Charlton Heston
Actor
Born October 4, 1923 in 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
Science Fiction Film Awards
Himself
Airports
Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction
Self (archive footage)
Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing
Self (archive footage)
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Todos los nombres de Sara
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Hail Satan?
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
Self - Actor (archive footage)
I Am Richard Pryor
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
(archive footage)
The Madding Crowd
Self (archive footage)
Bienvenido Mr. Heston
Self (archive footage)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille
Self
Spanish Western
Self (archive footage)
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
Self (archive footage)
Talking Pictures
Self (archive footage)
Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey
Self (archive footage)
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
(archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Self – Interviewee
Hollywood sul Tevere
Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses
Self - Host / Moses
AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition
Self (archive footage)
De Madrid a la Luna
Self (archive footage)
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
Self (archive footage)
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
Self (archive footage)
Remembering Reagan at His Ranch
Host
Christmas in Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
The Making of The Ten Commandments
Self (archive footage)
My Father
Josef Mengele
Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's Den
Self - Host
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath
Self - Host
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Jonah and the Whale
Self - Host
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Samson and Delilah
Self - Host
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden
Self - Host
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho
Self - Host
Ben Hur
Ben Hur (voice)
Lasting Love
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
Self (archive footage)
The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich
Narrator (voice)
Bowling for Columbine
Self - NRA President
The Making of 'Tombstone'
Self
Last Party 2000
Self
The Making of Midway
Self
Planet of the Apes
Zaius (uncredited)
Cats & Dogs
The Mastiff (voice)
The Order
Professor Finley
Town & Country
Mr. Clayborne
The Weber Show
Charlton Heston
Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints
Self
Any Given Sunday
AFFA Football Commissioner
Camino de Santiago
Professor Marcelo Rinaldi
Yesterday's Tomorrows
Self
Forever Hollywood
Self
Secrets of War: Shadows of The Reich
Self - Narrator (voice)
Gideon
Addison Sinclair
Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War
Self - Narrator (voice)
Behind the Planet of the Apes
Self - 'Taylor'
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
Self - Narrator (voice)
Armageddon
Narration (voice)
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
Self
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis
Self - Host
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
Self
Hercules
Narrator (voice)
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Self
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible
Self - Narrator
Hamlet
Player King
Love in Hollywood
Self
Alaska
Perry
Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels
Self
The Mysterious Origins of Man
Self - Host
The Lord Protector
Narrator (voice)
MADtv
Self
Texas
Narrator
Eco-Challenge
The Outer Limits
Chief Justice Haden Wainwright
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
Self
In the Mouth of Madness
Jackson Harglow
The Avenging Angel
Brigham Young
Friends
Charlton Heston
True Lies
Spencer Trilby
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
Self
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Self
100 Years at the Movies
Self (archive footage)
The Legacy of Malthus
Self (Population Institute, 1993) (archive footage)
The Bible According to Hollywood
Self
A Century of Cinema
Self
Tombstone
Henry Hooker
Wayne's World 2
Good Actor
The Mystery of the Sphinx
Narrator
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
seaQuest DSV
Abalon
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth
Self - Host
Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses
Self - Host
Noël
Narrator
Solar Crisis
Adm. "Skeet" Kelso
Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232
Captain Al Haynes
Symphony for the Spire
Noel's House Party
Star guest
The Crucifer of Blood
Sherlock Holmes
Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents
Host and Narrator
Almost an Angel
God
A Night on Mount Edna
Self
The Little Kidnappers
James MacKenzie
Treasure Island
Long John Silver
Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary
Self
Original Sin
Louis Mancini
Call from Space
Alien (voice)
A Man for All Seasons
Sir Thomas More
Korea: The Unknown War
General Douglas MacArthur (voice)
Proud Men
Charley MacLeod Sr.
The Dame Edna Experience
Self
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Self
Eclipse of Reason
Narrator
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
Self
Directed by William Wyler
Self
The Colbys
Jason Colby
The Stars Salute the U.S. Olympic Team
Self - Performer
Nairobi Affair
Lee Cahill
Chiefs
Hugh Holmes
Barry Norman in Celebrity City
Self
Mother Lode
Silas McGee / Ian McGee
The Orson Welles Story
Self
Wogan
Self
Let Poland Be Poland
Self - Co-Host
Dynasty
Jason Colby
The Awakening
Matthew Corbeck
The Mountain Men
Bill Tyler
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
Gray Lady Down
Captain Paul Blanchard
Energy: A National Issue
Narrator (voice)
The Prince and the Pauper
Henry VIII
Two-Minute Warning
Capt. Peter Holly
America at the Movies
Narrator
Midway
Capt. Matthew Garth
The Last Hard Men
Sam Burgade
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
Earthquake
Stewart Graff
The Four Musketeers
Cardinal Richelieu
Dinah!
Self
Airport 1975
Alan Murdock
Spécial cinéma
Self
The Three Musketeers
Cardinal Richelieu
Soylent Green
Detective Robert Thorn
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green'
Self
The Call of the Wild
John Thornton
Skyjacked
Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara
Antony and Cleopatra
Marc Antony
The Special London Bridge Special
Tennis Player
Vietnam! Vietnam!
Narrator (voice)
The Omega Man
Robert Neville
The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man
Self - Narrator
The Hawaiians
Whip Hoxworth
Julius Caesar
Marc Antony
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Taylor
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Self (archive footage)
Number One
Ron "Cat" Catlan
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
Planet of the Apes
George Taylor
Elizabeth the Queen
Lord Essex
Rowan & Martin at the Movies
Self
Counterpoint
Lionel Evans
Will Penny
Will Penny
While I Run This Race
Narrator
Khartoum
Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon
Planet of the Apes Test Reel
Thomas
The War Lord
Chrysagon
The Agony and the Ecstasy
Michelangelo
Uncertain Verification
(archive footage)
The Greatest Story Ever Told
John the Baptist
Major Dundee
Major Amos Charles Dundee
The Five Cities of June
Narrator
55 Days at Peking
Maj. Matt Lewis
The Greatest All-Star Advertial of All Time
Self
Diamond Head
Richard 'King' Howland
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
The Pigeon That Took Rome
Captain Paul MacDougall / Benny the Snatch / Narrator
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Guest
El Cid
El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar
Kraft Mystery Theatre
Paul Malone (archive footage)
Ben-Hur
Judah Ben-Hur
The Wreck of the Mary Deare
John Sands
The Buccaneer
Gen. Andrew Jackson
The Big Country
Steve Leech
Touch of Evil
Ramon Miguel Vargas
Shirley Temple's Storybook
Beast
Fun in the Big Country
Self
Three Violent People
Colt Saunders
The Ten Commandments
Moses
Playhouse 90
Col. Jesse Price
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Actor
Stars of Cabaret
Self (archive footage)
Lucy Gallant
Casey Cole
The Private War of Major Benson
Maj. Bernard R. 'Barney' Benson
The Far Horizons
Lt. William Clark
The $64,000 Question
Substitute Host
Climax!
Lt. Paul Peterson
Secret of the Incas
Harry Steel
The Naked Jungle
Christopher Leiningen
Bad for Each Other
Dr. Tom Owen
Arrowhead
Ed Bannon
Pony Express
Captain William Frank 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
The President's Lady
Andrew Jackson
The Oscars
Self
General Electric Theater
Tim
Ruby Gentry
Boake Tackman
Omnibus
Self - Presenter
The Savage
James 'Jim' Aherne Jr. / War Bonnet
The Greatest Show on Earth
Brad Braden
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Thomas Jefferson
A Bolt of Lightning
James Otis
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Studio One: Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff
Dark City
Danny Haley
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
The Taming of the Shrew
Petruchio
Julius Caesar
Mark Antony
Your Show of Shows
Self - Guest Performer
What's My Line?
Self
Robert Montgomery Presents
Cashel Bryon
Jane Eyre
Edward Rochester
Suspense
Studio One
The Philco Television Playhouse
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
Bambi
Self
Golden Globe Awards
Self
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt