Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Planet of the Apes and Ben-Hur, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Heston was also known for his political activism. In the 1950s and 1960s he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to speak openly against racism and was an active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. Initially a moderate Democrat, he later supported conservative Republican policies and was president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.
Academy Awards
Best Actor
Known For
Planet of the Apes
(2001)
Zaius
Planet of the Apes
(1968)
George Taylor
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
(1970)
Taylor
Hercules
(1997)
Narrator (voice)
The Ten Commandments
(1956)
Moses
Behind the Planet of the Apes
(1998)
Self - 'Taylor' (also archive footage)
Touch of Evil
(1958)
Ramon Miguel Vargas
Ben-Hur
(1959)
Judah Ben-Hur
Any Given Sunday
(1999)
Commissioner
True Lies
(1994)
Spencer Trilby
Armageddon
(1998)
Narration (voice)
Tombstone
(1993)
Henry Hooker
Soylent Green
(1973)
Detective Robert Thorn
The Three Musketeers
(1973)
Cardinal Richelieu
El Cid
(1961)
El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar
Midway
(1976)
Capt. Matthew Garth
Full Filmography
Acting
Peer Gynt
(1941)
Peer Gynt
Jane Eyre
(1949)
Edward Rochester
Julius Caesar
(1950)
Mark Antony
Dark City
(1950)
Danny Haley
A Bolt of Lightning
(1951)
James Otis
Ruby Gentry
(1952)
Boake Tackman
The Savage
(1952)
James 'Jim' Aherne Jr. / War Bonnet
The Greatest Show on Earth
(1952)
Brad Braden
Arrowhead
(1953)
Ed Bannon
Three Lives
(1953)
Self
Pony Express
(1953)
Captain William Frank 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
Bad for Each Other
(1953)
Dr. Tom Owen
The President's Lady
(1953)
Andrew Jackson
Secret of the Incas
(1954)
Harry Steel
The Naked Jungle
(1954)
Christopher Leiningen
The Far Horizons
(1955)
Lt. William Clark
The Private War of Major Benson
(1955)
Maj. Bernard R. 'Barney' Benson
Lucy Gallant
(1955)
Casey Cole
The Ten Commandments
(1956)
Moses
Forbidden Area
(1956)
Col. Jesse Price
Three Violent People
(1956)
Capt. Colt Saunders
Stars of Cabaret
(1956)
Self (archive footage)
The Big Country
(1958)
Steve Leech
The Buccaneer
(1958)
Gen. Andrew Jackson
Touch of Evil
(1958)
Ramon Miguel Vargas
Fun in the Big Country
(1958)
Self
The Wreck of the Mary Deare
(1959)
John Sands
Ben-Hur
(1959)
Judah Ben-Hur
El Cid
(1961)
El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar
Diamond Head
(1962)
Richard 'King' Howland
The Pigeon That Took Rome
(1962)
Captain Paul MacDougall / Benny the Snatch / Narrator
The Patriots
(1963)
Thomas Jefferson
The Five Cities of June
(1963)
Narrator
55 Days at Peking
(1963)
Maj. Matt Lewis
The Greatest Story Ever Told
(1965)
John the Baptist
Uncertain Verification
(1965)
(archive footage)
Major Dundee
(1965)
Major Amos Charles Dundee
The Agony and the Ecstasy
(1965)
Michelangelo
The War Lord
(1965)
Chrysagon
Khartoum
(1966)
Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon
While I Run This Race
(1967)
Narrator
Counterpoint
(1967)
Lionel Evans
Will Penny
(1967)
Will Penny
Rowan & Martin At the Movies
(1968)
Self
Planet of the Apes
(1968)
George Taylor
Number One
(1969)
Ron "Cat" Catlan
Julius Caesar
(1970)
Marc Antony
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
(1970)
Self (archive footage)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
(1970)
Taylor
The Hawaiians
(1970)
Whip Hoxworth
The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man
(1971)
Self - Narrator
The Omega Man
(1971)
Robert Neville
Vietnam! Vietnam!
(1971)
Narrator (voice)
The Call of the Wild
(1972)
John Thornton
Antony and Cleopatra
(1972)
Marc Antony
The Special London Bridge Special
(1972)
Tennis Player
Skyjacked
(1972)
Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara
A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green'
(1973)
Self
Soylent Green
(1973)
Detective Robert Thorn
The Three Musketeers
(1973)
Cardinal Richelieu
Airport 1975
(1974)
Alan Murdock
The Four Musketeers
(1974)
Cardinal Richelieu
Earthquake
(1974)
Stewart Graff
America at the Movies
(1976)
Narrator
Two-Minute Warning
(1976)
Capt. Peter Holly
The Last Hard Men
(1976)
Sam Burgade
Midway
(1976)
Capt. Matthew Garth
The Prince and the Pauper
(1977)
Henry VIII
Energy: A National Issue
(1977)
Narrator
Gray Lady Down
(1978)
Captain Paul Blanchard
The Mountain Men
(1980)
Bill Tyler
The Awakening
(1980)
Matthew Corbeck
This Is Your Life: 30th Anniversary Special
(1981)
Self
Mother Lode
(1982)
Silas McGee / Ian McGee
Barry Norman in Celebrity City
(1982)
Self
Let Poland Be Poland
(1982)
Self - Co-Host
Nairobi Affair
(1984)
Lee Cahill
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
(1986)
Self
Directed by William Wyler
(1986)
Self
Proud Men
(1987)
Charley MacLeod Sr.
Eclipse of Reason
(1987)
Narrator
Andrew Weyth, The Helga Pictures
(1987)
Self - Host
A Man for All Seasons
(1988)
Sir Thomas More
Call from Space
(1989)
Alien (voice)
Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary
(1989)
Self
Original Sin
(1989)
Louis Mancini
The Little Kidnappers
(1990)
James MacKenzie
Treasure Island
(1990)
Long John Silver
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film
(1990)
Self
Almost an Angel
(1990)
God
Solar Crisis
(1990)
Adm. "Skeet" Kelso
The Crucifer of Blood
(1991)
Sherlock Holmes
Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents
(1991)
Host and Narrator
Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232
(1992)
Captain Al Haynes
Noël
(1992)
Narrator
The Mystery of the Sphinx
(1993)
Narrator
Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses
(1993)
Self - Host
Wayne's World 2
(1993)
Good Actor
Tombstone
(1993)
Henry Hooker
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth
(1993)
Self - Host
The Bible According to Hollywood
(1994)
Self
True Lies
(1994)
Spencer Trilby
A Century of Cinema
(1994)
Self
Charlie Sheen's Stunts Spectacular
(1994)
Self (archive footage)
The Legacy of Malthus
(1994)
Self (Population Institute, 1993) (archive footage)
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
(1995)
Self
In the Mouth of Madness
(1995)
Jackson Harglow
The Avenging Angel
(1995)
Brigham Young
Texas
(1995)
Narrator
The Dark Mist
(1996)
Narrator (voice)
Alaska
(1996)
Perry
The Mysterious Origins of Man
(1996)
Self - Host
Love in Hollywood
(1996)
Self
Andersonville Diaries
(1996)
Narrator
Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels
(1996)
Self
Hamlet
(1996)
Player King
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
(1997)
Self
Hercules
(1997)
Narrator (voice)
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible
(1997)
Self - Narrator
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
(1997)
Self
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis
(1997)
Self - Host
Gideon
(1998)
Addison Sinclair
Armageddon
(1998)
Narration (voice)
Behind the Planet of the Apes
(1998)
Self - 'Taylor' (also archive footage)
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
(1998)
Narrator (voice)
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
(1998)
Self
Private Screenings: Charlton Heston
(1998)
Self
Any Given Sunday
(1999)
Commissioner
Forever Hollywood
(1999)
Self
Television: The First Fifty Years
(1999)
Self
Yesterday's Tomorrows
(1999)
Self
Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints
(2000)
Self
Cats & Dogs
(2001)
The Mastiff (voice)
Planet of the Apes
(2001)
Zaius
The Order
(2001)
Professor Finley
Town & Country
(2001)
Mr. Clayborne
The Gun Deadlock
(2001)
Self
Bowling for Columbine
(2002)
Self - NRA President
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
(2002)
(archive footage)
Christmas in Hollywood
(2003)
Self (archive footage)
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Samson and Delilah
(2003)
Self - Host
My Father
(2003)
Josef Mengele
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Jonah and the Whale
(2003)
Self - Host
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath
(2003)
Self - Host
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden
(2003)
Self - Host
Lasting Love
(2003)
Ben Hur
(2003)
Ben Hur (voice)
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho
(2003)
Self - Host
Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's Den
(2003)
Self - Host
Remembering Reagan at His Ranch
(2004)
Host
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
(2004)
Self (archive footage)
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
(2005)
Self (archive footage)
De Madrid a la Luna
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition
(2007)
Self (archive footage)
Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses
(2008)
Self - Host / Moses
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
(2010)
Self – Interviewee
Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey
(2011)
Self (archive footage)
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
(2014)
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
(2014)
Self - Actor (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
(2014)
Self (archive footage)
Spanish Western
(2015)
Self (archive footage)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille
(2016)
Self
Bienvenido Mr. Heston
(2016)
Self (archive footage)
The Madding Crowd
(2017)
Self (archive footage)
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
(2019)
(archive footage)
I Am Richard Pryor
(2019)
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Todos los nombres de Sara
(2019)
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Sword-and-Sandal
(2019)
Self (archive footage)
Hail Satan?
(2019)
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent
(2020)
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing
(2023)
Self (archive footage)
Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction
(2024)
Self (archive footage)
Writing
Directing