He was President of the [[Screen Actors' Guild]] from 1966 to 1971 and the president of the [[National Rifle Association]] from 1998 to 2001. A strapping man with chiseled features, he is best remembered for his portrayals of [[Moses]] in ''The Ten Commandments'', Taylor in the 1968 version of ''Planet of the Apes'', and Rodrigo in ''El Cid''. His movie ''Ben Hur'' is also a classic. He was a very passionate man, and rigorously defended the [[Second Amendment]] right to bear arms and was an early supporter of the [[civil rights movement]] where he walked with [[Martin Luther King]]. He did not like the form that ongoing [[affirmative action]] took believing that removed the equality that was being sought. Making a moving public speech to America in 2002 that he had been diagnosed with symptoms related to [[Alzheimer's disease]], he was seldom seen in public after that. Married to the same wife for 64 years, his entire adult life, he is survived by his wife and two children. | He was President of the [[Screen Actors' Guild]] from 1966 to 1971 and the president of the [[National Rifle Association]] from 1998 to 2001. A strapping man with chiseled features, he is best remembered for his portrayals of [[Moses]] in ''The Ten Commandments'', Taylor in the 1968 version of ''Planet of the Apes'', and Rodrigo in ''El Cid''. His movie ''Ben Hur'' is also a classic. He was a very passionate man, and rigorously defended the [[Second Amendment]] right to bear arms and was an early supporter of the [[civil rights movement]] where he walked with [[Martin Luther King]]. He did not like the form that ongoing [[affirmative action]] took believing that removed the equality that was being sought. Making a moving public speech to America in 2002 that he had been diagnosed with symptoms related to [[Alzheimer's disease]], he was seldom seen in public after that. Married to the same wife for 64 years, his entire adult life, he is survived by his wife and two children. |