The South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) is the regional film archive for the South West of England. Established in 1993, SWFTA's core collection comprises of the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and TSW (Television South West). The archive also cares for a significant number of donated film collections, both amateur and professional, dating back to the early 1900s.
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Charlton Heston in Cornwall
Hollywood Actor Charlton Heston thinks about playing Saxon King Harold.
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Overview
Charlton Heston (1923-2008) is interviewed while on a visit to the Minack Theatre in Cornwall and appears accompanied by his wife, actor and photographer Lydia Clarke. Over 60 years he appeared in 100 films and received 11 Oscars including one for the title role in Ben Hur (1959). He appeared in epic films, The Ten Commandments (1956), El Cid (1961), Julius Caesar (1950 and 1970) and starred in Planet of the Apes (1968) a film to which he returned for Tim Burton’s 2001 remake.
Heston played cameo roles in Wayne’s World 2 (1993) and appeared as himself in an episode of American television show Friends. Politically active, he was President of the Screen Actors Guild, supported US President Ronald Reagan and became President of the National Rifle Association in 1998. He was a prolific narrator including for US military films for which he had the highest security clearance. He narrated Disney’s Hercules (1997) and Michael Bay’s Armageddon (1998) and appeared as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s boss in True Lies (1994). The Hestons were married for 64 years to Charlton Heston’s death from pneumonia in 2008 although from 2002 he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
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