Charlton Heston

7.1	Listal rating

Stats

Birth Name: John Charles Carter

Born: 4 October 1923 Died: 5 April 2008

Country of origin: United States

Height: 6' 2"

Ethnicity: White / Caucasian

Relationship Status: Married

Partner: Lydia Clarke

Lists

108 votes

A face that's seen a thousand sunsets (18 items)
list by The Flagship

Published 2 years, 6 months ago

23 comments

76 votes

My Top 10 Classic Sex Symbols (10 items)
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Published 1 year, 8 months ago

18 comments

55 votes

I won an Oscar... (146 items)
list by propelas

Published 2 months, 3 weeks ago

6 comments

49 votes

Hollywood Marriages that last (9 items)
list by Nonfictionguy

Published 3 years, 3 months ago

14 comments

47 votes

The 8 Golden Oscarberries (8 items)
list by KCenturion

Published 1 year, 7 months ago

3 comments

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Photos

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Charlton Heston Videos

Charlton Heston 1923-2008

69 Views

Added 3 years ago

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About: Renowned for playing a long list of historical figures, particularly in Biblical epics, the tall, well built and ruggedly handsome Charlton Heston is one of Hollywood's greatest leading men and remained active in front of movie cameras for over sixty years. Heston was born John Charles Carter on October 4th 1924 in Evanston, Illinois, and made his feature film debut as the lead character in a 16mm production of Peer Gynt (1941), based on the Henrik Ibsen play. Shortly thereafter, Renowned for playing a long list of historical figures, particularly in Biblical epics, the tall, well built and ruggedly handsome Charlton Heston is one of Hollywood's greatest leading men and remained active in front of movie cameras for over sixty years.

Heston was born John Charles Carter on October 4th 1924 in Evanston, Illinois, and made his feature film debut as the lead character in a 16mm production of Peer Gynt (1941), based on the Henrik Ibsen play. Shortly thereafter, he played 'Marc Antony' in Julius Caesar (1950), however Heston firmly stamped himself as genuine leading man material with his performance as circus manager 'Brad Braden' in the Cecil B. DeMille spectacular The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), also starring James Stewart and Cornel Wilde. The now very popular actor remained perpetually busy during the 1950s, both on TV and on the silver screen with audience pleasing performances in the steamy thriller The Naked Jungle (1954), as a treasure hunter in Secret of the Incas (1954) and another barn storming performance for Cecil B. DeMille as "Moses" in the blockbuster The Ten Commandments (1956). Heston delivered further dynamic performances in the oily film noir thriller Touch of Evil (1958), and then alongside Gregory Peck in the western The Big Country (1958) before scoring the role for which he is arguably best known, that of the wronged Jewish prince who seeks his freedom and revenge in the William Wyler directed Ben-Hur (1959). This mammoth Biblical epic running in excess of three and a half hours became the standard by which other large scale productions would be judged, and it's superb cast also including Stephen Boyd as the villainous "Massala", English actor Jack Hawkins as the Roman officer "Quintus Arrius", and Australian actor Frank Thring as "Pontius Pilate", all contributed wonderful performances.

Never one to rest on his laurels, steely Heston remained the preferred choice of directors to lead the cast in major historical productions and during the 1960s he starred as Spanish legend "Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar" in El Cid (1961), as a US soldier battling hostile Chinese boxers during 55 Days at Peking (1963), played the ill-fated "John the Baptist" in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), the masterful painter "Michelangelo" battling Pope Julius II in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965), and an English general in Khartoum (1966). In 1968, Heston filmed the unusual western Will Penny (1968) about an aging and lonely cowboy befriending a lost woman and her son, which Heston has often referred to as his favorite piece of work on screen.

Interestingly, Heston was on the verge of acquiring an entirely new league of fans due to his appearance in four very topical science fiction films (all based on popular novels) painting bleak future's for mankind. In 1968, Heston starred as time traveling astronaut "George Taylor", in the terrific Planet of the Apes (1968) with it's now legendary conclusion as Heston realizes the true horror of his destination. He returned to reprise the role, albeit primarily as a cameo, alongside fellow astronaut James Franciscus in the slightly inferior sequel Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). Next up, Heston again found himself facing the apocalypse in The Omega Man (1971) as the survivor of a germ plague that has wiped out humanity leaving only bands of psychotic lunatics roaming the cities who seek to kill the uninfected Heston. And fourthly, taking its inspiration from the Harry Harrison novel "Make Room!, Make Room!", Heston starred alongside screen legend Edward G. Robinson and Chuck Connors in Soylent Green (1973). During the remainder of the 1970s, Heston appeared in two very popular "disaster movies" contributing lead roles in the far fetched Airport 1975 (1974), plus in the star laden Earthquake (1974), filmed in "Sensoround" (low bass speakers were installed in selected theaters to simulate the earthquake rumblings on screen to movie audiences). He played an evil Cardinal in the lively The Four Musketeers (1974), a mythical US naval officer in the recreation of Midway (1976), also filmed in "Sensoround", an LA cop trying to stop a sniper in Two-Minute Warning (1976) and another US naval officer in the submarine thriller Gray Lady Down (1978).

Heston appeared in numerous episodes of the high rating TV series "Dynasty" (1981) and "The Colbys" (1985), before moving onto a mixed bag of projects including TV adaptations of Treasure Island (1990) (TV) and A Man for All Seasons (1988) (TV), hosting two episodes of the comedy show, "Saturday Night Live" (1975), starring as the "Good Actor" bringing love struck Mike Myers to tears in Wayne's World 2 (1993), and as the eye patch wearing boss of intelligence agent Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies (1994).

He also narrated numerous TV specials and lent his vocal talents to the animated movie Hercules (1997), the family comedy Cats & Dogs (2001) and an animated version of Ben Hur (2003) (TV). Heston made an uncredited appearance in the inferior remake of Planet of the Apes (2001), and his last film appearance to date was in the Holocaust themed drama of My Father, Rua Alguem 5555 (2003).

Heston has been married to Lydia Marie Clark Heston since March 1944, and they have two children. His highly entertaining autobiography was released in 1995, titled appropriately enough "Into The Arena". Although often criticized for his strong conservative beliefs and involvement with the NRA, Heston was a strong advocate for civil right many years before it became fashionable, and has been a recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, plus the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and has not appeared in a film or TV production since 2003.

Truly, Charlton Heston is one of the legendary figures of US cinema. ... (more)

American (4), Deceased (3), Oscar Winner (3), Died 2008 (2), Born 1923 (2), Action Star (2), Alzheimer's Disease (1), Hairy (1), Born 1924 (1), Legend (1), Republican (1), Blue Eyes (1), Sherlock Holmes (1), Died April 5 (1), Died Aged 84 (1), Born October 4 (1), October 4 (1), Born In October (1), Male (1), Actor (1)

Movies

1. Armageddon (1998)

Rating:

6.2

3402 Watched

2. Planet of the Apes (2001)

Rating:

5.5

2155 Watched

3. Hercules (1997)

Rating:

6.7

1734 Watched

4. True Lies (1994)

Rating:

6.4

1604 Watched

5. Bowling for Columbine (2002)

Rating:

7.2

1096 Watched

View all Charlton Heston movies (86 more)

TV

1. Saturday Night Live (1975)

Rating:

7.3

754 Watched

2. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992)

Rating:

5.4

236 Watched

3. Dynasty (1981)

Rating:

5.3

54 Watched

4. Treasure Island (1990)

Rating:

29 Watched

5. Today (1952)

Rating:

6.1

35 Watched

View all Charlton Heston TV (38 more)

Movies directed by

1. Mother Lode (1982)

Rating:

2 want to see

2. Antony and Cleopatra (1972)

Rating:

1 want to see

Movies written by

1. Antony and Cleopatra (1972)

Rating:

1 want to see

Books

1. In the Arena: An Autobiography

1 own

Updates feed

Leo added this to a list 1 month ago

Razzie Worst Supporting Actor winners (31 person items)

"2001 - Cats & Dogs / Planet of the Apes / Town and Country"

MariaJJ posted a image 2 months ago

propelas added this to a list 2 months, 3 weeks ago

I won an Oscar... (146 person items)

"for the movie "Ben-Hur" "

Mortal Storm added this to a list 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Actors (383 person items)

"The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) Ruby Gentry (1952) The Private War of Major Benson (1955) Touch of Evil (1958) The Big Country (1958) Planet of the Apes (1968) Midway (1976) True Lies (1994) Armageddon (1998) (voice) Gideon (1999) The Order (2001)"

diabolical dr voodoo added this to a list 3 months, 1 week ago

Directed by Sam Peckinpah (160 person items)

"Major Dundee"

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Favourite Actors & Actresses (50 person items)

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Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award (53 person items)

almaseletiva added this to a list 4 months, 3 weeks ago

Libra people (23/09 a 22/10) (115 person items)

"4 October 1923"

Michael M added this to a list 4 months, 3 weeks ago

TGWTG Actors Draft Picks. (10 person items)

Orlok added this to a list 4 months, 4 weeks ago

Favorite actors (42 person items)

carryonbuff added this to a list 5 months, 1 week ago

Hollywood Legends (44 person items)

carryonbuff added this to a list 6 months ago

Oscar Best Actor/Actress winners 1950 - 1970 (41 person items)

"1959, Ben-Hur Who else could have won Best Actor? well deserved."

bharath added this to a list 6 months ago

Top watched Actors (50 person items)

bharath added this to a list 6 months ago

Top 12 old is gold actors (12 person items)

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Some of my Favourite Movie Performances! (282 person items)

"Judah Ben-Hur Ben-Hur - Won - Academy Award For Best Actor - (George) Taylor Planet Of The Apes - Ramon Miguel Vargas Touch of Evil - Moses The Ten Commandments "

Usurping_Python added this to a list 7 months, 1 week ago

Python Actor Championships (32 person items)

"30 Pony Express The Ten Commandments The Big Country The Buccaneer Ben-Hur El Cid The Greatest Story Ever Told Major Dundee The Agony and the Ecstasy Khartoum Planet of the Apes Beneath the Planet of the Apes The Omega Man The Three Musketeers The Four Musketeers Earthquake Midway Crossed Swords Wayne's World 2 Tombstone True Lies Alaska Hercules Armageddon Any Given Sunday Cats & Dogs Planet of the Apes The Order Bowling for Columbine"