Charlton Heston

You cut their money back, for one thing... I go back a long way with the NEA.

My appearance qualifies me for historic characterizations, going back to the year one.

I always thought of myself as inadequate. Kids of divorced parents always feel that way - that, on some subconscious level, they're responsible.

Well, we have certainly produced great art before we did this. In my view, there are any number of areas of government which tax money should not be spent.

Kids are the most conventional people in the world. It is more important than anything else for them to conform, and I was a kind of oddball. I was driven into being independent. I was very, very unhappy.

What acting offered me was the chance to be many other people.

It's been quite a ride. I loved every minute of it.

When you are a young actor, you're imbued with the high purpose of your art. You think, 'They hire me for my talent; if that's not good enough, then they can hire somebody else.' Later, you realize that your body is as much a part of what you do as your talent.

Undeniably the American art form, too. And yet more and more, we see films made that diminish the American experience and example. And sometimes trash it completely.

Sometimes life drops blessings in your lap without your lifting a finger. Serendipity, they call it.

You could think of extraordinary examples to the contrary: The Grapes of Wrath... and even into the 70s.

Shakespeare is the outstanding example of how that can be done. In all of Shakespeare's plays, no matter what tragic events occur, no matter what rises and falls, we return to stability in the end.