Heston Plays Lincoln in Birthday Reading

Actor Charlton Heston, known for delivering the Ten Commandments as Moses, proclaimed the words of Abraham Lincoln in Westwood on Monday.

Beneath an American flag, Heston recited the Gettysburg Address to dozens gathered at Los Angeles National Cemetery on President Lincoln’s birthday.

Heston, in a blue blazer and red shirt, read what he called “the finest speech ever given by an American”--despite its being dismissed as trivial in 1863.

The 72-year-old actor tapped his heel while the Salvation Army Long Beach Temple Band played patriotic tunes, including “Marching Through Georgia” and “America the Beautiful.”

One Beverly Hills man, Gene Rubin, 69, sported a black top hat in honor of Lincoln, born on this day 187 years ago. .

Duke Russell began the tradition of reading the address on the 16th President’s birthday four years ago.

Late Times columnist Jack Smith did the honors last year, and then wrote, “Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if Heston could have read the speech instead of me? Lincoln was called the Great Emancipator; Heston might be called the Great Enunciator.”