
Charlton Heston
Department: Acting
Biography
Charlton Heston was an American actor renowned for his towering screen presence and roles in some of Hollywood’s most famous epics. Born John Charles Carter on October 4, 1923, 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

Planet of the Apes
1968

Bowling for Columbine
2002

Touch of Evil
1958

Solar Crisis
1992

Ben-Hur
1959

Will Penny
1967

Beneath the Planet of the Apes
1970

Hamlet
1996

The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965

In the Mouth of Madness
1995

The Three Musketeers
1973

Earthquake
1974

The Buccaneer
1958

The Omega Man
1971

Midway
1976

The Ten Commandments
1956

Town & Country
2001

Two-Minute Warning
1976

Gray Lady Down
1978

Hercules
1997

Tombstone
1993

Soylent Green
1973

I Am Richard Pryor
2019

Wayne's World 2
1993

Almost an Angel
1990

Treasure Island
1990

Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing
2023

Yul Brynner, the Magnificent
2020

The Greatest Show on Earth
1952

The Big Country
1958

55 Days at Peking
1963

The Legacy of Malthus
1994

Airport 1975
1974

Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
1998

Secret of the Incas
1954

Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's Den
2003

Khartoum
1966

Major Dundee
1965

Dark City
1950

Julius Caesar
1970

The Agony and the Ecstasy
1965

The War Lord
1965

The Call of the Wild
1972

True Lies
1994

Andersonville Diaries
1996

Pony Express
1953

Arrowhead
1953

The Order
2001

The Naked Jungle
1954

The Last Hard Men
1976

El Cid
1961

The Awakening
1980

Behind the Planet of the Apes
1998

Love in Hollywood
1996

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath
2003

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Jonah and the Whale
2003

Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
1997

Ruby Gentry
1952

The Lord Protector
1996

Bad for Each Other
1953

Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
2005

Three Violent People
1956

Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
2019

The Mountain Men
1980

The Hawaiians
1970

The Far Horizons
1955

Mother Lode
1982

Skyjacked
1972

The Mystery of the Sphinx
1993

Number One
1969

Yesterday's Tomorrows
1999

The President's Lady
1953

Antony and Cleopatra
1972

Fun in the Big Country
1958

The Crucifer of Blood
1991

Barry Norman in Celebrity City
1982

The Little Kidnappers
1990

The Private War of Major Benson
1955

Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232
1992

Uncertain Verification
1965

The Avenging Angel
1995

The Savage
1952

The Wreck of the Mary Deare
1959

Lucy Gallant
1955

Remembering Reagan at His Ranch
2004

Diamond Head
1962

A Man for All Seasons
1988

Counterpoint
1967

Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey
2011

The Pigeon That Took Rome
1962

A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green'
1973

America at the Movies
1976

Nairobi Affair
1984

Gideon
1998

Julius Caesar
1950

Andrew Weyth, The Helga Pictures
1987

Noël
1992

The Five Cities of June
1963

While I Run This Race
1967

Lasting Love
2003

Forbidden Area
1956

The Gun Deadlock
2001

Planet of the Apes
2001

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Samson and Delilah
2003

Proud Men
1987

Hail Satan?
2019

Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
1995

Edith Head: The Paramount Years
2002

Any Given Sunday
1999

The Special London Bridge Special
1972

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010

Jane Eyre
1949

My Father
2003

Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels
1996

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
1997

Let Poland Be Poland
1982

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
1986

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden
2003

AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition
2007

A Bolt of Lightning
1951

Christmas in Hollywood
2003

Television: The First Fifty Years
1999

Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction
2024

Planet of the Apes Test Reel
1966

2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970

Alaska
1996

The Four Musketeers
1974

Rowan & Martin at the Movies
1968

The Making of Midway
2001

Cats & Dogs
2001

Peer Gynt
1941

Call from Space
1989

De Madrid a la Luna
2006

Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary
1989

The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille
2016

With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film
1990

Eclipse of Reason
1987

The Prince and the Pauper
1977

Original Sin
1989

Vietnam! Vietnam!
1971

Bienvenido Mr. Heston
2016

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth
1993

Ben Hur
2003

Texas
1995

Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
2019

Forever Hollywood
1999

The Bible According to Hollywood
1994

Stars of Cabaret
1956

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis
1997

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
2014

Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses
2008

Directed by William Wyler
1986

A Century of Cinema
1994

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible
1997

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho
2003

Todos los nombres de Sara
2019

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
2014

Energy: A National Issue
1977

Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents
1991

Spanish Western
2015

The Madding Crowd
2017

Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses
1993

Armageddon
1998

Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
1998

Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004

The Mysterious Origins of Man
1996

Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints
2000

Three Lives
1953

The Patriots
1963

Private Screenings: Charlton Heston
1998

This Is Your Life: 30th Anniversary Special
1981

The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man
1971

Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
1994

Last Party 2000
2001

Elizabeth the Queen
1968

The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich
2002

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987

The Greatest All-Star Advertial of All Time
1963

The Making of The Ten Commandments
2003

The Stars Salute the U.S. Olympic Team
1984

Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
2013

Airports
2025

Studio One: Wuthering Heights
1950

Cults: Saying No Under Pressure
1991

The Orson Welles Story
1982

Look at Life: The City's Built for Shooting
1963

A Night on Mount Edna
1990

Symphony for the Spire
1992

The Making of 'Tombstone'
2002

Night of the Dragon
1965

The Taming of the Shrew
1950

Hollywood sul Tevere
2009

Children of the Civil Rights
2015

The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950

seaQuest DSV
1993

Noel's House Party
1991

Omnibus
1952

Playhouse 90
1956

Studio One
1948

MADtv
1995

General Electric Theater
1953

The Colbys
1985

Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951

Eco-Challenge
1995

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951

Your Show of Shows
1950

Climax!
1954

The Philco Television Playhouse
1948

Suspense
1949

Robert Montgomery Presents
1950

The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973

The Steve Allen Show
1956

Pebble Mill
1991

F.D.R.
1965

The Outer Limits
1995

The Oscars
1953

The Kennedy Center Honors
1978

Kraft Mystery Theatre
1961

Chiefs
1983

Friends
1994

The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950

Talking Pictures
2013

Your Show of Shows
1950

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962

The Dame Edna Experience
1987

Saturday Night Live
1975

Camino de Santiago
1999

Korea: The Unknown War
1988

Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War
1998

The $64,000 Question
1955

Robert Montgomery Presents
1950

Robert Montgomery Presents
1950

The Ed Sullivan Show
1948

Wogan
1982

The Mike Douglas Show
1961

Space Ghost Coast to Coast
1994

V.I.P. Schaukel
1971

Studio One
1948

Studio One
1948

Studio One
1948

Studio One
1948

Studio One
1948

Studio One
1948

Studio One
1948

Studio One
1948

Studio One
1948

Secrets of War: Shadows of The Reich
1998

Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951

Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993

Spécial cinéma
1974

Climax!
1954

Bambi
1948

The Steve Allen Show
1956

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975

Dynasty
1981

The Dick Cavett Show
1968

Golden Globe Awards
1944

What's My Line?
1950

The Weber Show
2000

Golden Globe Awards
1944

Dinah!
1974

Golden Globe Awards
1944

Studio One
1948

Shirley Temple's Storybook
1958

Science Fiction Film Awards
—

The Merv Griffin Show
1962

Film '72
1971

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962