Dear Readers,
“Anniversario numero 30”, coming up for the Museo ItaloAmericano in San Francisco, reminds me that actor Charlton Heston and his wife Lydia Heston were charter members of the Museo ItaloAmericano when it first opened its doors in 1978, atop Malvina’s Caffé, in a gallery space generously donated by the late Franco Bruno.
Mrs. Heston, a real Italophile and excellent photographer, had studied Italian with Museo ItaloAmericano’s founding Director Giuliana Nardelli Haight. This year 2008 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Museo ItaloAmericano, the only museum in the country devoted exclusively to Italian and Italian American art and culture. Established in 1978, the Museo ItaloAmericano is a non-profit institution.
In its early years it was located in North Beach, San Francisco, first above Caffé Malvina, and then in Casa Fugazi. In 1985, the Museo moved to Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, where it occupies a 5,000 square feet facility designed by Teresa Pomodoro. Museo ItaloAmericano, Fort Mason Center – Bldg. C, San Francisco, CA 94123. In 1979, when Commendatore Edward Galletti specified that all proceeds from his testimonial dinner be donated to the Museo ItaloAmericano in order to launch the “Friends of Italy Exhibit”, Lydia Heston beautiful colored photographs of Venice delighted Museo viewers with their fresh look at this much photographed city.
Charlton Heston and his wife Lydia made several visits to the Museo and also appeared on the “Re di Cuori” TV program hosted by Alvaro Bettucchi on Channel 20, Sunday evenings. Lydia was interviewed in English by host Alvaro Bettucchi, who in addition to his Italian television program on Sundays, was a school principal, excellent musician and the fellow who helped bring “The Italian Games” to South San Francisco and the Bay Area.
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Signora Heston, a fine photographer and fine friend to the then fledging Museo ItaloAmericano lost her husband Charlton Heston earlier this year (April 5, 2008). Following is a brief bio of Charlton Heston and also an open letter he wrote to family and friends, six years ago, when he was first diagnosed with the onset of Alzheimer disease.
Charlton Heston was a tall handsome actor who delighted female fans but also captured male audiences with his two-fisted bravado in early westerns, costume epics and historical spectacles (Pony Express, 1953; The President’s Lady, 1953; Moses in the Ten Commandments, 1953; Judah in Ben Hur, 1959; John the Baptist, Greatest Story Ever Told, 1965; Michelangelo, The Agony and the Ecstasy, 1965 and the Greatest Show on Earth, 1963.
Heston was born October 4, 1924 in Evanston, Illinois and attended Northwestern University. He spent three years in the Air Force and on his discharge, he and his wife Lydia Clarke acted and directed at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Theater in Asheville, North Carolina. From there, they went to New York. On Broadway he appeared in Anthony and Cleopatra, Leaf and Bogh, Cockadoodle Doo, and in 1956 he played the title role in the New York City Center revival of Mr. Roberts.
His TV credits included Macbeth, Of Human Bondage, and Julius Caesar. Heston’s films include The Greatest Show on Earth, 1953; Ruby Gentry, 1953 and The Big Country, 1958. Explaining why he was chosen for the title role of Ben Hur, the athletic actor quipped; “I happen to be one of two men in Hollywood who can drive a chariot. Francis X. Bushman (the silent screen star) is the other, but he is a senior citizen now.”
Charlton Heston was as conscientious off the set as on, and served six terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild, a post that provided two of his predecessors (George Murphy, Ronald Reagan) with a springboard into politics. Heston, however, disclaimed any ambitions for a political career himself. “I’ve played three presidents, three saints, and two geniuses,” he said, “That should satisfy any man.”
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Charlton Heston died on April 5th in his home. The Oscar-winning actor was known for his biblical roles in films. After he retired from his extensive film career, Heston appeared in another biblically-themed production – “Charlton Heston Presents the Bible,” – a four-part video series in which he narrates and presents the Bible. In the series, which was shot in the Middle East, Heston declared, “If you seek the Lord, you will find Him.”
Following is a letter that Charlton Heston wrote when he was diagnosed with an illness. “My Dear Friends, Colleagues and Fans: My physicians have recently told me I have a neurological disorder whose symptoms are consistent with Alzheimer’s disease. So…I wanted to prepare a few words for you now, because when the time comes, I may not be able to. I’ve lived my whole life on the stage and screen before you. I’ve found purpose and meaning in your response. For an actor there’s no greater loss than the loss of his audience.
I can part the Red Sea, but I can’t part with you, which is why I won’t exclude you from this stage in my life. For now, I’m not changing anything. I’ll insist on work when I can; the doctors will insist on rest when I must. If you see a little less spring in my step, if your name fails to leap to my lips, you’ll know why. And if I tell you a funny story for the second time, please laugh anyway. I’m neither giving up nor giving in.
I believe I’m still the fighter that Dr. King and JFK and Ronald Reagan knew, but it’s a fight I must someday call a draw. Please feel no sympathy for me. I don’t. I just may be a little less accessible to you, despite my wishes. I also want you to know that I’m grateful beyond measure. My life has been blessed with good fortune. I’m grateful that I was born in America, that cradle of freedom and opportunity, where a kid from the Michigan Northwoods can work hard and make something of his life. I’m grateful for the gift of the greatest words ever written, that let me share with you the infinite scope of the human experience.
As an actor, I’m thankful that I’ve lived not one life, but many. Above all, I’m proud of my family….my wife Lydia, the queen of my heart, my children, Fraser and Holly, and my beloved grandchildren, Jack, Ridley and Charlie. They’re my biggest fans, my toughest critics and my proudest achievement. Through them, I can touch immortality. Finally, I’m confident about the future of America. I believe in you. I know that the future of our country, our culture and our children is in good hands.
I know you will continue to meet adversity with strength and resilience, as our ancestors did, and come through with flying colors – the ones on Old Glory. William Shakespeare, at the end of his career, wrote his farewell through the words of Prospero, in “The Tempest”. It ends like this: “Be cheerful, sir. Our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, the cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself, yea all which it inherit, shall dissolve and, like this insubstantial pageant faded, leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep. Thank you, and God bless you, everyone.” (August 2002)
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