Turner Classic Movies

Since Charlton Heston was the king of the epic—Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments and Touch of Evil, to name a few—it's only fitting that Turner Classic Movies honor the actor with an epically long 15-hour marathon. It'll start at 2:30 p.m., Friday afternoon, April 11, and end at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, April 12.

The programming announcement arrived on the heels of the news that Mr. Heston died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. at the age of 84. Long-time TCM host Robert Osbourne is slated to host, but we're hoping Rose McGowan will take some time from her The Essentials duties. TCM's lineup includes an interview and some of his less-touted films like The Buccaneer, Major Dundee, and The Hawaiians. Ben-Hur will play at 9 p.m. But, alas, no The Omega Man.

The name Rose McGowan calls many things to mind—red lips, curves, porcelain skin, Charmed, Scream, Grindhouse or that unforgettable barely-there chain-mail dress she wore to the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards with then-boyfriend Marilyn Manson. But old movie buff … who knew?

Starting this month, the 34-year-old beauty is taking on the role of co-host, with beloved white-haired film historian Robert Osborne, of Turner Classic Movies’ series The Essentials. “I’m not just a complete movie geek, I’m actually a total weirdo,” Ms. McGowan said via phone from Los Angeles (where she had just returned from her brother’s Las Vegas wedding. “At a gay chapel. He’s not gay. It was awesome.”). “I’ll read someone’s out-of-print autobiography, and then I’ll go and read two more biographies about them just so I can cross-reference them. That is what I do in my spare time,” she laughed. “I don’t really like to boast about such things, and I can’t tell you what I did yesterday, but I have a strange encyclopedic knowledge and savant-esque memory of random things. Like, I can tell you all about the fantastic character actors in Shirley Temple movies, or who and how someone is related to Norma Shearer. That’s the kind of thing I love discussing.”  read more »