Charlton Heston
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Charlton Heston (October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor, renowned for his towering screen presence and roles in some of Hollywood’s most famous epics. Born John Charles Carter in Illinois, he discovered his passion for acting in school, studied drama at Northwestern University, and began his career on stage and in live television before transitioning to film. He first gained major attention in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth and then became an international star with his performances as Moses in The Ten Commandments and Judah Ben‑Hur in Ben‑Hur, the latter earning him the Academy Award for Best Actor. Heston went on to headline a wide range of big‑budget films, including El Cid, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Planet of the Apes, and The Omega Man, establishing himself as one of the most recognizable leading men of mid‑20th‑century cinema. Beyond acting, he was active in public life, supporting civil rights in the 1960s and later becoming a prominent conservative voice and president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003. He retired from public life after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2002 and died on April 5, 2008, in Beverly Hills, California, leaving behind a legacy as both a cinematic icon and a polarizing political figure.
Known for
Credits
Hercules (1997)
as Narrator (voice)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
as George Taylor
Planet of the Apes (2001)
as Zaius (uncredited)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
as Moses
True Lies (1994)
as Spencer Trilby
Armageddon (1998)
as Narration (voice)
Touch of Evil (1958)
as Ramon Miguel Vargas
Soylent Green (1973)
as Detective Robert Thorn
Ben-Hur (1959)
as Judah Ben-Hur
Tombstone (1993)
as Henry Hooker
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
as Taylor
Any Given Sunday (1999)
as AFFA Football Commissioner
Midway (1976)
as Capt. Matthew Garth
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
as Jackson Harglow
Cats & Dogs (2001)
as The Mastiff (voice)
Wayne's World 2 (1993)
as Good Actor
The Three Musketeers (1973)
as Cardinal Richelieu
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
as John the Baptist
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
as Self - NRA President
The Order (2001)
as Professor Finley
The Mountain Men (1980)
as Bill Tyler
55 Days at Peking (1963)
as Maj. Matt Lewis
Treasure Island (1990)
as Long John Silver
The Big Country (1958)
as Steve Leech
El Cid (1961)
as El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar
Airport 1975 (1974)
as Alan Murdock
Major Dundee (1965)
as Major Amos Charles Dundee
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
as Brad Braden
The Omega Man (1971)
as Robert Neville
Earthquake (1974)
as Stewart Graff
The Four Musketeers (1974)
as Cardinal Richelieu
Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
as Self - 'Taylor'
Khartoum (1966)
as Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon
Hamlet (1996)
as Player King
The Call of the Wild (1972)
as John Thornton
Gray Lady Down (1978)
as Captain Paul Blanchard
The Prince and the Pauper (1977)
as Henry VIII
Secret of the Incas (1954)
as Harry Steel
The War Lord (1965)
as Chrysagon
The Naked Jungle (1954)
as Christopher Leiningen
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
as Michelangelo
Forever Hollywood (1999)
as Self
The Last Hard Men (1976)
as Sam Burgade
Will Penny (1967)
as Will Penny
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Two-Minute Warning (1976)
as Capt. Peter Holly
Mother Lode (1982)
as Silas McGee / Ian McGee
Three Violent People (1956)
as Colt Saunders
Solar Crisis (1992)
as Adm. "Skeet" Kelso
An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. (1986)
Actor
A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King (2011)
as Self (archive footage)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
as John Sands
The Awakening (1980)
as Matthew Corbeck
A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green' (1973)
as Self
The Far Horizons (1955)
as Lt. William Clark
Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary (1989)
as Self
The Making of 'Tombstone' (2002)
as Self
Alaska (1996)
as Perry
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)
as Self – Interviewee
Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 (1992)
as Captain Al Haynes
Almost an Angel (1990)
as God
Pony Express (1953)
as Captain William Frank 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
Directed by William Wyler (1986)
as Self
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade (2004)
as Self (archive footage)
The Buccaneer (1958)
as Gen. Andrew Jackson
Texas (1995)
as Narrator
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire (2014)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
The Hawaiians (1970)
as Whip Hoxworth
Town & Country (2001)
as Mr. Clayborne
Counterpoint (1967)
as Lionel Evans
Ruby Gentry (1952)
as Boake Tackman
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic (2019)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Dark City (1950)
as Danny Haley
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970)
as Self (archive footage)
Forbidden Area (1956)
as Col. Jesse Price
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects (1994)
as Self
Antony and Cleopatra (1972)
as Marc Antony
Skyjacked (1972)
as Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara
Julius Caesar (1970)
as Marc Antony
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema (2005)
as Self (archive footage)
The Crucifer of Blood (1991)
as Sherlock Holmes
The President's Lady (1953)
as Andrew Jackson
The Savage (1952)
as James 'Jim' Aherne Jr. / War Bonnet
Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels (1996)
as Self
My Father (2003)
as Josef Mengele
Diamond Head (1962)
as Richard 'King' Howland
Bad for Each Other (1953)
as Dr. Tom Owen
I Am Richard Pryor (2019)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
A Century of Cinema (1994)
as Self
A Man for All Seasons (1988)
as Sir Thomas More
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood (1987)
as Self
Airports (2025)
Actor
The Lord Protector (1996)
as Narrator (voice)
All Star Party for 'Dutch' Reagan (1985)
as Self
Television: The First Fifty Years (1999)
as Self
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line (1997)
as Self
Barry Norman in Celebrity City (1982)
as Self
AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition (2007)
as Self (archive footage)
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia (2013)
as Self (archive footage)
Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002)
as Self (archive footage)
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift (2010)
as (archive footage)
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent (2020)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Rowan & Martin at the Movies (1968)
as Self
Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's Den (2003)
as Self - Host
The Private War of Major Benson (1955)
as Maj. Bernard R. 'Barney' Benson
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden (2003)
as Self - Host
A Night on Mount Edna (1990)
as Self
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1986)
as Self
The Little Kidnappers (1990)
as James MacKenzie
Let Poland Be Poland (1982)
as Self - Co-Host
Jane Eyre (1949)
as Edward Rochester
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western (1997)
as Self
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film (1990)
as Self
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons (1995)
as Self
Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses (2008)
as Self - Host / Moses
Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey (2011)
as Self (archive footage)
Hail Satan? (2019)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
The Taming of the Shrew (1950)
as Petruchio
All-Time Movie Greats (1988)
as Self (archive footage)
Symphony for the Spire (1992)
Actor
The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962)
as Captain Paul MacDougall / Benny the Snatch / Narrator
Lasting Love (2003)
Actor
The Bible According to Hollywood (1994)
as Self
The Making of Midway (2001)
as Self
Arrowhead (1953)
as Ed Bannon
Ben Hur (2003)
as Ben Hur (voice)
Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction (2024)
as Self (archive footage)
Children of the Civil Rights (2015)
as Self (archival footage)
The Orson Welles Story (1982)
as Self
Call from Space (1989)
as Alien (voice)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (2016)
as Self
Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints (2000)
as Self
The Special London Bridge Special (1972)
as Tennis Player
Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents (1991)
as Host and Narrator
The Avenging Angel (1995)
as Brigham Young
Spanish Western (2015)
as Self (archive footage)
Lucy Gallant (1955)
as Casey Cole
Studio One: Wuthering Heights (1950)
as Heathcliff
Number One (1969)
as Ron "Cat" Catlan
The Stars Salute the U.S. Olympic Team (1984)
as Self - Performer
Yesterday's Tomorrows (1999)
as Self
Energy: A National Issue (1977)
as Narrator (voice)
Remembering Reagan at His Ranch (2004)
as Host
Last Party 2000 (2001)
as Self
The Mystery of the Sphinx (1993)
as Narrator
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero (1998)
as Self
Vietnam! Vietnam! (1971)
as Narrator (voice)
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Jonah and the Whale (2003)
as Self - Host
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild (1998)
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Original Sin (1989)
as Louis Mancini
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath (2003)
as Self - Host
Hollywood sul Tevere (2009)
Actor
This Is Your Life: 30th Anniversary Special (1981)
as Self
Fun in the Big Country (1958)
as Self
Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing (2023)
as Self (archive footage)
The Making of The Ten Commandments (2003)
as Self (archive footage)
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Samson and Delilah (2003)
as Self - Host
Love in Hollywood (1996)
as Self
Christmas from Hollywood (2003)
as Self (archive footage)
Todos los nombres de Sara (2019)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
De Madrid a la Luna (2006)
as Self (archive footage)
Planet of the Apes Test Reel (1966)
as Thomas
Gideon (1998)
as Addison Sinclair
A Bolt of Lightning (1951)
as James Otis
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho (2003)
as Self - Host
America at the Movies (1976)
as Narrator
The Madding Crowd (2017)
as Self (archive footage)
Three Lives (1953)
as Self
Cults: Saying No Under Pressure (1991)
as Narrator
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil" (2019)
as (archive footage)
Proud Men (1987)
as Charley MacLeod Sr.
Nairobi Affair (1984)
as Lee Cahill
Stars of Cabaret (1956)
as Self (archive footage)
The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich (2002)
as Narrator (voice)
The Five Cities of June (1963)
as Narrator
Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses (1993)
as Self - Host
The Mysterious Origins of Man (1996)
as Self - Host
Elizabeth the Queen (1968)
as Lord Essex
Bienvenido Mr. Heston (2016)
as Self (archive footage)
The Legacy of Malthus (1994)
as Self (Population Institute, 1993) (archive footage)
Eclipse of Reason (1987)
as Narrator
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible (1997)
as Self - Narrator
Night of the Dragon (1965)
as Narrator
The Greatest All-Star Advertial of All Time (1963)
as Self
The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man (1971)
as Self - Narrator
Julius Caesar (1950)
as Mark Antony
Look at Life: The City's Built for Shooting (1963)
as Self
Noël (1992)
as Narrator
Uncertain Verification (1965)
as (archive footage)
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth (1993)
as Self - Host
While I Run This Race (1967)
as Narrator
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis (1997)
as Self - Host
The Gun Deadlock (2001)
as Self
Peer Gynt (1941)
as Peer Gynt
Andrew Weyth, The Helga Pictures (1987)
as Self - Host
Andersonville Diaries (1996)
as Narrator
The Patriots (1963)
as Thomas Jefferson