Actor · Acting

Charlton Heston

Born 1923-10-04

Died 2008-04-05

📍 Wilmette, Illinois, USA

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.

Filmography 251

Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction

as Self (archive footage)

Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing

as Self (archive footage)

Yul Brynner, the Magnificent

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

Todos los nombres de Sara

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

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

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

I Am Richard Pryor

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"

as (archive footage)

The Madding Crowd

as Self (archive footage)

Bienvenido Mr. Heston

as Self (archive footage)

The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille

Spanish Western

as Self (archive footage)

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia

as Self (archive footage)

Talking Pictures

as Self (archive footage)

Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey

as Self (archive footage)

2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift

as (archive footage)

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

as Self – Interviewee

Hollywood sul Tevere

Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses

as Self - Host / Moses

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

as Self (archive footage)

De Madrid a la Luna

as Self (archive footage)

Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema

as Self (archive footage)

Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade

as Self (archive footage)

Remembering Reagan at His Ranch

Christmas in Hollywood

as Self (archive footage)

The Making of The Ten Commandments

as Self (archive footage)

as Josef Mengele

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

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

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath

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

as Ben Hur (voice)

Edith Head: The Paramount Years

as Self (archive footage)

The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich

as Narrator (voice)

Bowling for Columbine

as Self - NRA President

The Making of 'Tombstone'

Last Party 2000

The Making of Midway

Planet of the Apes

as Zaius (uncredited)

as The Mastiff (voice)

as Professor Finley

as Mr. Clayborne

as Charlton Heston

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

Any Given Sunday

as AFFA Football Commissioner

Camino de Santiago

as Professor Marcelo Rinaldi

Yesterday's Tomorrows

Forever Hollywood

Secrets of War: Shadows of The Reich

as Self - Narrator (voice)

as Addison Sinclair

Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War

as Self - Narrator (voice)

Behind the Planet of the Apes

as Self - 'Taylor'

Alaska: Spirit of the Wild

as Self - Narrator (voice)

as Narration (voice)

Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis

Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western

as Narrator (voice)

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible

as Self - Narrator

Love in Hollywood

Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels

The Mysterious Origins of Man

The Lord Protector

as Narrator (voice)

The Outer Limits

as Chief Justice Haden Wainwright

Charlton Heston: For All Seasons

In the Mouth of Madness

as Jackson Harglow

The Avenging Angel

as Brigham Young

as Charlton Heston

as Spencer Trilby

Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects

Space Ghost Coast to Coast

The Legacy of Malthus

as Self (Population Institute, 1993) (archive footage)

The Bible According to Hollywood

A Century of Cinema

as Henry Hooker

Wayne's World 2

The Mystery of the Sphinx

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

as Self - Guest

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth

Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses

as Adm. "Skeet" Kelso

Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232

as Captain Al Haynes

Symphony for the Spire

Noel's House Party

The Crucifer of Blood

as Sherlock Holmes

Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents

as Host and Narrator

Almost an Angel

A Night on Mount Edna

The Little Kidnappers

as James MacKenzie

Treasure Island

as Long John Silver

Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary

as Louis Mancini

Call from Space

as Alien (voice)

A Man for All Seasons

as Sir Thomas More

Korea: The Unknown War

as General Douglas MacArthur (voice)

as Charley MacLeod Sr.

The Dame Edna Experience

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood

Eclipse of Reason

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal

Directed by William Wyler

The Stars Salute the U.S. Olympic Team

as Self - Performer

Barry Norman in Celebrity City

as Silas McGee / Ian McGee

The Orson Welles Story

Let Poland Be Poland

as Self - Co-Host

as Matthew Corbeck

The Mountain Men

The Kennedy Center Honors

as Captain Paul Blanchard

Energy: A National Issue

as Narrator (voice)

The Prince and the Pauper

Two-Minute Warning

as Capt. Peter Holly

America at the Movies

as Capt. Matthew Garth

The Last Hard Men

Saturday Night Live

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

as Stewart Graff

The Four Musketeers

as Cardinal Richelieu

as Alan Murdock

Spécial cinéma

The Three Musketeers

as Cardinal Richelieu

as Detective Robert Thorn

The American Film Institute Salute to ...

A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green'

The Call of the Wild

as John Thornton

as Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara

Antony and Cleopatra

The Special London Bridge Special

as Tennis Player

Vietnam! Vietnam!

as Narrator (voice)

as Robert Neville

The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man

as Self - Narrator

as Whip Hoxworth

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

as Self (archive footage)

as Ron "Cat" Catlan

The Dick Cavett Show

as Self - Guest

Planet of the Apes

as George Taylor

Elizabeth the Queen

Rowan & Martin at the Movies

as Lionel Evans

While I Run This Race

as Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon

Planet of the Apes Test Reel

The Agony and the Ecstasy

as Michelangelo

Uncertain Verification

as (archive footage)

The Greatest Story Ever Told

as John the Baptist

as Major Amos Charles Dundee

The Five Cities of June

55 Days at Peking

as Maj. Matt Lewis

The Greatest All-Star Advertial of All Time

as Richard 'King' Howland

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Merv Griffin Show

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self (archive footage)

The Pigeon That Took Rome

as Captain Paul MacDougall / Benny the Snatch / Narrator

The Mike Douglas Show

as Self - Guest

as El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar

Kraft Mystery Theatre

as Paul Malone (archive footage)

as Judah Ben-Hur

The Wreck of the Mary Deare

as Gen. Andrew Jackson

The Big Country

as Ramon Miguel Vargas

Shirley Temple's Storybook

Fun in the Big Country

Three Violent People

as Colt Saunders

The Ten Commandments

as Col. Jesse Price

The Steve Allen Show

as Self - Actor

The Steve Allen Show

Stars of Cabaret

as Self (archive footage)

The Private War of Major Benson

as Maj. Bernard R. 'Barney' Benson

The Far Horizons

as Lt. William Clark

The $64,000 Question

as Substitute Host

as Lt. Paul Peterson

Secret of the Incas

The Naked Jungle

as Christopher Leiningen

Bad for Each Other

as Dr. Tom Owen

as Captain William Frank 'Buffalo Bill' Cody

The President's Lady

as Andrew Jackson

General Electric Theater

as Boake Tackman

as Self - Presenter

as James 'Jim' Aherne Jr. / War Bonnet

The Greatest Show on Earth

Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Thomas Jefferson

Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex

A Bolt of Lightning

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

Studio One: Wuthering Heights

The Colgate Comedy Hour

The Colgate Comedy Hour

The Taming of the Shrew

Your Show of Shows

as Self - Guest Performer

Your Show of Shows

as Self - Guest Host

What's My Line?

as Self - Mystery Guest

Robert Montgomery Presents

as Cashel Bryon

Robert Montgomery Presents

as Peter Handley

Robert Montgomery Presents

as Melody Jones

as Edward Rochester

as Col. / Dr. Michael Knowle

as Philip Carey

as Edward Rochester

as Mitch Henderson

as Merton Densher

as Commander Schneider

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Ed Sullivan Show

Golden Globe Awards

Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Presenter

Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Nominee

Science Fiction Film Awards