Judah Ben-Hur Actor. Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson turned down the role before Heston accepted it. In this version Ben-Hur becomes a Christian at the Crucifixion of Christ; whereas in the book Ben-Hur becomes a Christian earlier. Ben-Hur is given a more somewhat bitter personality; Balthazar, one of the three wise men having witnessed the birth of Christ begs him to listen to the teachings of Jesus but Judah rebuffs him saying that he has business with Rome. Blaming Rome for destroying the once good Messala (prior to his corruption) and what has happened to his family Judah refuses to
Tribe of Ben-Hur has changed". The society also operated a monthly allowance program for eligible orphans from birth to eighteen. Tribe of Ben-Hur The Tribe of Ben-Hur was a fraternal organization based on the novel "" by Lew Wallace. In 1930 it became the Ben-Hur Life Association. The idea of starting a fraternal organization based on "Ben-Hur" had first been broached by D. W. Gerard and F. L. Snyder, both of Crawfordsville, Indiana. In November 1893 they held a conference with Lew Wallace asking for his consent to form the order. Wallace consented and secured the permission from his publishers, but objected to