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
The Ten Commandments
(1956)
Moses
Hercules
(1997)
Narrator (voice)
Ben-Hur
(1959)
Judah Ben-Hur
True Lies
(1994)
Spencer Trilby
Armageddon
(1998)
Narration (voice)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
(1970)
Taylor
Tombstone
(1993)
Henry Hooker
Touch of Evil
(1958)
Ramon Miguel Vargas
Any Given Sunday
(1999)
Commissioner
Earthquake
(1974)
Stewart Graff
Midway
(1976)
Capt. Matthew Garth
The Three Musketeers
(1973)
Cardinal Richelieu
El Cid
(1961)
El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar
The Greatest Story Ever Told
(1965)
John the Baptist
Full Filmography
Acting
Peer Gynt
(1941)
Peer Gynt
Jane Eyre
(1949)
Edward Rochester
Dark City
(1950)
Danny Haley
Julius Caesar
(1950)
Mark Antony
A Bolt of Lightning
(1951)
James Otis
The Greatest Show on Earth
(1952)
Brad Braden
Ruby Gentry
(1952)
Boake Tackman
The Savage
(1952)
James 'Jim' Aherne Jr. / War Bonnet
Pony Express
(1953)
Captain William Frank 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
Arrowhead
(1953)
Ed Bannon
Bad for Each Other
(1953)
Dr. Tom Owen
The President's Lady
(1953)
Andrew Jackson
Three Lives
(1953)
Self
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
Three Violent People
(1956)
Capt. Colt Saunders
Stars of Cabaret
(1956)
Self (archive footage)
Forbidden Area
(1956)
Col. Jesse Price
Touch of Evil
(1958)
Ramon Miguel Vargas
The Buccaneer
(1958)
Gen. Andrew Jackson
The Big Country
(1958)
Steve Leech
Fun in the Big Country
(1958)
Self
Ben-Hur
(1959)
Judah Ben-Hur
The Wreck of the Mary Deare
(1959)
John Sands
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
55 Days at Peking
(1963)
Maj. Matt Lewis
The Five Cities of June
(1963)
Narrator
The Patriots
(1963)
Thomas Jefferson
The Greatest Story Ever Told
(1965)
John the Baptist
Major Dundee
(1965)
Major Amos Charles Dundee
The Agony and the Ecstasy
(1965)
Michelangelo
The War Lord
(1965)
Chrysagon
Uncertain Verification
(1965)
(archive footage)
Khartoum
(1966)
Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon
Will Penny
(1967)
Will Penny
Counterpoint
(1967)
Lionel Evans
While I Run This Race
(1967)
Narrator
Planet of the Apes
(1968)
George Taylor
Rowan & Martin At the Movies
(1968)
Self
Number One
(1969)
Ron "Cat" Catlan
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
(1970)
Taylor
Julius Caesar
(1970)
Marc Antony
The Hawaiians
(1970)
Whip Hoxworth
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
(1970)
Self (archive footage)
The Omega Man
(1971)
Robert Neville
Vietnam! Vietnam!
(1971)
Narrator (voice)
The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man
(1971)
Self - Narrator
The Call of the Wild
(1972)
John Thornton
Skyjacked
(1972)
Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara
Antony and Cleopatra
(1972)
Marc Antony
The Special London Bridge Special
(1972)
Tennis Player
The Three Musketeers
(1973)
Cardinal Richelieu
Soylent Green
(1973)
Detective Robert Thorn
A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green'
(1973)
Self
Earthquake
(1974)
Stewart Graff
Airport 1975
(1974)
Alan Murdock
The Four Musketeers
(1974)
Cardinal Richelieu
Midway
(1976)
Capt. Matthew Garth
Two-Minute Warning
(1976)
Capt. Peter Holly
The Last Hard Men
(1976)
Sam Burgade
America at the Movies
(1976)
Narrator
The Prince and the Pauper
(1977)
Henry VIII
Energy: A National Issue
(1977)
Narrator
Gray Lady Down
(1978)
Captain Paul Blanchard
The Awakening
(1980)
Matthew Corbeck
The Mountain Men
(1980)
Bill Tyler
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
Andrew Weyth, The Helga Pictures
(1987)
Self - Host
Proud Men
(1987)
Charley MacLeod Sr.
Eclipse of Reason
(1987)
Narrator
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
Solar Crisis
(1990)
Adm. "Skeet" Kelso
Almost an Angel
(1990)
God
Treasure Island
(1990)
Long John Silver
The Little Kidnappers
(1990)
James MacKenzie
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film
(1990)
Self
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
Tombstone
(1993)
Henry Hooker
Wayne's World 2
(1993)
Good Actor
The Mystery of the Sphinx
(1993)
Narrator
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth
(1993)
Self - Host
Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses
(1993)
Self - Host
True Lies
(1994)
Spencer Trilby
Charlie Sheen's Stunts Spectacular
(1994)
Self (archive footage)
The Bible According to Hollywood
(1994)
Self
A Century of Cinema
(1994)
Self
The Legacy of Malthus
(1994)
Self (Population Institute, 1993) (archive footage)
In the Mouth of Madness
(1995)
Jackson Harglow
The Avenging Angel
(1995)
Brigham Young
Texas
(1995)
Narrator
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
(1995)
Self
Hamlet
(1996)
Player King
Alaska
(1996)
Perry
The Dark Mist
(1996)
Narrator (voice)
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
Hercules
(1997)
Narrator (voice)
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis
(1997)
Self - Host
Charlton Heston Presents the Bible
(1997)
Self - Narrator
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
(1997)
Self
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
(1997)
Self
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
(1998)
Narrator (voice)
Behind the Planet of the Apes
(1998)
Self - 'Taylor' (also archive footage)
Gideon
(1998)
Addison Sinclair
Armageddon
(1998)
Narration (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
Yesterday's Tomorrows
(1999)
Self
Television: The First Fifty Years
(1999)
Self
Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints
(2000)
Self
Town & Country
(2001)
Mr. Clayborne
The Order
(2001)
Professor Finley
Cats & Dogs
(2001)
The Mastiff (voice)
The Gun Deadlock
(2001)
Self
Planet of the Apes
(2001)
Zaius
Bowling for Columbine
(2002)
Self - NRA President
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
(2002)
(archive footage)
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: Samson and Delilah
(2003)
Self - Host
Christmas in Hollywood
(2003)
Self (archive footage)
My Father
(2003)
Josef Mengele
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
Lasting Love
(2003)
Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden
(2003)
Self - Host
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
(2004)
Self (archive footage)
Remembering Reagan at His Ranch
(2004)
Host
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)
And the Oscar Goes To...
(2014)
Self (archive footage)
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
(2014)
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
(2014)
Self - Actor (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)
Sword-and-Sandal
(2019)
Self (archive footage)
Todos los nombres de Sara
(2019)
Self - Actor (archive footage)
I Am Richard Pryor
(2019)
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
(2019)
(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)
Directing
Antony and Cleopatra
(1972)
Director
Mother Lode
(1982)
Director
A Man for All Seasons
(1988)
Director
Writing