Bush leads tributes as Hollywood mourns Heston

AFP, April, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — US President George W. Bush led the tributes to Charlton Heston on Sunday after the chisel-jawed Hollywood icon died at his home in Beverly Hills aged 84.

Heston, best remembered for his Oscar-winning performance in the 1959 chariot-racing classic "Ben Hur" and the star of a slew of other biblical epics, passed away on Saturday with his wife of 64 years, Lydia, at his side.

The actor -- an outspoken liberal in the 1960s who attracted controversy in the later years of his life after becoming a Republican and a staunch gun advocate -- revealed in 2002 he been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Bush, who draped the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Heston's neck in a 2003 ceremony, hailed the actor as "one of the most successful actors in movie history and a strong advocate for liberty."

"He was a man of character and ...