Charlton Heston dead at age 84

Charlton Heston, born Charles Carter, in 1923 in a Chicago suburb, changed his name when he went into films. His Mom and Dad had divorced and she remarried. He took on his mother's maiden name and his step-father's last name and became Charlton Heston. He died yesterday at the age of 84 at home with his wife. He had announced in 2002 that he was showing symptoms of Alzheimer's. He had always included his audience of fans in everything that happened in his life.

"America has lost a great patriot. The Second Amendment has lost a faithful friend," said Wayne LaPierre, of the National Rifle Association of America, in a statement. "So have I, and so have four million NRA members and eighty million gun owners. And so has every American who cares about the Bill of Rights, individual liberty, and Freedom.

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