SHORT TAKES : Heston Hails Vanessa Redgrave

Charlton Heston and Vanessa Redgrave are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. But Heston still ranks Redgrave as the world’s best actress.

“She does a wider stretch of parts, and she takes more chances than any actress alive,” Heston said on “The Joan Rivers Show,” taped in December for broadcast Thursday.

Heston said it is OK with him that Redgrave “makes Jane Fonda look like Herbert Hoover.”

“My political conservatism has gotten me some bad notices,” he conceded, adding that he learned early in his career not to worry about critics.

Heston named Ava Gardner, Jennifer Jones, Sophia Loren and Jean Simmons as the most glamorous actresses.

Gardner and Jones “are much better actresses than they think they are,” said Heston, who has worked with both.