When it comes to saving lives, God trumps doctors for many Americans. An eye-opening survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors "need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a miracle."

More than half of randomly surveyed adults — 57 percent — said God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment would be futile. And nearly three-quarters said patients have a right to demand such treatment.

When asked to imagine their own relatives being gravely ill or injured, nearly 20 percent of doctors and other medical workers said God could reverse a hopeless outcome.

The actor, who died last week, told The Times in 1956 that walking in the prophet's footsteps left him nearly overwhelmed.

By Steve Padilla, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

April 12, 2008

So what did the man who played Moses have to say about the biblical Moses?

The answer came this week in The Daily Mirror, The Times' blog about the paper's coverage of the past. After Charlton Heston died April 5 at the age of 84, blogger Larry Harnisch unearthed an article from Oct. 28, 1956, headlined "Moses Film Role Awes Performer."

The occasion was the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments," in which Heston portrayed the prophet.