Charlton Heston

ActorDirectorWriter Oct 4 (died age 84) Wilmette, Illinois, USA 1941–2025 (84 year career)

6.4 avg rating

Biography

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 performan…

Known For

Film

Hercules

Narrator (voice)

Film

Ben-Hur

Judah Ben-Hur

Film

Planet of the Apes

George Taylor

Film

Armageddon

Narration (voice)

Film

True Lies

Spencer Trilby

Film

Tombstone

Henry Hooker

Film

The Ten Commandments

Moses

Film

Touch of Evil

Ramon Miguel Vargas

Filmography

Acting (250)

Movies (194)

Airports

2025

Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction

2024

as Self (archive footage)

8.1

Charlton Heston: Radical to Right Wing

2023

as Self (archive footage)

8.5

Yul Brynner, the Magnificent

2020

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

7.5

Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic

2019

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

7.0

Hail Satan?

2019

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

7.0

I Am Richard Pryor

2019

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

6.9

Todos los nombres de Sara

2019

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

4.0

Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"

2019

as (archive footage)

The Madding Crowd

2017

as Self (archive footage)

Bienvenido Mr. Heston

2016

as Self (archive footage)

The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille

2016

as Self

6.2

Spanish Western

2015

as Self (archive footage)

6.2

Children of the Civil Rights

2015

as Self (archival footage)

7.0

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire

2014

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

7.3

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

2014

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

6.5

Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia

2013

as Self (archive footage)

7.8

Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey

2011

as Self (archive footage)

7.6

2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift

2010

as (archive footage)

6.1

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

2010

as Self – Interviewee

6.6

Hollywood sul Tevere

2009

Greatest Heroes and Legends: The Story of Moses

2008

as Self - Host / Moses

AFI: 100 Years... 100 Movies... 10th Anniversary Edition

2007

as Self (archive footage)

6.7

De Madrid a la Luna

2006

as Self (archive footage)

6.0

Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema

2005

as Self (archive footage)

6.6

Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade

2004

as Self (archive footage)

7.8

Remembering Reagan at His Ranch

2004

as Host

Christmas in Hollywood

2003

as Self (archive footage)

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: David and Goliath

2003

as Self - Host

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Jonah and the Whale

2003

as Self - Host

Lasting Love

2003

Ben Hur

2003

as Ben Hur (voice)

5.7

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Samson and Delilah

2003

as Self - Host

My Father

2003

as Josef Mengele

6.0

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: The Garden of Eden

2003

as Self - Host

5.0

Greatest Heroes and Legends of The Bible: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho

2003

as Self - Host

Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's Den

2003

as Self - Host

6.0

The Making of The Ten Commandments

2003

as Self (archive footage)

8.0

Bowling for Columbine

2002

as Self - NRA President

7.5

The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich

2002

as Narrator (voice)

Edith Head: The Paramount Years

2002

as (archive footage)

7.5

The Making of 'Tombstone'

2002

as Self

Planet of the Apes

2001

as Zaius (uncredited)

5.8

Cats & Dogs

2001

as The Mastiff (voice)

The Order

as Professor Finley

Town & Country

as Mr. Clayborne

The Gun Deadlock

as Self

Last Party 2000

2001

as Self

6.1

The Making of Midway

2001

as Self

Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints

2000

as Self

Any Given Sunday

1999

as AFFA Football Commissioner

6.8

Forever Hollywood

1999

as Self

8.0

Yesterday's Tomorrows

1999

as Self

10.0

Television: The First Fifty Years

1999

as Self

Armageddon

as Narration (voice)

Gideon

as Addison Sinclair

Behind the Planet of the Apes

1998

as Self - 'Taylor'

7.1

Alaska: Spirit of the Wild

1998

as Narrator (voice)

6.9

Private Screenings: Charlton Heston

1998

as Self

Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero

as Self

Hercules

as Narrator (voice)

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Genesis

1997

as Self - Host

8.0

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible

1997

as Self - Narrator

10.0

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line

1997

as Self

7.5

Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western

as Self

Hamlet

as Player King

The Mysterious Origins of Man

as Self - Host

The Lord Protector

as Narrator (voice)

Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels

as Self

Alaska

as Perry

Love in Hollywood

as Self

Andersonville Diaries

1996

as Narrator

In the Mouth of Madness

as Jackson Harglow

The Avenging Angel

as Brigham Young

Texas

as Narrator

Charlton Heston: For All Seasons

as Self

True Lies

as Spencer Trilby

The Legacy of Malthus

1994

as Self (Population Institute, 1993) (archive footage)

A Century of Cinema

1994

as Self

8.0

Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects

1994

as Self

The Bible According to Hollywood

as Self

Tombstone

as Henry Hooker

Charlton Heston Presents The Bible: The Story of Moses

1993

as Self - Host

The Mystery of the Sphinx

as Narrator

Wayne's World 2

as Good Actor

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth

1993

as Self - Host

Noël

1992

as Narrator

4.2

Solar Crisis

1992

as Adm. "Skeet" Kelso

4.2

Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232

1992

as Captain Al Haynes

5.8

Symphony for the Spire

1992

7.0

The Crucifer of Blood

1991

as Sherlock Holmes

6.5

Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents

1991

as Host and Narrator

Cults: Saying No Under Pressure

1991

as Narrator

Almost an Angel

as God

Treasure Island

as Long John Silver

A Night on Mount Edna

1990

as Self

The Little Kidnappers

1990

as James MacKenzie

5.1

With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film

1990

as Self

Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary

as Self

Call from Space

as Alien (voice)

Original Sin

as Louis Mancini

A Man for All Seasons

1988

as Sir Thomas More

6.8

Eclipse of Reason

1987

as Narrator

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood

1987

as Self

5.7

Proud Men

1987

as Charley MacLeod Sr.

7.0

Andrew Weyth, The Helga Pictures

1987

as Self - Host

Directed by William Wyler

1986

as Self

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal

1986

as Self

7.5

The Stars Salute the U.S. Olympic Team

1984

as Self - Performer

Nairobi Affair

1984

as Lee Cahill

4.8

The Orson Welles Story

1982

as Self

9.0

Mother Lode

1982

as Silas McGee / Ian McGee

5.6

Let Poland Be Poland

1982

as Self - Co-Host

Barry Norman in Celebrity City

1982

as Self

This Is Your Life: 30th Anniversary Special

1981

as Self

The Mountain Men

as Bill Tyler

The Awakening

as Matthew Corbeck

Gray Lady Down

as Captain Paul Blanchard

6.4

The Prince and the Pauper

1977

as Henry VIII

5.9

Energy: A National Issue

1977

as Narrator (voice)

5.0

Midway

1976

as Capt. Matthew Garth

Two-Minute Warning

as Capt. Peter Holly

The Last Hard Men

as Sam Burgade

America at the Movies

as Narrator

Earthquake

as Stewart Graff

Airport 1975

as Alan Murdock

The Four Musketeers

as Cardinal Richelieu

6.4

Soylent Green

1973

as Detective Robert Thorn

6.9

The Three Musketeers

1973

as Cardinal Richelieu

6.7

A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green'

1973

as Self

The Call of the Wild

as John Thornton

Antony and Cleopatra

as Marc Antony

The Special London Bridge Special

1972

as Tennis Player

Skyjacked

1972

as Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara

6.1

The Omega Man

1971

as Robert Neville

6.2

The Last Man Alive: The Omega Man

1971

as Self - Narrator

Vietnam! Vietnam!

1971

as Narrator (voice)

5.3

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

as Taylor

Julius Caesar

as Marc Antony

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

1970

as Self (archive footage)

The Hawaiians

as Whip Hoxworth

Number One

as Ron "Cat" Catlan

Planet of the Apes

as George Taylor

Rowan & Martin at the Movies

1968

as Self

2.0

Elizabeth the Queen

1968

as Lord Essex

While I Run This Race

as Narrator

Counterpoint

as Lionel Evans

Will Penny

as Will Penny

Planet of the Apes Test Reel

1966

as Thomas

Khartoum

1966

as Gen. Charles 'Chinese' Gordon

6.3

The Greatest Story Ever Told

1965

as John the Baptist

6.4

The Agony and the Ecstasy

as Michelangelo

The War Lord

as Chrysagon

Major Dundee

as Major Amos Charles Dundee

6.6

Uncertain Verification

1965

as (archive footage)

6.6

The Greatest All-Star Advertial of All Time

1963

as Self

The Patriots

1963

as Thomas Jefferson

55 Days at Peking

1963

as Maj. Matt Lewis

6.9

The Five Cities of June

1963

as Narrator

6.3

Look at Life: The City's Built for Shooting

1963

as Self

Diamond Head

1962

as Richard 'King' Howland

5.4

The Pigeon That Took Rome

1962

as Captain Paul MacDougall / Benny the Snatch / Narrator

5.3

El Cid

1961

as El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar

6.8

Ben-Hur

1959

as Judah Ben-Hur

7.9

The Wreck of the Mary Deare

as John Sands

The Big Country

as Steve Leech

Touch of Evil

as Ramon Miguel Vargas

7.8

The Buccaneer

1958

as Gen. Andrew Jackson

6.4

Fun in the Big Country

1958

as Self

The Ten Commandments

as Moses

Three Violent People

as Colt Saunders

Forbidden Area

as Col. Jesse Price

Stars of Cabaret

as Self (archive footage)

The Far Horizons

as Lt. William Clark

Lucy Gallant

as Casey Cole

The Private War of Major Benson

1955

as Maj. Bernard R. 'Barney' Benson

6.6

The Naked Jungle

1954

as Christopher Leiningen

Secret of the Incas

as Harry Steel

Bad for Each Other

as Dr. Tom Owen

Pony Express

as Captain William Frank 'Buffalo Bill' Cody

Arrowhead

as Ed Bannon

The President's Lady

as Andrew Jackson

Three Lives

as Self

The Greatest Show on Earth

as Brad Braden

Ruby Gentry

as Boake Tackman

The Savage

as James 'Jim' Aherne Jr. / War Bonnet

6.1

A Bolt of Lightning

1951

as James Otis

Dark City

as Danny Haley

Julius Caesar

as Mark Antony

The Taming of the Shrew

1950

as Petruchio

Studio One: Wuthering Heights

1950

as Heathcliff

Jane Eyre

1949

as Edward Rochester

Peer Gynt

1941

as Peer Gynt

7.0

Night of the Dragon

as Narrator

Television (56)

Talking Pictures

2013

as Self (archive footage)

The Weber Show

as Charlton Heston

Camino de Santiago

as Professor Marcelo Rinaldi

6.0

Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War

1998

as Self - Narrator (voice)

6.0

Secrets of War: Shadows of The Reich

1998

as Self - Narrator (voice)

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies

1998

as Self

8.2

The Outer Limits

1995

as Chief Justice Haden Wainwright

MADtv

as Self

Eco-Challenge

Friends

as Charlton Heston

Space Ghost Coast to Coast

1994

as Self

7.8

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

as Self - Guest

seaQuest DSV

as Abalon

Pebble Mill

as Self

Noel's House Party

as Star guest

Korea: The Unknown War

1988

as General Douglas MacArthur (voice)

The Dame Edna Experience

as Self

The Colbys

as Jason Colby

Chiefs

as Hugh Holmes

Wogan

as Self

Dynasty

as Jason Colby

The Kennedy Center Honors

as Self

Saturday Night Live

as Self

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

as Self

Dinah!

as Self

Spécial cinéma

as Self

The American Film Institute Salute to ...

as Self

V.I.P. Schaukel

as Self

Film '72

as Self

The Dick Cavett Show

as Self - Guest

F.D.R.

as Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962

as Self

7.5

The Merv Griffin Show

1962

as Self

6.2

The Mike Douglas Show

1961

as Self - Guest

5.4

Kraft Mystery Theatre

1961

as Paul Malone (archive footage)

6.3

Shirley Temple's Storybook

as Beast

The Steve Allen Show

as Self - Actor

Playhouse 90

as Col. Jesse Price

The $64,000 Question

as Substitute Host

Climax!

as Lt. Paul Peterson

The Oscars

as Self

General Electric Theater

as Tim

Omnibus

as Self - Presenter

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

as Thomas Jefferson

8.6

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

1951

7.2

Robert Montgomery Presents

1950

as Cashel Bryon

5.6

What's My Line?

1950

as Self - Mystery Guest

6.9

The Colgate Comedy Hour

1950

as Self

6.8

Your Show of Shows

1950

as Self - Guest Performer

Suspense

Bambi

as Self

The Philco Television Playhouse

Studio One

The Ed Sullivan Show

as Self

Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Nominee

Science Fiction Film Awards

as Himself

Crew (4)

Movies (4)

A Man for All Seasons

Director

Mother Lode

Director

Antony and Cleopatra

Director

Antony and Cleopatra

Screenplay