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Portrait of Charlton Heston

Acting

Charlton Heston

  • Born Oct. 4, 1923
  • Wilmette, Illinois, USA
  • Died April 5, 2008, aged 84

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 …

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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.

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Acting (136)

Charlton Heston

Narration (voice)

Narrator (voice)

Spencer Trilby

Zaius (uncredited)

George Taylor

Judah Ben-Hur

Henry Hooker

Jackson Harglow

Moses

AFFA Football Commissioner

The Mastiff (voice)

Mike Vargas

Taylor

Detective Robert Thorn

Good Actor

Robert Neville

Player King

Steve Leech

Stewart Graff

Cardinal Richelieu

Capt. Matthew Garth

El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar

Alan Murdock

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Brad Braden

Professor Finley

Chief Justice Haden Wainwright

Cardinal Richelieu

John the Baptist

Maj. Matt Lewis

Major Amos Charles Dundee

Abalon

Long John Silver

Michelangelo

Perry

Jason Colby

Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon

Christopher Leiningen

Will Penny

God

Capt. Peter Holly

Captain Paul Blanchard

Matthew Corbeck

Mr. Clayborne

Chrysagon

Sam Burgade

John Thornton

Bill Tyler

Henry VIII

Harry Steel

Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara

Gen. Andrew Jackson

Danny Haley

John Sands

Colt Saunders

Marc Antony

Silas McGee / Ian McGee

Adm. "Skeet" Kelso

Boake Tackman

Captain William Frank 'Buffalo Bill' Cody

Ed Bannon

Lt. William Clark

Marc Antony

Lionel Evans

Hugh Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Whip Hoxworth

James 'Jim' Aherne Jr. / War Bonnet

Ben Hur (voice)

Jason Colby

Andrew Jackson

Maj. Bernard R. 'Barney' Benson

Addison Sinclair

Sir Thomas More

Dr. Tom Owen

Captain Al Haynes

Col. / Dr. Michael Knowle / Philip Carey / Petruchio / Heathcliff / Edward Rochester / Mitch Henderson / James Otis / Macbeth / Merton Densher / Commander Schneider

Brigham Young

Lt. Paul Peterson / Chipman

Ron "Cat" Catlan

Richard 'King' Howland

Col. Jesse Price

James MacKenzie

Thomas Jefferson / Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex

Cashel Bryon / Peter Handley / Melody Jones

Narrator

Mark Antony

Casey Cole

Star guest

Narrator

Peer Gynt

Captain Paul MacDougall / Benny the Snatch / Narrator

Tim

Beast

Lee Cahill

Charlton Heston

Narrator

Louis Mancini

Narrator

Narrator (voice)

Narrator

Narrator (voice)

Narrator

Josef Mengele

Charley MacLeod Sr.

Alien (voice)

Professor Marcelo Rinaldi

Narrator (voice)

Col. Jesse Price

James Otis

Host and Narrator

Narrator

Narrator

Lord Essex

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Heathcliff

Narrator (voice)

Thomas Jefferson

Tennis Player

Narrator

Edward Rochester

General Douglas MacArthur (voice)

Narrator

Thomas

Host

Substitute Host

Petruchio

Directing (3)

Writing (1)

Screenplay

Appearances (102)

Self - NRA President

Self - Actor (archive footage)

Self

Self

Self - 'Taylor'

Self – Interviewee

Self - Actor (archive footage)

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self - Narrator (voice)

Self - Actor (archive footage)

(archive footage)

(archive footage)

Self - Actor (archive footage)

Self (archive footage)

Self (archive footage)

Self (archive footage)

Self / Self - Host

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self (archive footage)

Self - Actor (archive footage)

Self (archive footage)

Self

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Self

Self

Self - Actor (archive footage)

Self

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self - Actor / Self

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self

Paul Malone (archive footage)

Self

Self - Guest Performer / Self - Guest Host

Self

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self - Narrator

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self - Narrator (voice)

Self

Self - Host

Self

Self

Self - Actor (archive footage)

Self

Self

Self

Self - Host

Self (archival footage)

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self - Host

Self - Host

Self - Host

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self - Narrator

Self (Population Institute, 1993) (archive footage)

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self - Host

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self - Host

Self - Host

Self

(archive footage)

Self

Self - Host

Self - Host

Self - Host

Self - Host / Moses

Self - Co-Host

Self

Self

Self - Narrator (voice)

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self - Performer

Self