Actor and NRA President Charlton Heston is taking film star George Clooney to task after Clooney's reported wisecrack over Heston's Alzheimer's disease.

New York Post columnist Liz Smith wrote Sunday that while Clooney was accepting an award from the National Board of Review last week, he said that "Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's."

When Smith asked the actor if he went too far with his remarks, Clooney -- who's against the gun lobby -- responded, "I don't care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association; he deserves whatever anyone says about him."

According to the Internet Movie Database, Heston responded to Clooney's remarks by noting the "class" of the actor's late aunt, singer-actress Rosemary Clooney.

"It just goes to show that sometimes class does skip a generation," Heston was reported as saying.

When cable news show host Bill O'Reilly got wind of Clooney's remarks this week, it re-ignited a war of words that began when O'Reilly criticized the actor for not following up on the distribution of monies from Sept. 11-related fundraisers.

"If this had been George Clooney's first mistake I'd just mock him and forget about it, but he's clearly out of control," "The O'Reilly Factor" host said Monday. "I believe most Americans will find these remarks mean-spirited."

In addition, O'Reilly sounded off about the press' apparent lack of reporting Clooney's comments.

"Just imagine if someone mocked Christopher Reeve's paralysis," O'Reilly added. "The Hollywood press and the elite media would go nuts, but very little has been said about Clooney's insensitivity."