On Monday, February 16, at 8 p.m. (ET), the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network kicks off the second season of its exclusive, original interview series Private Screenings with Private Screenings: Charlton Heston. The premiere of the one-hour special featuring Heston talking one-on-one with network series host Robert Osborne kicks off Charlton Heston Week on TCM (Feb. 16-22), spotlighting 18 of his epic portrayals: his Oscar®-winning performance as BEN-HUR (Feb. 16, 9 p.m.), as John the Baptist in THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (Feb. 19, 10 p.m.) and other memorable performances in KHARTOUM (Feb. 19, 3:40 a.m.), MIDWAY (Feb. 22, 8 p.m.) and more. (See attached schedule)

Private Screenings: Charlton Heston chronicles Heston's lengthy film career, from his memorable college performance in Peer Gynt to 1973's sci-fi classic SOYLENT GREEN (Feb. 16, 2 a.m.). He also speaks candidly on his relationships with such noted figures as Orson Welles, Sir Laurence Olivier, George Stevens and leading ladies Sophia Loren and Janet Leigh. Excerpts include:

HESTON ON JIMMY STEWART AND THE 1959 OSCAR® CEREMONIES: "The memory I treasure is that I happened to enter the theater at the same time as Jimmy Stewart, who was nominated as well and when we were going in, he took my arm and said, 'Chuck, I hope you win. I really mean that.' It still chokes me up. No other actor alive would say that-let alone mean it."

HESTON ON CECIL B. DE MILLE: "Really, he was the {Steven} Spielberg of his time, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say Spielberg is the De Mille of his time. What they share in common is the incredible and almost mystic ability to know absolutely not what the audience wanted to see this month, but what they would want to see in 10 months, and they both profited from that magic ability."

Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in more than 19 million homes, is a 24-hour cable network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. that presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from the largest film library in the world, the combined Time Warner and Turner film libraries, from the '20s through the '80s, commercial-free and without interruption. Visit the TCM website at (http://TCM.turner.com).

Charlton Heston Week Programming Schedule (All Times Eastern)

Monday, February 16
8 p.m.		World Television Premiere: Private Screenings: Charlton Heston 
			(1998)				   
9 p.m.		BEN-HUR (1959)-co-starring  Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd and Hugh
			Griffith 			   
1 a.m.		Encore Presentation: Private Screenings: Charlton Heston (1998)
2 a.m.		SOYLENT GREEN (1973)-co-starring Edward G. Robinson and Leigh 		
			Taylor-Young

Tuesday, February 17
8 p.m.		THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952)-co-starring Betty Hutton and 
			Cornel Wilde
11 p.m.		Encore Presentation: Private Screenings: Charlton Heston (1998)
12 a.m.		THE NAKED JUNGLE (1954)-co-starring Eleanor Parker and Abraham 	
			Sofaer
2 a.m.		ARROWHEAD (1953)-co-starring Jack Palance and Brian Keith
4 a.m.		THE FAR HORIZONS (1955)-co-starring Fred MacMurray and Donna Reed

Wednesday, February 18
8 p.m.		55 DAYS AT PEKING (1963)-co-starring Ava Gardner and David Niven
11 p.m.		BEN-HUR (1959)-co-starring Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd and Hugh 
			Griffith
3 a.m.		Encore Presentation: Private Screenings: Charlton Heston (1998)

Thursday, February 19
8 p.m.		THE WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE (1959)-co-starring Gary Cooper 
10 p.m. 	THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965)-co-starring Max von Sydow 
			and Carroll Baker
1:30 a.m.	MAJOR DUNDEE (1965)-co-starring Richard Harris and Jim Hutton
3:40 a.m.	KHARTOUM (1966)-co-starring Sir Laurence Olivier and Richard 
			Johnson

Friday, February 20
8 p.m.		NUMBER ONE (1969)-co-starring Jessica Walter and Bruce Dern
10 p.m.		THE HAWAIIANS (1970)-co-starring Geraldine Chaplin and Tina Chen
12:30 a.m.	SKYJACKED (1972)-co-starring Yvette Mimieux and James Brolin

Saturday, February 21
8 p.m.		SOYLENT GREEN (1973)-co-starring Edward G. Robinson and Leigh 
			Taylor-Young
10 p.m.		AIRPORT '75 (1974)-co-starring Karen Black, George Kennedy and 
			Helen Reddy
12 a.m.		EARTHQUAKE (1974)-co-starring Ava Gardner and George Kennedy

Sunday, February 22
8 p.m.		MIDWAY (1976)-co-starring Henry Fonda, James Coburn and Glenn Ford
10:30 p.m.	GRAY LADY DOWN (1978)-co-starring David Carradine and Stacy Keach