Photo: Alamy
On 13th December 1960, mere months after winning an Oscar for his role in Ben Hur, Charlton Heston almost met with disaster on the set of El Cid, an epic historical drama unfolding in the sun-drenched landscapes of Spain. While immersed in a demanding broadsword duel scene choreographed by the esteemed Italian fencing master Enzo Musumeci Greco, a fatigued Heston darted left rather than right as Greco’s weapon approached, his neck ending up centimetres from the heavy blade. That evening, Heston briefly recorded the day’s chilling events in his journal.
The Diary Entry
December 13
I’m falling into a grinding schedule with this duel scene. I damn nearly had my head cut off today; no doubt would’ve, but for Enzo’s skill and steadiness. I came home a touch shaken, hoping to avoid the meeting set on the Bardot film [‘Private Lives’] and one other, a swashbuckler in Italy. The Bardot film is appealing, but impossible to undertake, since she wants to shoot it in French. I don’t want another swash to buckle now, either.
Further Reading
Charlton Heston began to keep a journal in 1956, and for the next twenty years continued the habit. In 1978, E.P. Dutton & Company published a selection of those entries in the book, The Actor’s Life: Journals, 1956‐76, edited by Hollis Alpert. Entries are short—rarely longer than 200 words—and although they rarely reveal anything profound it’s difficult not to be entertained by the recollections of such a huge Hollywood figure.
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