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The Actors Life: Journals 1956–1976
Charlton Heston remembers it all, from the cold water flat in a New York slum to the top of the greatest show on Hollywood. He opens his heart, soul and personal diaries in this 20 years of insight and experience behind the scenes with directors, stars, movies, and his family. Noted as candid, even courageous.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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About the author
Charlton Heston
100 books16 followersCharlton Heston was an American Academy Award-winning film actor.
Heston was known for playing heroic roles, such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes and Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur. Early in his career, he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to publicly speak out against racism and was active in the civil rights movement. During the latter part of his movie career, he starred in films such as The Omega Man and Soylent Green, which have a strong environmental message. He was president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.
Heston was known for playing heroic roles, such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes and Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur. Early in his career, he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to publicly speak out against racism and was active in the civil rights movement. During the latter part of his movie career, he starred in films such as The Omega Man and Soylent Green, which have a strong environmental message. He was president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 6, 2016
An amazing and surprisingly erudite journal covering 20 years in the personal and professional life of Charleton Heston, who during the period in question (1956 - 1976) was one of the hardest-working and certainly one of the most successful actors on the planet. Short, punchy, insightful and often humorous entries maintain the pace over two decades of acting on film and stage, traveling the world endlessly, raising a family, building a home and getting involved in more professional and artistic associations, charities, civil rights marches, and pro-am tennis tournaments than I can possibly count. More than that, however, it is a sort of informal history of Hollywood from its studio-system Golden Age until the mid-1970s. Heston either worked with, worked for, played tennis with or argued with everyone who was anyone in Hollywood: Cecil B. DeMille, Ava Gardner, Chuck Connors, Orson Welles, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Shaw, Sophia Loren, Lawrence Olivier, Sam Peckinpah, Vanessa Redgrave, James Coburn, Jason Robards...the list is almost endless. As a time capsule of a bygone era the book has great value, but as a picture-window into the attitudes of a man who was almost pathologically committed to his craft, it is fascinating and perhaps unique. It is hard to imagine a modern actor writing a journal which reflects such an active, questing intelligence, or such exacting standards of professionalism. What's more, there are terrific anecdotes about shooting such classic films as BEN-HUR, PLANET OF THE APES, THE OMEGA MAN, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY, SOYLENT GREEN, and so on. In short, if you have any interest in acting or actors, the history of Hollywood, the private life of a movie star in the pre-Internet era, the process by which movies are made (and not made), or Heston himself, this book is indispensable.
September 5, 2008
I loved this book telling of his years both on the stage, giving us a peek into his private life with his family, and his years and experiences making films
December 3, 2011
It takes a brave man to publish his journal. It certainly wasn't what I expected it to be.
June 3, 2012
The Actor's Life: Journals, 1956-1976 is a generous selection of entries from the journals Heston kept through his most active and successful years as a major star. As he explains in his introduction, Heston began keeping a journal because a yearly agenda book his wife gave him had space at the bottom of each page for a hundred words of diary notes for the day. Heston stuck with these books and this regime for at least twenty years, publishing this collection in 1978, as his career was beginning to wane.
The constraint of space at the bottom of the agenda page gives this book a somewhat odd feeling. There are no long, introspective entries or rambling meditations or verbose descriptions. Rather, this is a collection of 480 pages of life-bites. To be perfectly crude, this is an excellent bathroom book. Just leave a copy by the fixture, catch up on progress toward getting a backer for “The War Lord” or the many Roman dinner parties held during “Ben Hur” or “Agony”. Read about Charlton playing tennis with Rod Laver. Or dining at the White House. Or taking innumerable flights between L.A., London, Rome, or New York–all in first class, of course.
Heston makes no great bones about the trappings of celebrity, of course–it came with the job, in his view. If you enjoy reading about lifestyles of the rich and famous, The Actor's Life: Journals, 1956-1976 provides plenty of material.
But there is also a wealth of information about all the details and steps involved in getting a movie conceived, produced, and distributed. And about the problems and considerations of acting on film (and on stage–Heston kept up a steady stream of stage work throughout this period).
Read more at: http://neglectedbooks.com/?p=223
The constraint of space at the bottom of the agenda page gives this book a somewhat odd feeling. There are no long, introspective entries or rambling meditations or verbose descriptions. Rather, this is a collection of 480 pages of life-bites. To be perfectly crude, this is an excellent bathroom book. Just leave a copy by the fixture, catch up on progress toward getting a backer for “The War Lord” or the many Roman dinner parties held during “Ben Hur” or “Agony”. Read about Charlton playing tennis with Rod Laver. Or dining at the White House. Or taking innumerable flights between L.A., London, Rome, or New York–all in first class, of course.
Heston makes no great bones about the trappings of celebrity, of course–it came with the job, in his view. If you enjoy reading about lifestyles of the rich and famous, The Actor's Life: Journals, 1956-1976 provides plenty of material.
But there is also a wealth of information about all the details and steps involved in getting a movie conceived, produced, and distributed. And about the problems and considerations of acting on film (and on stage–Heston kept up a steady stream of stage work throughout this period).
Read more at: http://neglectedbooks.com/?p=223
July 5, 2022
He ends one early December journal entry: 'My son and marriage are thriving and I can still make a living doing something I'd do for free' That's a sentiment that remains throughout the book.
It's an interesting seeing the various journal entries and Heston's development, such as getting the Studio to give Orson Welles another chance at directing Touch of Evil, and his realization that it doesn't totally work as a movie but that Orson had great skills and trying to get him to work on another project with him again. (Such as in Julius Caesar, he wanted Orson to play Brutus however by then he was too fat, which is a shame as Jason Robbards' Brutus is the weakest part of the film)
Some of the journal entries are funnier in hindsight, Heston recounts the 100th birthday party for Adolph Zuckor, "It's Bob, Mr. Zuckor' Bob Hope' - Bob Hope, why I thought you were dead' - becomes a lot funnier given Bob Hope's longevity also reaching 100.
Heston is usually able to tell when a project doesn't or won't work, for example in Major Dundee, which doesn't quite work he sums up, the studio wanted a standard cowboy and Indians film, he wanted a civil war angle between him and Richard Harris being the movie and director Sam Peckinpah wanted a film like he eventually made in the Wild Bunch.
This is helpful in deciding what other movies of Heston one should seek out and one should avoid, as he his truthful when is acting is great or it's a dog of a film that he did only for the money.
Heston clearly has a great wife, (unlike a lot of film stars with fame and money he never divorced), one clear example is when his' wife's agent was trying to get here a role in a film and she was concerned how it would affect her ability to attend the London Premier of Ben Hur.
'Look honey, you have to decide if you want to Act or go to Chuck's Premiers' -'Allright, I'll go to Chuck's premiers'
It's an interesting seeing the various journal entries and Heston's development, such as getting the Studio to give Orson Welles another chance at directing Touch of Evil, and his realization that it doesn't totally work as a movie but that Orson had great skills and trying to get him to work on another project with him again. (Such as in Julius Caesar, he wanted Orson to play Brutus however by then he was too fat, which is a shame as Jason Robbards' Brutus is the weakest part of the film)
Some of the journal entries are funnier in hindsight, Heston recounts the 100th birthday party for Adolph Zuckor, "It's Bob, Mr. Zuckor' Bob Hope' - Bob Hope, why I thought you were dead' - becomes a lot funnier given Bob Hope's longevity also reaching 100.
Heston is usually able to tell when a project doesn't or won't work, for example in Major Dundee, which doesn't quite work he sums up, the studio wanted a standard cowboy and Indians film, he wanted a civil war angle between him and Richard Harris being the movie and director Sam Peckinpah wanted a film like he eventually made in the Wild Bunch.
This is helpful in deciding what other movies of Heston one should seek out and one should avoid, as he his truthful when is acting is great or it's a dog of a film that he did only for the money.
Heston clearly has a great wife, (unlike a lot of film stars with fame and money he never divorced), one clear example is when his' wife's agent was trying to get here a role in a film and she was concerned how it would affect her ability to attend the London Premier of Ben Hur.
'Look honey, you have to decide if you want to Act or go to Chuck's Premiers' -'Allright, I'll go to Chuck's premiers'
June 26, 2010
A VERY interesting book, giving us a roughly 20 year insight into Mr Heston's life. The fact this Oscar award winning actor was willing to allow his private thoughts and emotions to be shown to the general public in and of it's self should make you want to read it. Reading about how movies I saw in my youth came to be made this even more interesting. Anyone interested in a 'slice of life' about a fascinating actor, activist and man should pick this book up.
September 25, 2022
Very interesting look into the work behind the drama and the fame of movie stars. The work he put in on his films is amazing and exhausting. One seems to imagine that acting is a playground, which it may be, but the playground is more like an army endurance course. Enjoyed reading about him and, as is often the case, I like him more than I did before I read his journals.
September 6, 2015
Okay, the 5 stars are because I was such a big fan of Charlton Heston way back when. Maybe the book should have 4 stars? Not sure. I really enjoyed it.
January 18, 2026
I truly do not understand the high ratings. The diaries are very sanitized, and there is little in them other than he was a hard worker, a devoted family man and travelled a lot. The highlight was his discussions with Larry Olivier who had lots of good advice, not just for an actor, but creative people in general. I did find it interesting why he took up with the Planet of Apes though like most things it was relegated to a sentence or two. I did like his comments about Sydney's rock oysters -- he agreed they were the best in the world.
February 24, 2024
I picked this up on a lark when I was laid up with an illness and going down an internet rabbit hole on Ben-Hur. It ended up being incredibly engrossing, especially if you read it in Charlton Heston's voice.
February 12, 2014
A really enjoyable book. I could never be an actor. They try to see too much in movies. I just go for the fun of them.
September 7, 2013
A long book - Learned much about the man and the film making industry (and the theater too).
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews