Charlton Heston
Photoplayd Industry Rating
Not enough rated films yet to compute a weighted score.
Roles are weighted by involvement: director 1.0, screenwriter 0.7, lead 0.8, supporting 0.4, crew 0.1.
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)
Armageddon (1998)
as Narration (voice)
Ben-Hur (1959)
as Judah Ben-Hur
Planet of the Apes (1968)
as George Taylor
Will Penny (1967)
as Will Penny
Planet of the Apes (2001)
as Zaius (uncredited)
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
as Jackson Harglow
Tombstone (1993)
as Henry Hooker
The Ten Commandments (1956)
as Moses
True Lies (1994)
as Spencer Trilby
Soylent Green (1973)
as Detective Robert Thorn
Any Given Sunday (1999)
as AFFA Football Commissioner
Midway (1976)
as Capt. Matthew Garth
The Three Musketeers (1973)
as Cardinal Richelieu
Treasure Island (1990)
as Long John Silver
El Cid (1961)
as El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar
The Big Country (1958)
as Steve Leech
Earthquake (1974)
as Stewart Graff
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
as Taylor
Wayne's World 2 (1993)
as Good Actor
Touch of Evil (1958)
as Ramon Miguel Vargas
Airport 1975 (1974)
as Alan Murdock
Cats & Dogs (2001)
as The Mastiff (voice)
55 Days at Peking (1963)
as Maj. Matt Lewis
Let Poland Be Poland (1982)
as Self - Co-Host
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
as Self - NRA President
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
as John the Baptist
The Four Musketeers (1974)
as Cardinal Richelieu
Hamlet (1996)
as Player King
The Order (2001)
as Professor Finley
The Naked Jungle (1954)
as Christopher Leiningen
The Omega Man (1971)
as Robert Neville
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
as Brad Braden
Mother Lode (1982)
as Silas McGee / Ian McGee
The Lord Protector (1996)
as Narrator (voice)
Khartoum (1966)
as Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon
Forbidden Area (1956)
as Col. Jesse Price
The Mountain Men (1980)
as Bill Tyler
Pony Express (1953)
as Captain William Frank 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
Counterpoint (1967)
as Lionel Evans
Three Violent People (1956)
as Colt Saunders
Major Dundee (1965)
as Major Amos Charles Dundee
Antony and Cleopatra (1972)
as Marc Antony
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
as Michelangelo
The Last Hard Men (1976)
as Sam Burgade
The Far Horizons (1955)
as Lt. William Clark
Forever Hollywood (1999)
as Self
The Prince and the Pauper (1977)
as Henry VIII
Directed by William Wyler (1986)
as Self
Jane Eyre (1949)
as Edward Rochester
The Hawaiians (1970)
as Whip Hoxworth
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild (1998)
as Self - Narrator (voice)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
as John Sands
The Buccaneer (1958)
as Gen. Andrew Jackson
The War Lord (1965)
as Chrysagon
Vietnam! Vietnam! (1971)
as Narrator (voice)
The Avenging Angel (1995)
as Brigham Young
Julius Caesar (1970)
as Marc Antony
Alaska (1996)
as Perry
Gray Lady Down (1978)
as Captain Paul Blanchard
Skyjacked (1972)
as Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara
A Man for All Seasons (1988)
as Sir Thomas More
The Making of Midway (2001)
as Self
Two-Minute Warning (1976)
as Capt. Peter Holly
The Savage (1952)
as James 'Jim' Aherne Jr. / War Bonnet
Yesterday's Tomorrows (1999)
as Self
Fun in the Big Country (1958)
as Self
Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels (1996)
as Self
The Awakening (1980)
as Matthew Corbeck
Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses (2008)
as Self - Host / Moses
Arrowhead (1953)
as Ed Bannon
Christmas in Hollywood (2003)
as Self (archive footage)
Airports (2025)
Actor
A Century of Cinema (1994)
as Self
Hollywood sul Tevere (2009)
Actor
Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary (1989)
as Self
Solar Crisis (1992)
as Adm. "Skeet" Kelso
The Little Kidnappers (1990)
as James MacKenzie
The Crucifer of Blood (1991)
as Sherlock Holmes
Rowan & Martin at the Movies (1968)
as Self
Last Party 2000 (2001)
as Self
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970)
as Self (archive footage)
The Mystery of the Sphinx (1993)
as Narrator
Call from Space (1989)
as Alien (voice)
Texas (1995)
as Narrator
Secret of the Incas (1954)
as Harry Steel
Hail Satan? (2019)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Town & Country (2001)
as Mr. Clayborne
The Private War of Major Benson (1955)
as Maj. Bernard R. 'Barney' Benson
Bienvenido Mr. Heston (2016)
as Self (archive footage)
Almost an Angel (1990)
as God
Ben Hur (2003)
as Ben Hur (voice)
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire (2014)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Dark City (1950)
as Danny Haley
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift (2010)
as (archive footage)
Number One (1969)
as Ron "Cat" Catlan
The President's Lady (1953)
as Andrew Jackson
Television: The First Fifty Years (1999)
as Self
The Making of 'Tombstone' (2002)
as Self
Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 (1992)
as Captain Al Haynes
Love in Hollywood (1996)
as Self
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood (1987)
as Self
Bad for Each Other (1953)
as Dr. Tom Owen
I Am Richard Pryor (2019)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's Den (2003)
as Self - Host
All-Time Movie Greats (1988)
as Self (archive footage)
The Madding Crowd (2017)
as Self (archive footage)
Lucy Gallant (1955)
as Casey Cole
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line (1997)
as Self
Ruby Gentry (1952)
as Boake Tackman
A Night on Mount Edna (1990)
as Self
Studio One: Wuthering Heights (1950)
as Heathcliff
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Jonah and the Whale (2003)
as Self - Host
Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
as Self - 'Taylor'
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)
as Self – Interviewee
The Special London Bridge Special (1972)
as Tennis Player
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic (2019)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
America at the Movies (1976)
as Narrator
The Orson Welles Story (1982)
as Self
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero (1998)
as Self
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden (2003)
as Self - Host
Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002)
as Self (archive footage)
Spanish Western (2015)
as Self (archive footage)
Elizabeth the Queen (1968)
as Lord Essex
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho (2003)
as Self - Host
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia (2013)
as Self (archive footage)
The Making of The Ten Commandments (2003)
as Self (archive footage)
Nairobi Affair (1984)
as Lee Cahill
My Father (2003)
as Josef Mengele
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects (1994)
as Self
The Stars Salute the U.S. Olympic Team (1984)
as Self - Performer
The Call of the Wild (1972)
as John Thornton
Lasting Love (2003)
Actor
Planet of the Apes Test Reel (1966)
as Thomas
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western (1997)
as Self
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade (2004)
as Self (archive footage)
Uncertain Verification (1965)
as (archive footage)
The Taming of the Shrew (1950)
as Petruchio
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema (2005)
as Self (archive footage)
Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey (2011)
as Self (archive footage)
Symphony for the Spire (1992)
Actor
Barry Norman in Celebrity City (1982)
as Self
Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints (2000)
as Self
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Samson and Delilah (2003)
as Self - Host
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film (1990)
as Self
Proud Men (1987)
as Charley MacLeod Sr.
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1986)
as Self
This Is Your Life: 30th Anniversary Special (1981)
as Self
Julius Caesar (1950)
as Mark Antony
The Bible According to Hollywood (1994)
as Self
Look at Life: The City's Built for Shooting (1963)
as Self
The Mysterious Origins of Man (1996)
as Self - Host
Children of the Civil Rights (2015)
as Self (archival footage)
Todos los nombres de Sara (2019)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Original Sin (1989)
as Louis Mancini
The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich (2002)
as Narrator (voice)
Private Screenings: Charlton Heston (1998)
as Self
While I Run This Race (1967)
as Narrator
Diamond Head (1962)
as Richard 'King' Howland
A Bolt of Lightning (1951)
as James Otis
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath (2003)
as Self - Host
Cults: Saying No Under Pressure (1991)
as Narrator
Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction (2024)
as Self (archive footage)
Night of the Dragon (1965)
as Narrator
Stars of Cabaret (1956)
as Self (archive footage)
AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition (2007)
as Self (archive footage)
Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents (1991)
as Host and Narrator
The Five Cities of June (1963)
as Narrator
Energy: A National Issue (1977)
as Narrator (voice)
Gideon (1998)
as Addison Sinclair
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons (1995)
as Self
The Legacy of Malthus (1994)
as Self (Population Institute, 1993) (archive footage)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (2016)
as Self
The Greatest All-Star Advertial of All Time (1963)
as Self
De Madrid a la Luna (2006)
as Self (archive footage)
The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962)
as Captain Paul MacDougall / Benny the Snatch / Narrator
Three Lives (1953)
as Self
The Gun Deadlock (2001)
as Self
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent (2020)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Remembering Reagan at His Ranch (2004)
as Host
The Patriots (1963)
as Thomas Jefferson
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible (1997)
as Self - Narrator
Peer Gynt (1941)
as Peer Gynt
Eclipse of Reason (1987)
as Narrator
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth (1993)
as Self - Host
Andrew Weyth, The Helga Pictures (1987)
as Self - Host
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil" (2019)
as (archive footage)
Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing (2023)
as Self (archive footage)
Noël (1992)
as Narrator
Andersonville Diaries (1996)
as Narrator
A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green' (1973)
as Self
Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses (1993)
as Self - Host
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis (1997)
as Self - Host
The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man (1971)
as Self - Narrator