Charlton Heston
Acting
- Born:
- 1923-10-04
- Died:
- 2008-04-05
- Place of birth:
- Wilmette, Illinois, USA
Biography
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
Filmography
Airports
Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction
Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent
Todos los nombres de Sara
Hail Satan?
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
I Am Richard Pryor
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
The Making of the Greatest Story Ever Told
The Madding Crowd
Bienvenido Mr. Heston
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille
Spanish Western
Children of the Civil Rights
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
Talking Pictures
A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King
Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Hollywood sul Tevere
Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses
A Federal Case
AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition
De Madrid a la Luna
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
Remembering Reagan at His Ranch
Christmas from Hollywood
The Making of The Ten Commandments
My Father
Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's Den
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Jonah and the Whale
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Samson and Delilah
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho
Ben Hur
Lasting Love
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich
Bowling for Columbine
The Making of 'Tombstone'
Last Party 2000
The Making of Midway
Planet of the Apes
Cats & Dogs
The Gun Deadlock
The Order
Town & Country
The Weber Show
Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints
Any Given Sunday
Camino de Santiago
Yesterday's Tomorrows
Television: The First Fifty Years
Forever Hollywood