October 4 Birthday Wishes

John Larch [1914 - 2005]
Charlton Heston [1923 - 2008]

Howdy Manco!!

John Larch was always one of my favorite character actors. He could play good guys or snarling villains with equal talent. He began his career as Capt. Star on the radio in 1953. About that same time he appeared in the ole 50's t.v. series, I Led 3 Lives, with Richard Carlson as I recollect. Several of his early roles were uncredited, as he tried to get his foot in the door of Hollywood. He did many of the 50's t.v. shows, like Bat Masterson, Yancy Derringer and The Rifleman which led to his being cast in Bittercreek, Seven Men From Now, Man From Del Rio, Gun For A Coward and finally a role he could really get his teeth in, Quantez, with Fred MacMurray. Because of his strong, no nonsense voice and demeanor, he could play policeman, judges, ranchers, lawyers, etc. He had a recurring role on the 60's series, Arrest And Trial, but because of strong demand for his talents, Larch never took on roles that lasted for years, until the end of his career, when he became a regular on Dallas. He will probably be best remembered for his roles in a couple of Clint Eastwood films, Play Misty For Me and as the Police Chief in Dirty Harry.

There is nothing more to be said about one of the top talents to appear in film, like Charlton Heston, so I'll just list his accomplishments.

1952 The Greatest Show On Earth.

1956 Moses, in The Ten Commandments.

1958 The Big Country.

1959 Academy Award for Ben Hur.

1961 El Cid.

1963 55 Days At Peking.

1965 The Greatest Story Ever Told.

1965 Major Dundee.

1966 Khartoum.

1968 Planet Of The Apes.

1968 Will Penny.

1973 Soylent Green.

1974 Earthquake.

1976 The Last Hard Men.

1978 Grey Lady Down.

1980 The Mountain Men.

His role of Judah Ben Hur ranks right up there with Russell Crowe's in Gladiator and his dual roles in the little gem, Mother Lode as Silas and Ian McGee may well have been some of his very best. John Wayne could play tough guys, Henry Fonda could play the everyman, but NOBODY played larger than life roles better than Charlton Heston!

Ed

Also today:

Lori Saunders (1941-) replaced Pat Woodell as Bobbie Jo Bradley in the 3rd season of Petticoat Junction, and later played Betsy in the Western comedy series Dusty's Trail.