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Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston

Acting

Born October 4, 1923, Wilmette, Illinois, USA

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.

Filmography

Appearances as themselves (111)
  • 2024Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction — Self (archive footage)
  • 2023Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing — Self (archive footage)
  • 2020Yul Brynner, the Magnificent — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2019Hail Satan? — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2019I Am Richard Pryor — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2019Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2019Todos los nombres de Sara — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2017The Madding Crowd — Self (archive footage)
  • 2016Bienvenido Mr. Heston — Self (archive footage)
  • 2016The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille — Self
  • 2015Children of the Civil Rights — Self (archival footage)
  • 2015Spanish Western — Self (archive footage)
  • 2014Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2014Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2013Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia — Self (archive footage)
  • Talking Pictures — Self (archive footage)
  • 2011A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King — Self (archive footage)
  • 2011Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey — Self (archive footage)
  • 2010Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff — Self – Interviewee
  • 2008Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses — Self - Host / Moses
  • 2007AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition — Self (archive footage)
  • 2006De Madrid a la Luna — Self (archive footage)
  • 2005Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema — Self (archive footage)
  • 2004Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade — Self (archive footage)
  • 2003Christmas from Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
  • 2003Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath — Self - Host
  • 2003Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Jonah and the Whale — Self - Host
  • 2003Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho — Self - Host
  • 2003Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Samson and Delilah — Self - Host
  • 2003Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden — Self - Host
  • 2003Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's Den — Self - Host
  • 2003The Making of The Ten Commandments — Self (archive footage)
  • 2002Bowling for Columbine — Self - NRA President
  • 2002Edith Head: The Paramount Years — Self (archive footage)
  • 2002The Making of 'Tombstone' — Self
  • 2001Last Party 2000 — Self
  • 2001The Gun Deadlock — Self
  • 2001The Making of Midway — Self
  • 2000Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints — Self
  • 1999Forever Hollywood — Self
  • 1999Television: The First Fifty Years — Self
  • 1999Yesterday's Tomorrows — Self
  • 1998Alaska: Spirit of the Wild — Self - Narrator (voice)
  • 1998Behind the Planet of the Apes — Self - 'Taylor'
  • 1998Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero — Self
  • Secrets of War: Shadows of The Reich — Self - Narrator (voice)
  • Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War — Self - Narrator (voice)
  • 1997Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line — Self
  • 1997Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western — Self
  • 1997Charlton Heston Presents the Bible — Self - Narrator
  • 1997Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis — Self - Host
  • 1996Love in Hollywood — Self
  • 1996Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels — Self
  • 1996The Mysterious Origins of Man — Self - Host
  • 1995Charlton Heston: For All Seasons — Self
  • MADtv — Self
  • 1994A Century of Cinema — Self
  • 1994Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects — Self
  • Space Ghost Coast to Coast — Self
  • 1994The Bible According to Hollywood — Self
  • 1993Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses — Self - Host
  • 1993Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth — Self - Host
  • Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
  • Pebble Mill — Self
  • 1990A Night on Mount Edna — Self
  • 1990With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film — Self
  • 1989Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary — Self
  • 1988All-Time Movie Greats — Self (archive footage)
  • 1987Andrew Weyth, The Helga Pictures — Self - Host
  • 1987Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood — Self
  • The Dame Edna Experience — Self
  • 1986Directed by William Wyler — Self
  • 1986The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal — Self
  • 1985All Star Party for 'Dutch' Reagan — Self
  • 1984The Stars Salute the U.S. Olympic Team — Self - Performer
  • 1982Barry Norman in Celebrity City — Self
  • 1982Let Poland Be Poland — Self - Co-Host
  • 1982The Orson Welles Story — Self
  • Wogan — Self
  • 1981This Is Your Life: 30th Anniversary Special — Self
  • The Kennedy Center Honors — Self
  • Les Rendez-vous du dimanche — Self
  • Saturday Night Live — Self - Host
  • Dinah! — Self
  • Spécial cinéma — Self
  • 1973A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green' — Self
  • The American Film Institute Salute to ... — Self
  • Film '72 — Self
  • 1971The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man — Self - Narrator
  • V.I.P. Schaukel — Self
  • 1970King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis — Self (archive footage)
  • 1968Rowan & Martin at the Movies — Self
  • The Dick Cavett Show — Self - Guest
  • 1963Look at Life: The City's Built for Shooting — Self
  • 1963The Greatest All-Star Advertial of All Time — Self
  • The Merv Griffin Show — Self
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
  • The Mike Douglas Show — Self - Guest
  • 1958Fun in the Big Country — Self
  • 1956Stars of Cabaret — Self (archive footage)
  • The Steve Allen Show — Self - Actor
  • The Oscars — Self
  • 1953Three Lives — Self
  • Omnibus — Self - Presenter
  • The Colgate Comedy Hour — Self, Self - Host
  • What's My Line? — Self
  • Your Show of Shows — Self - Guest Performer, Self - Guest Host
  • Bambi — Self
  • The Ed Sullivan Show — Self
  • Golden Globe Awards — Self, Self - Presenter, Self - Nominee
  • Science Fiction Film Awards — Self
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