Selleck: Charlton Heston still going strong

Selleck: Heston taped his announcement to ensure it had no self-pity.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- One of Charlton Heston's friends and colleagues said Monday the screen legend is full of strength and humor despite his recent announcement he is suffering symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Tom Selleck, who appeared with Heston in the 1976 war drama" Midway" and co-starred with him in the 1997 television movie "Big Guns Talk," said he was unaware Heston was going to announce his condition in a videotaped statement distributed Friday.

"His announcement was so typically Chuck -- he did it with grace and dignity and intelligence," Selleck told CNN's "Wolf Blitzer Reports."

Selleck telephoned Heston, whom he called his friend and mentor.

"He said, 'I still got a lot of fight in me, and this isn't the end of the line,'" Selleck recounted. "And that's very much Chuck, too. He had a lot of humor Friday and it was great to talk to him."

Heston himself said Friday he is "neither giving up nor giving in" and will continue to work as long as he can.

Selleck said he believes Heston, 77, prerecorded his message so he could more easily control what he wanted to say.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Actor Charlton Heston announces on TV that doctors have told him he has symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease (August 9) Play video   RESOURCES EW.COM: All about Charlton Heston    EXTRA INFORMATION Heston's statement

"I think he really wanted to make a statement that wasn't ... full of self-pity," he said.

"He's grateful for the position he's in and the privilege his being an actor has afforded him, and I think he wanted to control that in a way that didn't lead off on tangents that he wasn't interested in."

Selleck, 57, is a life member of the National Rifle Association, which he decided to do as a show of support when Heston became president of the group.

He said he admired Heston's role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and appreciated Heston's support in the Screen Actors Guild when Selleck was a fledgling actor.

"If a guy as good and decent with as much grace as Chuck Heston can stand up for an issue that I think is very important," Selleck said, "then I certainly could stand up and I plan on remaining a life member for life."

Heston's term as NRA president ends in April, but a spokesman said he intends to remain in the post.

The actor is a friend of former President Ronald Reagan, 91, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1994.

Selleck said he wasn't sure whether Reagan's public announcement that he had the disease had an effect on Heston's decision to come forward.

"Certainly I would guess that Chuck would have been both inspired and informed by the courage President Reagan showed."