He remembers Charlton Heston

Their friendship goes almost 50 years back, so when Charlton Heston died of Alzheimer’s disease-related complications at age 84 last April 5, Marcos B. Roces, now 90, grieved as if he lost a member of his family. Come to think of it, Heston was “like family” to the Roceses who owned the Ideal Theater, a landmark at the old Avenida Rizal which was gutted by fire three decades ago. Ideal Theater was then the home of Metro Goldwyn Meyer (MGM) Pictures for which Heston starred in several movies portraying him as The Ultimate Macho, such as Ben Hur, El Cid, Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man and, but of course, the all-time favorite The Ten Commandments where he played Moses.

Marcos was among the first who sent Heston’s wife Lydia, now 85, a message of sympathy. Marcos met the couple in 1960 when Heston

came here to grace the premiere of Ben Hur. (When he learned that I was going to interview Marcos about Heston, a showbiz old-timer fondly recalled that during that visit, a Filipino actress flirted with Heston, ready, willing and able to go to bed with him; but ever the gentleman, Heston politely told the disappointed actress, “You are so beautiful but I’m sorry, my wife is with me.”)

“Charlton was here for one week,” said Marcos during an interview at the Makati office where he still reports every day. “He stayed for only one day in Japan also for the premiere but he decided to stay longer in the Philippines not only because of  seven premier showings (for the benefit of various charity organizations), including one graced by then Pres. Carlos P. Garcia, were scheduled but he wanted to visit the country’s important landmarks.”

Like Marcos, Heston loved to play tennis.

“He was staying at the Manila Hotel but he was at my house practically every day. We were living on McKinley Road and at that time, we had a tennis court. He was easy to get along with. When he came to our house, he would sit on a chair, put his feet up and felt right at home.”

Marcos remembers Heston as a “very intelligent person” who would study the customs and tradition of a country before visiting it, like what he did before coming to the Philippines.

“He said, ‘I want three things: I want to see Corregidor and Santo Tomas (the university) where the American soldiers were entombed, and I want to play tennis.’ So after every interview with newsmen, he would come to my house and we would play tennis.”

That’s how their friendship blossomed — on the tennis court. It was a friendship that would last for decades.

In 2002 when Heston announced at a press conference that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Marcos promptly wrote him a letter.

Heston sent an equally prompt reply on his own stationery, dated Sept. 4, 2002. It read:

Dear Marcos,

I have your message expressing your concern about the announcement I made recently about my health: you’ve warmed my heart. The times we spent together are golden to me and I’ll never forget them.

I feel deep gratitude for the many letters, phone calls, emails and faxes I’ve received in recent days. I’m not certain I entirely deserve such an outpouring of good wishes from so many people, but I’m taking them all to heart.

Please accept my thanks for your warm support and goodwill. I truly feel this is a challenge I can overcome, thanks to my family, my many friends and God’s Grace.

As William Shakespeare said, “Fear not, all will yet be well.”

Cordially,

Charlton Heston

“His wife Lydia was a wonderful woman,” said Marcos, himself married to a wonderful woman, Marie Teresa Prieto. (One of their children, Mark, was once married to Elizabeth Oropeza with whom he has a daughter, Genevieve.) “Charlton went to Northwestern University where Lydia was his classmate. They were married for 64 years; theirs was one of the longest marriages in Hollywood.”

Describing Heston as “easy-going...a very pleasant person,” Marcos said that Heston never turned down an autograph-seeker. “He came again a few years later...I don’t remember the exact date...that time for the premiere of another movie by Universal Pictures and not MGM. If I’m not mistaken, the movie was 55 Days at Peking.”

Heston would return the same hospitality when Marcos was in Hollywood.

“Charlton would invite me to his house in Beverly Hills which had a swimming pool and a tennis court. Yes, we would play tennis.”

The last time Marcos communicated with Heston was in 2003, a year after he announced that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, when he congratulated Heston after the American Film Institute (AFI) created an award in his name. Heston wrote back, again on his own stationery. It read:

Dear Marcos,

How nice to hear from you. I hadn’t seen the article and appreciate having it for my files.

I was pleased and delighted  with the awards the AFI has developed in my name. It touched me deeply.

Best wishes to you and good luck.

As ever,

Charlton Heston

When Marcos learned that Heston had died, he sent Lydia a Mass card, together with a letter of condolence and old photos of Heston.

“What do I remember most about Charlton? Well, he was a very nice person. He was very humble and very down-to-earth. He had no star complex at all, despite his stature as a great Hollywood star. He was very modest, very unassuming. He was one of a kind.”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected] or at [email protected])