Charlton Heston
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.
249 acting credits · 3 directing credits
Acting · 249
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
Friends
1994
Saturday Night Live
1975
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Dynasty
1981
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
Climax!
1954
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
The Outer Limits
1995
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Wogan
1982
seaQuest DSV
1993
What's My Line?
1950
Studio One
1948
Bambi
1948
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975
The Oscars
1953
Spécial cinéma
1974
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
Omnibus
1952
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
1994
Dinah!
1974
The Steve Allen Show
1956
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
Pebble Mill
1991
Playhouse 90
1956
Bowling for Columbine
2002
Midway
1976
The Colbys
1985
Film '72
1971
Suspense
1949
Shirley Temple's Storybook
1958
Hercules
1997
Armageddon
1998
Your Show of Shows
1950
Planet of the Apes
1968
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978
Ben-Hur
1959
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971
The Ten Commandments
1956
Tombstone
1993
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
True Lies
1994
Planet of the Apes
2001
Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War
1998
Talking Pictures
2013
In the Mouth of Madness
1995
The Weber Show
2000
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
Any Given Sunday
1999
Cats & Dogs
2001
Kraft Mystery Theatre
1961
Noel's House Party
1991
The Big Country
1958
Soylent Green
1973
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
1970
Chiefs
1983
Earthquake
1974
General Electric Theater
1953
Touch of Evil
1958
Hamlet
1996
El Cid
1961
The Three Musketeers
1973
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
The Dame Edna Experience
1987
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
55 Days at Peking
1963
The Omega Man
1971
Wayne's World 2
1993
MADtv
1995
Airport 1975
1974
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952
The Order
2001
Treasure Island
1990
Eco-Challenge
1995
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004
Khartoum
1966
Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels
1996
Major Dundee
1965
Will Penny
1967
The Four Musketeers
1974
The Agony and the Ecstasy
1965
The Prince and the Pauper
1977
Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary
1989
Two-Minute Warning
1976
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
1994
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
2014
The $64,000 Question
1955
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010
Julius Caesar
1970
Pony Express
1953
The Naked Jungle
1954
The Buccaneer
1958
Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232
1992
The Mountain Men
1980
Alaska
1996
Solar Crisis
1992
Town & Country
2001
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
1997
Secrets of War: Shadows of The Reich
1998
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987
Hail Satan?
2019
AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition
2007
Ruby Gentry
1952
The Far Horizons
1955
The War Lord
1965
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
Gray Lady Down
1978
Almost an Angel
1990
Korea: The Unknown War
1988
Skyjacked
1972
Dark City
1950
The Awakening
1980
Arrowhead
1953
Gideon
1998
Science Fiction Film Awards
—
Camino de Santiago
1999
Three Violent People
1956
The Call of the Wild
1972
The Private War of Major Benson
1955
Antony and Cleopatra
1972
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
2014
Forbidden Area
1956
The Wreck of the Mary Deare
1959
The President's Lady
1953
Mother Lode
1982
The Special London Bridge Special
1972
Diamond Head
1962
Barry Norman in Celebrity City
1982
The Hawaiians
1970
Counterpoint
1967
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
2005
Ben Hur
2003
Last Party 2000
2001
The Last Hard Men
1976
Spanish Western
2015
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
1997
The Savage
1952
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
2002
Secret of the Incas
1954
The Stars Salute the U.S. Olympic Team
1984
Christmas in Hollywood
2003
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
1986
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
2013
The Lord Protector
1996
Directed by William Wyler
1986
Forever Hollywood
1999
Uncertain Verification
1965
I Am Richard Pryor
2019
Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction
2024
The Avenging Angel
1995
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden
2003
Number One
1969
Yesterday's Tomorrows
1999
Behind the Planet of the Apes
1998
Proud Men
1987
Texas
1995
A Century of Cinema
1994
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
2019
Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing
2023
Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's Den
2003
The Mystery of the Sphinx
1993
Lucy Gallant
1955
My Father
2003
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
1998
Noël
1992
Nairobi Affair
1984
Bad for Each Other
1953
The Crucifer of Blood
1991
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
1998
Three Lives
1953
The Legacy of Malthus
1994
Todos los nombres de Sara
2019
Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey
2011
The Making of The Ten Commandments
2003
Airports
2025
Rowan & Martin at the Movies
1968
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
1995
Call from Space
1989
Fun in the Big Country
1958
Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints
2000
Hollywood sul Tevere
2009
A Man for All Seasons
1988
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film
1990
Cults: Saying No Under Pressure
1991
Elizabeth the Queen
1968
Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents
1991
F.D.R.
1965
Love in Hollywood
1996
Peer Gynt
1941
A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green'
1973
This Is Your Life: 30th Anniversary Special
1981
The Gun Deadlock
2001
Bienvenido Mr. Heston
2016
The Making of 'Tombstone'
2002
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent
2020
Planet of the Apes Test Reel
1966
The Little Kidnappers
1990
Remembering Reagan at His Ranch
2004
Original Sin
1989
Energy: A National Issue
1977
Julius Caesar
1950
Let Poland Be Poland
1982
Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses
1993
The Pigeon That Took Rome
1962
Children of the Civil Rights
2015
Jane Eyre
1949
The Greatest All-Star Advertial of All Time
1963
The Bible According to Hollywood
1994
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho
2003
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Samson and Delilah
2003
The Mysterious Origins of Man
1996
The Making of Midway
2001
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille
2016
A Bolt of Lightning
1951
Symphony for the Spire
1992
Vietnam! Vietnam!
1971
The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man
1971
Stars of Cabaret
1956
The Patriots
1963
The Taming of the Shrew
1950
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath
2003
A Night on Mount Edna
1990
De Madrid a la Luna
2006
The Madding Crowd
2017
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Jonah and the Whale
2003
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible
1997
Night of the Dragon
1965
The Orson Welles Story
1982
Eclipse of Reason
1987
America at the Movies
1976
Studio One: Wuthering Heights
1950
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
2019
The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich
2002
While I Run This Race
1967
The Five Cities of June
1963
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth
1993
Lasting Love
2003
Private Screenings: Charlton Heston
1998
Look at Life: The City's Built for Shooting
1963
Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses
2008
Andersonville Diaries
1996
Andrew Weyth, The Helga Pictures
1987
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis
1997