Valentine developed friendship with Charlton Heston
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Sioux Cityan Fiona Valentine holds a photo that shows herself and actor Charlton Heston. At left is Heston's wife, Lydia. Standing to the right of Valentine is Ingvar Wikstrom, a caterer. (Submitted photo)
A Cinemascope-sized photograph of Charlton Heston, his wife Lydia and Fiona Valentine has a place of honor in Valentine's Sioux City home.
It's one of the very few pictures she has of herself with a celebrity and it reminds her of so much.
"It was taken at a reception at Northwestern University," Valentine explains. "It fell to me and a bunch of theater people to organize this affair." The Hestons had come to the school -- their alma mater -- to perform in a 1993 benefit production of "Love Letters."
Valentine worked in the school's speech and theater department and, often, was called to help Heston's mother. "She needed help with this and that," she says. "When (her daughter) Lilla died, I arranged her memorial service."
The actor's gratitude fueled a relationship that lasted until his death Saturday.
Sioux City became the beneficiary of that relationship when Valentine suggested the Sioux City Art Center host an exhibition of his wife's photographs in 1997. She had championed a similar show at Northwestern and thought it might be a great fit for the center.
As its development director, Valentine made the pitch, then flew to California to talk with the Hestons. "They didn't live in a flashy home. It was a very lived-in house with lots of books. The first thing I saw was a sand pit that said, 'Jack's sand pit.' It was their grandchild's.
"Usually, when you see homes of the stars in Architectural Digest, they're very pristine and you know the designers have been there. This was the complete antithesis. There were Jack's drawings all over the place, Jack's toys."
In Heston's autobiography, he said the worst thing that happened to him was his parents' divorce. "So you could see he wanted to create the perfect world for his grandchild." Valentine ran up and down a corridor with Jack -- who was 7 or 8 at the time -- and saw Picassos on the wall. "I don't remember seeing his Oscar, but I do remember a flag he had gotten from Ronald Reagan. He was a modest man who didn't take himself too seriously."
That night, the Hestons took Valentine to dinner "in a second-hand car from the '70s."
For the lifelong fan of the movies, it was an evening to remember -- "extremely fun and comfortable."
"The first grown-up film I saw was 'The Greatest Show on Earth,'" she says. "I was 4 years old and I saw it in England. Who would have thunk that one day I would be going out to dinner with him?" She smiles at the thought.
At the dinner, plans were made for the exhibition. The Hestons came to Sioux City for the Sept. 12, 1997, opening and Heston was extremely proud that this was his wife's moment in the spotlight.
"When we drove up to the art center, we had a reserved sign for Lydia Clarke Heston. 'I like that,' he said. This was her show. He didn't want to take the limelight from her."
Still, Heston managed to thrill a luncheon crowd. At a party at Sidonie Haines' home, he was asked to speak. "He did Prospero's speech from 'The Tempest' and I got goosebumps," Valentine says. "It was absolutely riveting and amazing."
Every year since, Valentine -- who is coordinator of public relations at Western Iowa Tech Community College -- has gotten Christmas cards from the Hestons. Most featured Lydia's photographs.
When Heston announced in 2002 he had Alzheimer's disease, Valentine wrote with her concern.
Naturally, he wrote back: "I've enjoyed the times we've spent together and will never forget them. ... I submit a comment another old friend made as follows: 'Dear Chuck: Just my luck. The one big-shot that ever remembered my name now tells me he may forget it. I find that unacceptable.' A lot of funny things have flowed over my desk in the last few days but I think that remark topped them all. ... As William Shakespeare said, 'Fear not, all will yet be well.'"
The day Heston died, Valentine talked with Ingvar Wikstrom, the caterer who's next to her in the photograph. They reminisced about the event and remembered just how down-to-earth their Oscar-winning friend was.
"If you were to remake 'Ben-Hur' with Colin Farrell, he'd be competing with special effects for screen time. But Charlton Heston didn't need special effects."
Growing up in England, Valentine fell in love with the movies, largely because Heston had drawn her in.
"I've met dozens of celebrities but I've never whipped out my camera and said, 'Let's take a picture.'"
This one, though, was different. Shot by a professional, it represented the start of a friendship and a sense of admiration that won't die.
"I associate him with the kind of movie-going that was very exciting and not just something to pass the time," Valentine says. "Charlton Heston was able to give life to characters who were larger than life."
Read the letter
"You've warmed my heart," Charlton Heston told Fiona Valentine in a letter dated Aug. 26, 2002. Download and read the complete letter he wrote to her.
It's one of the very few pictures she has of herself with a celebrity and it reminds her of so much.
"It was taken at a reception at Northwestern University," Valentine explains. "It fell to me and a bunch of theater people to organize this affair." The Hestons had come to the school -- their alma mater -- to perform in a 1993 benefit production of "Love Letters."
Valentine worked in the school's speech and theater department and, often, was called to help Heston's mother. "She needed help with this and that," she says. "When (her daughter) Lilla died, I arranged her memorial service."
The actor's gratitude fueled a relationship that lasted until his death Saturday.
Sioux City became the beneficiary of that relationship when Valentine suggested the Sioux City Art Center host an exhibition of his wife's photographs in 1997. She had championed a similar show at Northwestern and thought it might be a great fit for the center.
As its development director, Valentine made the pitch, then flew to California to talk with the Hestons. "They didn't live in a flashy home. It was a very lived-in house with lots of books. The first thing I saw was a sand pit that said, 'Jack's sand pit.' It was their grandchild's.
"Usually, when you see homes of the stars in Architectural Digest, they're very pristine and you know the designers have been there. This was the complete antithesis. There were Jack's drawings all over the place, Jack's toys."
In Heston's autobiography, he said the worst thing that happened to him was his parents' divorce. "So you could see he wanted to create the perfect world for his grandchild." Valentine ran up and down a corridor with Jack -- who was 7 or 8 at the time -- and saw Picassos on the wall. "I don't remember seeing his Oscar, but I do remember a flag he had gotten from Ronald Reagan. He was a modest man who didn't take himself too seriously."
That night, the Hestons took Valentine to dinner "in a second-hand car from the '70s."
For the lifelong fan of the movies, it was an evening to remember -- "extremely fun and comfortable."
"The first grown-up film I saw was 'The Greatest Show on Earth,'" she says. "I was 4 years old and I saw it in England. Who would have thunk that one day I would be going out to dinner with him?" She smiles at the thought.
At the dinner, plans were made for the exhibition. The Hestons came to Sioux City for the Sept. 12, 1997, opening and Heston was extremely proud that this was his wife's moment in the spotlight.
"When we drove up to the art center, we had a reserved sign for Lydia Clarke Heston. 'I like that,' he said. This was her show. He didn't want to take the limelight from her."
Still, Heston managed to thrill a luncheon crowd. At a party at Sidonie Haines' home, he was asked to speak. "He did Prospero's speech from 'The Tempest' and I got goosebumps," Valentine says. "It was absolutely riveting and amazing."
Every year since, Valentine -- who is coordinator of public relations at Western Iowa Tech Community College -- has gotten Christmas cards from the Hestons. Most featured Lydia's photographs.
When Heston announced in 2002 he had Alzheimer's disease, Valentine wrote with her concern.
Naturally, he wrote back: "I've enjoyed the times we've spent together and will never forget them. ... I submit a comment another old friend made as follows: 'Dear Chuck: Just my luck. The one big-shot that ever remembered my name now tells me he may forget it. I find that unacceptable.' A lot of funny things have flowed over my desk in the last few days but I think that remark topped them all. ... As William Shakespeare said, 'Fear not, all will yet be well.'"
The day Heston died, Valentine talked with Ingvar Wikstrom, the caterer who's next to her in the photograph. They reminisced about the event and remembered just how down-to-earth their Oscar-winning friend was.
"If you were to remake 'Ben-Hur' with Colin Farrell, he'd be competing with special effects for screen time. But Charlton Heston didn't need special effects."
Growing up in England, Valentine fell in love with the movies, largely because Heston had drawn her in.
"I've met dozens of celebrities but I've never whipped out my camera and said, 'Let's take a picture.'"
This one, though, was different. Shot by a professional, it represented the start of a friendship and a sense of admiration that won't die.
"I associate him with the kind of movie-going that was very exciting and not just something to pass the time," Valentine says. "Charlton Heston was able to give life to characters who were larger than life."
Read the letter
"You've warmed my heart," Charlton Heston told Fiona Valentine in a letter dated Aug. 26, 2002. Download and read the complete letter he wrote to her.
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Suzanne wrote on Apr 28, 2008 2:22 AM:
1 who cares wrote on Apr 8, 2008 4:07 PM:
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TAP wrote on Apr 8, 2008 11:59 AM: