeles.
“There are a lot of good memories there,” McCaleb said. “In a lot of little ways you saw there was a depth to the man.”
McCaleb said you can see what a person is really like once you have seen what they do outside the media.
“What stood out to me was that he was such a well-known and successful actor, but on a personal level, he was a warm, genuine and authentic person,” McCaleb said. “He was a real person who cared about real things.”
Heston acted in television, movies and theatre for more than 60 years. He was famous for playing Biblical characters and historical roles such as Moses in “The Ten Commandments,” Colonel George Taylor in “Planet of the Apes” and Judah Ben-Hur in “Ben-Hur,” a role that won him the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1959.
Heston was an active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the ’50s and ’60s and the president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.
Heston and his wife, Lydia, visited ACU several times since the 1983 speaking engagement and attended three of ACU’s Homecoming musicals: “The Sound of Music” in 1983, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” in 1985 and “The King and I” in 1989.
“The fact that they kept coming back to ACU was the best indicator that they enjoyed visiting us,” McCaleb said.
The Hestons also endowed two scholarships at ACU. They established the Heston Family ACU Theatre Endowment and the Lydia Clark Heston Photojournalism Scholarship in 1989. In 1985, Mrs. Heston exhibited her photography in the Shore Art Gallery; it included photos taken on the movie sets where Heston had filmed.
In 1989, she introduced her first book of photography, “Light of the World”, published by the ACU Press. The proceeds of Mrs. Heston’s book benefit the photojournalism scholarship.
“For me, of course, photography is my personal way of life,” Lydia Heston wrote in her book.
Charlton Heston received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from ACU in 1991. At the ceremony, Heston read selections from Exodus.
Throughout the years, McCaleb and Heston remained friends and kept in contact, especially for notable moments in their lives.
McCaleb sent Heston a congratulatory note for his 64th wedding anniversary a few weeks before his death.
Reading a letter Heston wrote to him after the death of his own mother, McCaleb showed that Heston lived a life based on values and priorities.
Heston wrote to him, “By now I am sure you are able to savor the countless memories you have stored in your heart. I wish you God’s grace and peace on this difficult journey.”
