Yong Fang
05-04-2013, 05:16 AM
All the stories that we hear about famous people who had problems with fame, problems with their personal life (divorce, drugs, medical and personal issues) and whatnot, what famous people lived a "good life", or a "charmed life".
My example is the great Charlton Heston. Was born to a prosperous family, had (by his admission) a very nice idyllic (according to his Wiki) childhood, who went to a top University (Northwestern in Chicago), fell in love and married a woman when he was 21 that he stayed married to for a lifetime (his wife is still alive and will be 90 this year), where he had two healthy children.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Heston.jpg
He was of age in WWII, but joined late in the war (1944) and served his military time in the Aluetian Islands in Alaska. This might seem to suck, but he wasn't dodging Japanese bullets on some sweltering island, like the thousands of people of his generation did, Japanese, Americans, Germans, Russians.
After college and his military service, when he decided to be an actor, went through a very brief "hand to mouth phase". But he was never that poor, he and his wife managed a playhouse in Asheville NC for $100 a week in the late 40's, which then was a sufficient income for that time and place. Then he started to get movie roles in his 20's and never looked back. Heston was in many iconic film roles, a track record in film that other successful actors would have loved to emulate. Heston never really had a career lull.
He made some lunker films, and he had to live the death of both his parents and his stepfather. He also had to live and comfort his wife going through the struggles of seeing her parents die. But that is a common and natural thing of life and existance. No one's life is perfect, and everyone has pain.
Heston did what he wanted to do, and made millions of dollars doing it, was married to a woman he loved for a lifetime, never divorced, and had healthy children. The only two negatives in his life was that his parents divorced when he was young, and then (to his charm) fell in love with his mother's second husband, and took his family name "Heston". The other negative was that he died an elderly man, probably not with all of his faculties towards the end, due to Alzheimers and age. But that happens to a lot of elderly people. Someone like him probably thought he would be never old and weak, and this might have been a sad thing for him. But he lived his old age in great comfort, still married to the same woman from his youth.
Life well lived.
This is not about Heston, but anyone who has lived a "charmed life". Another actor who comes to mind is Paul Newman, whose life was very similar to Heston. Newman from a semi wealthy family, married a woman for decades he was in love with, and more or less walked into a high paying profession at a young age and kept at it for a lifetime.
Someone very successful and loved, like Clint Eastwood, has several wives and the whole Sandra Locke affair (Locke was a girlfriend of Eastwood who sued him for palimony, and talked bad about Eastwood in interviews). Ronald Reagan had an alcoholic father, divorced his first wife, and had some difficulties relating with his children, especially Ron Jr. and his daughter. Maybe Heston did too. Dunno.
In short (too long already) which famous people, actors, rock stars, performers, writers, etc., did not have the pitfalls of drink/drugs, multiple wives, financial troubles, jail, or goofball behavior indictitive of many Hollywood/famous people? If I were a young actor, I would truly use Heston or Newman as an example on how to do it.
People who lived life well, no drug/alcohol trauma, divorces, career lulls, was wealthy and respected with people who loved them. Discuss.
My example is the great Charlton Heston. Was born to a prosperous family, had (by his admission) a very nice idyllic (according to his Wiki) childhood, who went to a top University (Northwestern in Chicago), fell in love and married a woman when he was 21 that he stayed married to for a lifetime (his wife is still alive and will be 90 this year), where he had two healthy children.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Heston.jpg
He was of age in WWII, but joined late in the war (1944) and served his military time in the Aluetian Islands in Alaska. This might seem to suck, but he wasn't dodging Japanese bullets on some sweltering island, like the thousands of people of his generation did, Japanese, Americans, Germans, Russians.
After college and his military service, when he decided to be an actor, went through a very brief "hand to mouth phase". But he was never that poor, he and his wife managed a playhouse in Asheville NC for $100 a week in the late 40's, which then was a sufficient income for that time and place. Then he started to get movie roles in his 20's and never looked back. Heston was in many iconic film roles, a track record in film that other successful actors would have loved to emulate. Heston never really had a career lull.
He made some lunker films, and he had to live the death of both his parents and his stepfather. He also had to live and comfort his wife going through the struggles of seeing her parents die. But that is a common and natural thing of life and existance. No one's life is perfect, and everyone has pain.
Heston did what he wanted to do, and made millions of dollars doing it, was married to a woman he loved for a lifetime, never divorced, and had healthy children. The only two negatives in his life was that his parents divorced when he was young, and then (to his charm) fell in love with his mother's second husband, and took his family name "Heston". The other negative was that he died an elderly man, probably not with all of his faculties towards the end, due to Alzheimers and age. But that happens to a lot of elderly people. Someone like him probably thought he would be never old and weak, and this might have been a sad thing for him. But he lived his old age in great comfort, still married to the same woman from his youth.
Life well lived.
This is not about Heston, but anyone who has lived a "charmed life". Another actor who comes to mind is Paul Newman, whose life was very similar to Heston. Newman from a semi wealthy family, married a woman for decades he was in love with, and more or less walked into a high paying profession at a young age and kept at it for a lifetime.
Someone very successful and loved, like Clint Eastwood, has several wives and the whole Sandra Locke affair (Locke was a girlfriend of Eastwood who sued him for palimony, and talked bad about Eastwood in interviews). Ronald Reagan had an alcoholic father, divorced his first wife, and had some difficulties relating with his children, especially Ron Jr. and his daughter. Maybe Heston did too. Dunno.
In short (too long already) which famous people, actors, rock stars, performers, writers, etc., did not have the pitfalls of drink/drugs, multiple wives, financial troubles, jail, or goofball behavior indictitive of many Hollywood/famous people? If I were a young actor, I would truly use Heston or Newman as an example on how to do it.
People who lived life well, no drug/alcohol trauma, divorces, career lulls, was wealthy and respected with people who loved them. Discuss.