In the Arena: An Autobiography [Hardcover]

Charlton Heston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 1995

Describing a career that spans half a century, one of America's favorite actors tells of his childhood shyness, personal insecurities, early steps to Broadway and television, and behind-the-scenes accounts of his great epic films. 100,000 first printing. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Heston's memoir traces an amazingly prolific and durable career from his starring roles in historical epics of the 1950s and 1960s (The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur) through disaster films of the 1970s (Earthquake) and into recent years spent largely as a stage actor and in TV character roles. As a published author (Bejing Diary, LJ 10/1/90, and the best-selling The Actor's Life, LJ 12/1/78), Heston no doubt actually wrote this volume and can be presumed to be a reliable chronicler. Throughout he is unusually generous to colleagues, totally devoted to his family, and surprisingly restrained in offering his well-publicized conservative political views. This memoir of a popular actor and his long career is recommended for most collections.?Thomas Wiener, Editor, "Satelite DIRECT"
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

You'd hardly expect Chuck Heston--as decent a guy as any American actor's ever been--to produce a racy tell-all, and he doesn't. Rather, he recounts his career, although only after glowingly recalling his rural Michigan childhood and poor adolescence in contrastingly tony Wilmette, Illinois--then as now among Chicago's wealthiest suburbs. A drama scholarship to Northwestern University set him on the road to success and a string of distinguished films rivaled by few other actors of his generation. The stories of making those movies are the meat here, with seasoning coming from Heston's parallel stage accomplishments, his activism with the Screen Actors' Guild (he succeeded Ronald Reagan as SAG president), words of wisdom on the crafts of acting and filmmaking, tart asides on current cultural foibles (like Reagan, he's a former Democrat turned staunch Republican), and loving references to wife and children. But there's no gossip, which movie lovers who especially admire the grand-style filmmaking of Heston's 1950s^-1960s heyday won't miss a bit, so enthralled they'll be with the production anecdotes about The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, and El Cid, among others. Ray Olson

Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st edition (September 12, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684803941
• ISBN-13: 978-0684803944
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #253,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Actor, director, activist, family man., August 3, 2005

By 

Kona (Emerald City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: In the Arena: An Autobiography (Paperback)

Charlton Heston's larger-than-life screen presence comes through on every page of his wonderful 1995 autobiography, which is a really great read. Heston grew up poor in the woods of northern Michigan, where he was lonely and painfully shy. He gained confidence in his high school's senior play, and as he says, he never looked back. He won a university scholarship, and there he had his first-ever date. Her name was Lydia; she was an acting student, and they have been happily married now for over 60 years.

Heston began his career on the stage; he loves acting in and directing plays, especially Shakespeare, and has done almost as many plays as movies. We get all the fascinating behind-the-scenes stories, learn which movies he is most proud of and those that make him cringe, the co-stars he admired and those he didn't. He has no false modesty about his power as an international movie star, yet he comes across as a genuinely nice man who treasures his family.

Fans of Charlton Heston are sure to enjoy this heartfelt autobiography.

Kona

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book by a Great Man!, May 22, 2002

By 

F. McCaughey "fmccaughey" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Arena: An Autobiography (Paperback)

This is a great book. Charlton Heston looks back on his enormous acting career with lots of emotion and lots of funny memories. I admire the man for his convictions and integrity and now also on his writing abilities. If you are a Heston fan, this book is a must. I don't understand why it's out of print!!! I got a copy out of the library and then I bought a used copy.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic autobiography of a true Hollywood icon! July 2003, July 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Arena

Charlton Heston's autobiography is a wonderful journey of his life, from shy teenager to Hollywood legend! A director/actor who has helped in recreating history, not only on film, but on the stage too, with some of the biggest names in the acting arena. His book reflects, with great wit,love and affection his personal life; with the love of his life of more than 60 years, his wife, Lydia, his co-stars, his directors' and his love affair with his work. His book is honest and gives his fans an indepth look at what it's like to be one of the greatest actors that ever walked on this planet. I highly recommend it! I wrote to him this week, as you know, he is not in good health, we wish him well. There is only one Ben Hur!