Charlton Heston
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 (250 titles)
MovieAirports
2025
8.4MoviePlanet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction
Self (archive footage) · 2024
8.5MovieCharlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing
Self (archive footage) · 2023
7.5MovieYul Brynner, the Magnificent
Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2020
4.0MovieTodos los nombres de Sara
Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2019
7.0MovieHail Satan?
Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2019
7.0MovieSword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2019
6.9MovieI Am Richard Pryor
Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2019
MovieEmergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
(archive footage) · 2019
MovieThe Madding Crowd
Self (archive footage) · 2017
MovieBienvenido Mr. Heston
Self (archive footage) · 2016
6.2MovieThe Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille
Self · 2016
6.2MovieSpanish Western
Self (archive footage) · 2015
Children of the Civil Rights
Self (archival footage) · 2015
6.5MovieMagician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2014
7.2MovieMarlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2014
7.8MovieGore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
Self (archive footage) · 2013
6.2ShowTalking Pictures
Self (archive footage) · 2013
7.6MovieCharlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey
Self (archive footage) · 2011
6.1Movie2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
(archive footage) · 2010
6.6MovieCameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Self – Interviewee · 2010
MovieHollywood sul Tevere
2009
MovieGreatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses
Self - Host / Moses · 2008
6.7MovieAFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition
Self (archive footage) · 2007
6.0MovieDe Madrid a la Luna
Self (archive footage) · 2006
6.6MovieBen-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
Self (archive footage) · 2005
8.0MovieSam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
Self (archive footage) · 2004
MovieRemembering Reagan at His Ranch
Host · 2004
6.0MovieChristmas in Hollywood
Self (archive footage) · 2003
8.0MovieThe Making of The Ten Commandments
Self (archive footage) · 2003