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Charlton Heston: Hollywood's Last Icon

Written by New York Times bestselling, prize-winning author Marc Eliot



Charlton Heston: Hollywood's Last Icon

Written by
Marc Eliot



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Reviews

“Marc Eliot’s extraordinary new biography, Charlton Heston, Hollywood’s Last Icon, is clearly the definitive work on my father’s extraordinary life and times. With unprecedented access to the Charlton Heston Archives, his personal papers, journals and correspondence, extensive interviews with family, friends and colleagues, and my mother’s huge collection of her own photos––many of them never-before-seen––Eliot has crafted a meticulously researched, eminently readable and compelling portrait. My father’s was a rich, rewarding and complex life, dedicated to public service, which achieved not only the pinnacle of his art but a significant role on the nation’s political stage. If you think you knew my father, think again, and read this book!
Eliot also happens to be a damn good writer––this book reads more like a novel than a biography––and like me, you won’t be able to put it down."
~ Fraser C. Heston
Filmmaker, author of Desolation Sound

A Note From Author Marc Eliot

Marc Eliot and Fraser

The photo on the left is me with Charlton Heston's son Fraser. I have worked on many biographical projects, but this one is special for me. The trust and access I received from the Heston family was unprecedented, without any conditions of editorial control. This was the perfect storm, so to speak, that every biographer dreams of. I was given almost total access to Charlton Heston's letters, photos, and documents, many of which are included in the book. I was able to have long conversations with both Fraser Heston and his sister, Holly, about their father and they were open and frank, and answered virtually every question I asked. I never felt I had to tiptoe around any issue, or soften any of my inquiries.

I have always been interested in rebels—not necessarily political rebels, but social, creative, and fearlessly expressive ones as well. From my first book, Death Of A Rebel: Starring Phil Ochs And A Small Circle Of Friends, through such disparate subjects as Walt Disney, Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson and John Wayne, it was the rebel in each of them that compelled me to write their stories. With Charlton Heston, whose entire life was, I think, in many ways one long rebellion, I found a subject I and everyone can relate to—someone whose life's long journey was exciting on the outside, and equally compelling within.

I believe we can all learn a lot about our own lives by understanding Heston's, the heights he managed to reach and the enormous price he had to pay at times to express his opinions and maintain his personal integrity. This is also a book about the Hollywood of his time, a place where integrity was always at a premium, and it gives a view of the industry that you may never have experienced before. This book is a fasten-your-seatbelt ride. I hope you enjoy it.

–Marc Eliot