Charlton Heston's parents were divorced when he was ten, and he was raised by his mother and, later, stepfather. He studied drama at Northwestern University, where he first stepped before the camera at age 16 in a student-filmed silent production of the Henrik Ibsen play, Peer Gynt.
As an actor, Heston is most famous for larger-than-life roles in a series of epics, including Orson Welles' Touch of Evil (1958), Ben-Hur (1959), which won him an Oscar, El Cid (1961), and the underrated Khartoum (1966). And then there's Planet of the Apes (1968), Soylent Green (1973), the disaster flicks Airport (1974) and Earthquake (1975), and TV's The Colbys (1985-87), an uninspired spin-off of Dynasty.
Off screen, Heston was active in the civil rights movement, and marched on Washington DC with Martin Luther King in 1963. Later in life he served as president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2002. As NRA chief, Heston once held a 1776-era musket and uttered his most famous line: "I have only five words for you: From my cold, dead hands."
[1] Heston's original New York Times obituary gave 1924 as his year of birth, the newspaper later issuing a correction to 1923 without explanation. This would make him 84 at the time of his death. Heston's obituary in The Chicago Tribune gave 1924 as his birth year. Current Biography first profile on Heston (1957) gave 1924 but this was amended by his second profile in 1986 with a question mark, suggesting 1922, 1923, or 1924 as possible years, and October 4 or October 6 as possible days.
Father: Russell Whitford Carter
Mother: Lilla Charlton Carter
Father: Chester Heston (stepfather)
Wife: Lydia Marie Clarke (m. 17-Mar-1944)
Son: Fraser Clarke Heston (screenwriter and actor, b. 12-Feb-1955)
Daughter: Holly Ann Heston (adopted, b. 1961)
High School: New Trier High School, Winnetka, IL (1941)
University: Northwestern University
National Rifle Association President (1998-2003)
Screen Actors Guild President (1966-71)
Oscar for Best Actor 1960 for Ben-Hur
Kennedy Center Honor 1997
Presidential Medal of Freedom 23-Jul-2003
Hollywood Walk of Fame 1620 Vine St.
National Cowboy Hall of Fame 2010
Accuracy in Media National Advisory Board
Kennedy Center Trustee Emeritus
Nicaraguan Freedom Fund Board of Directors
Reagan-Bush '84
US English Advisory Board
Visited Disneyland on Opening Day
Visited Disneyland Candlelight Procession (Dec-1970)
Hip Replacement Surgery
Risk Factors: Alzheimer's, Prostate Cancer
TELEVISION
The Colbys Jason Colby (1985-87)
FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
A Man for All Seasons (1988)
Mother Lode (15-Oct-1982)
Antony and Cleopatra (2-Mar-1972)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Hail Satan? (25-Jan-2019) · Himself
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (5-May-2010) · Himself
Ben Hur (15-Feb-2003) [VOICE]
Bowling for Columbine (15-May-2002) · Himself
The Order (27-Dec-2001) · Prof. Finley
Last Party 2000 (2-Nov-2001) · Himself
Cats & Dogs (23-Jun-2001) [VOICE]
Town & Country (27-Apr-2001)
Any Given Sunday (16-Dec-1999)
Gideon (10-Oct-1999) · Addison Sinclair
Armageddon (1-Jul-1998) [VOICE]
Hercules (14-Jun-1997) · Narrator [VOICE]
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild (1997) · Narrator [VOICE]
Hamlet (25-Dec-1996)
Alaska (14-Aug-1996) · Perry
In the Mouth of Madness (3-Feb-1995) · Jackson Harglow
The Avenging Angel (22-Jan-1995)
True Lies (15-Jul-1994) · Spencer Trilby
Texas (1994) · Narrator
Tombstone (25-Dec-1993) · Henry Hooker
Wayne's World 2 (10-Dec-1993) · Good Actor
Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 (24-Feb-1992)
The Crucifer of Blood (4-Nov-1991)
Solar Crisis (14-Jul-1990)
Treasure Island (22-Jan-1990)
Original Sin (20-Feb-1989)
A Man for All Seasons (1988)
Chiefs (13-Nov-1983)
Mother Lode (15-Oct-1982) · Silas McGee
The Awakening (17-Jan-1981)
The Mountain Men (1-Jun-1980)
Crossed Swords (17-Mar-1978)
Gray Lady Down (10-Mar-1978) · Capt. Paul Blanchard
Two Minute Warning (12-Nov-1976)
Midway (18-Jun-1976) · Capt. Matt Garth
The Last Hard Men (1-Jun-1976) · Sam Burgade
The Four Musketeers (25-Dec-1974) · Cardinal Richelieu
Earthquake (15-Nov-1974) · Graff
Airport 1975 (18-Oct-1974) · Murdock
The Three Musketeers (11-Dec-1973) · Cardinal Richelieu
Soylent Green (19-Apr-1973) · Thorn
Call of the Wild (29-Dec-1972)
Skyjacked (24-May-1972)
Antony and Cleopatra (2-Mar-1972)
The Omega Man (1-Aug-1971) · Neville
The Hawaiians (17-Jun-1970) · Whip Hoxworth
Julius Caesar (4-Jun-1970)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1-May-1970) · Taylor
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (24-Mar-1970) · Himself
Number One (21-Aug-1969)
Will Penny (10-Apr-1968)
Planet of the Apes (8-Feb-1968) · George Taylor
Counterpoint (19-Jan-1968)
Khartoum (9-Jun-1966)
The War Lord (17-Nov-1965) · Chrysagon
The Agony and the Ecstasy (24-Sep-1965)
Major Dundee (15-Mar-1965) · Maj. Amos Charles Dundee
The Greatest Story Ever Told (15-Feb-1965) · John the Baptist
55 Days at Peking (29-May-1963) · Maj. Matt Lewis
Diamond Head (30-Jan-1963)
The Pigeon That Took Rome (20-Jun-1962) · Capt. Paul MacDougall
El Cid (14-Dec-1961)
Ben-Hur (18-Nov-1959) · Judah Ben-Hur
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (6-Nov-1959) · John Sands
The Buccaneer (1-Dec-1958)
The Big Country (1-Oct-1958)
Touch of Evil (21-May-1958) · Ramon Miguel Vargas
Three Violent People (Dec-1956)
The Ten Commandments (5-Oct-1956) [VOICE]
Lucy Gallant (20-Oct-1955)
The Private War of Major Benson (2-Aug-1955)
The Far Horizons (20-May-1955)
Secret of the Incas (28-May-1954) · Harry Steele
The Naked Jungle (3-Mar-1954) · Christopher Leiningen
Bad for Each Other (24-Dec-1953)
Arrowhead (3-Aug-1953)
Pony Express (5-Jun-1953)
The President's Lady (21-May-1953)
Ruby Gentry (25-Dec-1952) · Boake Tackman
The Savage (Sep-1952) · Jim Aherne
The Greatest Show on Earth (10-Jan-1952)
Dark City (17-Oct-1950)
Rotten Library Page:
Charlton Heston
Author of books:
Charlton Heston: In the Arena (1995)