Ben Hur star reprises role in cartoon

Veteran actor Charlton Heston is back playing Ben-Hur – this time in a cartoon.

The 78-year-old, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, won a best actor Oscar for his performance as Judah Ben-Hur in the 1959 movie epic.

Based on a 1880 novel by Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur won 11 Oscars for its story of a Jewish prince in the time of Christ who is condemned to be a galley slave, but returns to take revenge on the former childhood friend who framed him.

This time round, Heston provides the voice of the title character and supplies narration in a new animated version of the classic which is being released on DVD and video in the States later this month.

Heston said he wanted youngsters to have a gentler introduction to the story which takes place during the time of Christ.

He says: “We believe it can be delivered in a child-friendly format to families who have never seen either the play or films.

“Besides, I just could not resist the chance to play this wonderful part again.”

The cartoon includes more scenes between Ben-Hur and Jesus and the famous chariot race and has less violence than usual.

The title also drops a hyphen so the new version is titled Ben Hur.

Heston performed the voice work for the cartoon more than a year ago, several months before announcing last autumn that he was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

His son Fraser, who is a co-producer of the cartoon, said his father remained in stable health and hoped to reprise the role of Moses in an animated version of his 1956 film, The Ten Commandments.

“He’s in pretty good shape,” he said. “His memory is still good, and we hope he’ll have many more years to come.”