Saturday, November 29, 1997

Silver screen's 'Moses' writes the book on the Bible

By JIM JONES

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

Charlton Heston began quoting from Genesis 1, and a photographer and I listened with rapt attention. We almost felt we were hearing the voice of God as the dignified actor intoned:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; and the earth was without form and void. And darkness lay on the face of the deep."

Heston, who was interviewed while in Texas to promote his new book, "Charlton Heston Presents the Bible," quoted the creation story to illustrate the beauty and clarity of the King James Version of the Bible.

"I not only prefer the King James, but I absolutely insist on it," Heston said last week. "This side of Shakespeare, there is no better writing in the language."

His book from G.T. Publishing is based on a television special about the Bible Heston did for the A&E Network two years ago, traveling to Egypt and Israel.

Heston, at 72, looks like a slightly weathered version of the man who played Moses in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments" 41 years ago.

He still is an avid tennis player.

"My claim to fame is that I'm one of the lousiest tennis players to have ever played some of the greatest tennis players in the world," Heston said. He has been on the court with such tennis legends as Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, Pete Sampras and others.

Heston is worried a little that his new book about the Bible will add to what he says is his undeserved image as a person of religious power.

Even though he makes it clear he has no outstanding religious credentials, his fans inevitably identify him with the roles he played.

"I played Moses," Heston said, smiling. "I'm not Moses."

Heston, who won an Academy Award for "Ben Hur," has played other biblical characters, such as John the Baptist in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and the role of God in "Almost an Angel."

"I've played all these great men - presidents and generals and saints and prophets and kings," he said. "And it seems to have created a kind of a nimbus (aura) around me, and some absolutely forget I'm just an actor."

Heston adds commentaries on some of his favorite stories from the Bible in his book, but he had help from religious scholars.

"I take pains when I talk about this (Bible) project to make it clear that I have no religious credentials," he said. "I'm not a cleric. I have no seminary training."

Nevertheless, Heston, an Episcopalian, has a high regard for religious faith and would like to see it influence society to a greater extent.

"The Bill of Rights, which I think is a sacred document, says Congress shall pass no laws regarding the establishment of religion," he said.

However, he said religious expressions in public places are often prohibited, such as Christmas depictions of Christ in the manger or displays of the Ten Commandments in a courtroom.

"I don't think it's right to try to take religion out of public life," he said. "But that's what is happening.

Heston's book includes color photographs of famous religious works of art from museums around the world, including several of Michelangelo's works in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.

One of Heston's favorite artworks is a sculpture of Moses by Michelangelo in the Church of St. Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.

"That sculpture also illustrates a point I like to make that an artist can spend a lifetime being an actor, painter or writer, and you still never get it perfect," he said.

Heston said a flaw in the Moses sculpture - a chip out of the marble on one leg of the patriarch - supposedly was put there by Michelangelo himself.

"Legend has it that when Michelangelo finished the sculpture, he threw a hammer at it, because it wasn't exactly right," Heston said.

Heston said he is a perfectionist in the field of acting.

"I'll be doing another movie next year," he said. "I'm still trying to get it right."

(Jim Jones is religion editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Write to him at: the Star-Telegram, P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, TX 76101.)

(c) 1997, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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