Charlton Heston
(1924 )
Biography from Baseline
Actor
Also: Director, producer
Born As: Charles Carter
October 4, 1924, Evanston, IL
Commanding male lead, a one-person Hollywood trek through the pages of world history and a forceful, Republican vision of a world in which America always wins. An acting student at Northwestern, Charlton Heston first acted on film in a student production of PEER GYNT (1941). After WWII service, he and wife Lydia Clarke worked as models in New York and ran a theatre in Asheville, NC, before Heston found success on Broadway in Katherine Cornell's production of Antony and Cleopatra (1947). He also made a vivid impression on early TV, especially in a flurry of dashing romantic leads (Heathcliff, Rochester, Petruchio) on the famous drama anthology Studio One. By the time he went to Hollywood to act in William Dieterle's moody film noir DARK CITY (1950) Heston was already a star, indeed was listed in the credits over the more established Lizabeth Scott. Over the next four decades he rarely had less than top billing.
With his role as the ill-tempered circus manager in his second film, Cecil B. DeMille's THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952), Heston began his reign as the actor of choice for Hollywood epics. Solidly built, but with a lithe walk, boasting an iron jaw, a granite-carved profile and a voice to go with them, he could intimidate opponents with just a glare. Few actors could dish up righteous anger with such force, yet even though many of his screen creations could be unpleasantly hostile, the power of his presence invariably commanded respect, conveyed integrity (even in villainous roles) and often managed to be likable. There was something timeless about his rueful expression and his brand of gritty heroism. At the same time, though, he glorified a concept of the power of the individual which was perfectly in step with middle America's vision of how the world should be.
Consequently, even though Heston never quite disappeared into his roles, he was perfect for Hollywood's writing of an Americanized world history picture book and its equally splashy renditions of the Bible. Beginning with his take on Buffalo Bill in THE PONY EXPRESS (1953), Heston's gallery of historical and Biblical characters included Andrew Jackson (THE PRESIDENT'S LADY, 1953, THE BUCCANEER, 1958), Moses (in Cecil B. DeMille's landmark second version of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, 1956, EL CID (in the 1961 film of that title), Thomas Jefferson (THE PATRIOTS, TV 1963) John the Baptist (THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, 1965), Major Amos Dundee (MAJOR DUNDEE, 1965), Michelangelo (THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY, 1965), General Charles Gordon (KHARTOUM, 1966), Cardinal Richelieu (THE THREE MUSKETEERS, 1974 and its 1975 sequel), Henry VIII (CROSSED SWORDS, 1978/THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER) and Sir Thomas More (A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, 1988). Indeed, it didn't really matter whether a charioteer named Judah Ben-Hur was actually transfixed by the sight of Christ or not; when history becomes Oscar-winning Heston legend (BEN-HUR, 1959), print the legend. As French critic Michel Mourlet infamously rhapsodized, "Charlton Heston is an axiom of the cinema."
Less indecisive and rebellious than Robert Mitchum, less Everymannish than William Holden, Heston, like these fellow 50s icons, was frequently called on to suffer, and frequently with his shirt off. Perhaps it all started with Moses making bricks, but Heston was still stripping down to either get down to work or be punished well into the 80s. As historical epics gradually became passe in the late 60s, Heston made more Westerns, war sagas and, interestingly, science fiction films to take up the slack. 1968 marked a banner year with two fine landmark roles: the anguished hero of the highly entertaining, futuristic PLANET OF THE APES, and the aging, reflective cowpoke of WILL PENNY, one of his finest films. The 70s brought the cult classic sci-fi pic SOYLENT GREEN (1973) ("It's people!!") and a series of roles in films such as MIDWAY (1976)/BATTLE OF MIDWAY and GRAY LADY DOWN (1978) in which he held the rank of major, colonel or general. Some later roles, though, traded in wastefully on his iconic value, as in his cameo in TRUE LIES (1994).
Heston first directed a feature in 1971 with a decent adaptation of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA and again went behind the camera for MOTHER LODE. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1966 to 1971 and later became chairman of the American Film Institute. Acting work in TV series ("The Colbys" 1985-87), miniseries (CHIEFS, 1983) and telefilms (PROUD MEN, 1987) kept him busy during the 80s, as did his role as the head of President Reagan's task force on the arts and humanities. Heston has remained active in charity work (as with The Will Rogers Institute) and politics and earned a reputation as a staunch Republican and a supporter of the National Rifle Association. Son Fraser Heston is a director, screenwriter and producer.
Filmography
Charlton Heston
1941 PEER GYNT performer
1949 JULIUS CAESAR performer
1950 DARK CITY performer
1952 THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH performer
1952 RUBY GENTRY performer
1952 THE SAVAGE performer
1953 ARROWHEAD performer
1953 BAD FOR EACH OTHER performer
1953 PONY EXPRESS performer
1953 THE PRESIDENT'S LADY performer
1954 THE NAKED JUNGLE performer
1954 SECRET OF THE INCAS performer
1955 THE FAR HORIZONS performer
1955 LUCY GALLANT performer
1955 THE PRIVATE WAR OF MAJOR BENSON performer
1956 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS performer
1956 THREE VIOLENT PEOPLE performer
1958 THE BIG COUNTRY performer
1958 THE BUCCANEER performer
1958 TOUCH OF EVIL performer
1959 BEN-HUR performer
1959 THE WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE performer
1961 EL CID performer
1962 DIAMOND HEAD performer
1962 THE PIGEON THAT TOOK ROME performer
1963 55 DAYS AT PEKING performer
1965 THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY performer
1965 THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD performer
1965 MAJOR DUNDEE performer
1965 THE WAR LORD performer
1966 KHARTOUM performer
1967 ALL ABOUT PEOPLE performer
1968 COUNTERPOINT performer
1968 PLANET OF THE APES performer
1968 WILL PENNY performer
1969 THE FESTIVAL GAME performer
1969 NUMBER ONE performer
1970 BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES performer
1970 THE HAWAIIANS performer
1970 JULIUS CAESAR performer
1970 KING: A FILMED RECORD… MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS performer
1971 THE OMEGA MAN performer
1971 VIETNAM! VIETNAM! performer
1972 CALL OF THE WILD performer
1972 SKYJACKED/SKY TERROR performer
1973 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA director, adapted screenplay, performer
1973 SOYLENT GREEN performer
1974 AIRPORT 1975 performer
1974 EARTHQUAKE performer
1974 THE THREE MUSKETEERS performer
1975 THE FOUR MUSKETEERS performer
1976 AMERICA AT THE MOVIES performer
1976 THE LAST HARD MEN performer
1976 MIDWAY performer
1976 TWO MINUTE WARNING performer
1978 CROSSED SWORDS/THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER performer
1978 GRAY LADY DOWN performer
1980 THE AWAKENING performer
1980 THE MOUNTAIN MEN performer
1982 MOTHER LODE/SEARCH FOR THE MOTHER LODE: THE LAST GREAT TREASURE director, performer
1984 NAIROBI AFFAIR performer
1986 DIRECTED BY WILLIAM WYLER performer
1986 THE FANTASY FILM WORLD OF GEORGE PAL performer
1987 PROUD MEN performer
1988 A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS director, performer
1989 CALL FROM SPACE performer
1989 ORIGINAL SIN performer
1990 ALMOST AN ANGEL performer
1990 THE LITTLE KIDNAPPERS performer
1990 SOLAR CRISIS performer
1990 TREASURE ISLAND performer
1991 THE CRUCIFER OF BLOOD performer
1993 TOMBSTONE performer
1993 WAYNE'S WORLD 2 performer
1994 TRUE LIES performer
1995 AVENGING ANGEL performer
1995 IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS performer
Award
Charlton Heston
Academy Awards®
© A.M.P.A.S.®
Actor 1959: BEN-HUR
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 1977
(1924 )
Biography from Baseline
Actor
Also: Director, producer
Born As: Charles Carter
October 4, 1924, Evanston, IL
Commanding male lead, a one-person Hollywood trek through the pages of world history and a forceful, Republican vision of a world in which America always wins. An acting student at Northwestern, Charlton Heston first acted on film in a student production of PEER GYNT (1941). After WWII service, he and wife Lydia Clarke worked as models in New York and ran a theatre in Asheville, NC, before Heston found success on Broadway in Katherine Cornell's production of Antony and Cleopatra (1947). He also made a vivid impression on early TV, especially in a flurry of dashing romantic leads (Heathcliff, Rochester, Petruchio) on the famous drama anthology Studio One. By the time he went to Hollywood to act in William Dieterle's moody film noir DARK CITY (1950) Heston was already a star, indeed was listed in the credits over the more established Lizabeth Scott. Over the next four decades he rarely had less than top billing.
With his role as the ill-tempered circus manager in his second film, Cecil B. DeMille's THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952), Heston began his reign as the actor of choice for Hollywood epics. Solidly built, but with a lithe walk, boasting an iron jaw, a granite-carved profile and a voice to go with them, he could intimidate opponents with just a glare. Few actors could dish up righteous anger with such force, yet even though many of his screen creations could be unpleasantly hostile, the power of his presence invariably commanded respect, conveyed integrity (even in villainous roles) and often managed to be likable. There was something timeless about his rueful expression and his brand of gritty heroism. At the same time, though, he glorified a concept of the power of the individual which was perfectly in step with middle America's vision of how the world should be.
Consequently, even though Heston never quite disappeared into his roles, he was perfect for Hollywood's writing of an Americanized world history picture book and its equally splashy renditions of the Bible. Beginning with his take on Buffalo Bill in THE PONY EXPRESS (1953), Heston's gallery of historical and Biblical characters included Andrew Jackson (THE PRESIDENT'S LADY, 1953, THE BUCCANEER, 1958), Moses (in Cecil B. DeMille's landmark second version of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, 1956, EL CID (in the 1961 film of that title), Thomas Jefferson (THE PATRIOTS, TV 1963) John the Baptist (THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, 1965), Major Amos Dundee (MAJOR DUNDEE, 1965), Michelangelo (THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY, 1965), General Charles Gordon (KHARTOUM, 1966), Cardinal Richelieu (THE THREE MUSKETEERS, 1974 and its 1975 sequel), Henry VIII (CROSSED SWORDS, 1978/THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER) and Sir Thomas More (A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, 1988). Indeed, it didn't really matter whether a charioteer named Judah Ben-Hur was actually transfixed by the sight of Christ or not; when history becomes Oscar-winning Heston legend (BEN-HUR, 1959), print the legend. As French critic Michel Mourlet infamously rhapsodized, "Charlton Heston is an axiom of the cinema."
Less indecisive and rebellious than Robert Mitchum, less Everymannish than William Holden, Heston, like these fellow 50s icons, was frequently called on to suffer, and frequently with his shirt off. Perhaps it all started with Moses making bricks, but Heston was still stripping down to either get down to work or be punished well into the 80s. As historical epics gradually became passe in the late 60s, Heston made more Westerns, war sagas and, interestingly, science fiction films to take up the slack. 1968 marked a banner year with two fine landmark roles: the anguished hero of the highly entertaining, futuristic PLANET OF THE APES, and the aging, reflective cowpoke of WILL PENNY, one of his finest films. The 70s brought the cult classic sci-fi pic SOYLENT GREEN (1973) ("It's people!!") and a series of roles in films such as MIDWAY (1976)/BATTLE OF MIDWAY and GRAY LADY DOWN (1978) in which he held the rank of major, colonel or general. Some later roles, though, traded in wastefully on his iconic value, as in his cameo in TRUE LIES (1994).
Heston first directed a feature in 1971 with a decent adaptation of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA and again went behind the camera for MOTHER LODE. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1966 to 1971 and later became chairman of the American Film Institute. Acting work in TV series ("The Colbys" 1985-87), miniseries (CHIEFS, 1983) and telefilms (PROUD MEN, 1987) kept him busy during the 80s, as did his role as the head of President Reagan's task force on the arts and humanities. Heston has remained active in charity work (as with The Will Rogers Institute) and politics and earned a reputation as a staunch Republican and a supporter of the National Rifle Association. Son Fraser Heston is a director, screenwriter and producer.
Filmography
Charlton Heston
1941 PEER GYNT performer
1949 JULIUS CAESAR performer
1950 DARK CITY performer
1952 THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH performer
1952 RUBY GENTRY performer
1952 THE SAVAGE performer
1953 ARROWHEAD performer
1953 BAD FOR EACH OTHER performer
1953 PONY EXPRESS performer
1953 THE PRESIDENT'S LADY performer
1954 THE NAKED JUNGLE performer
1954 SECRET OF THE INCAS performer
1955 THE FAR HORIZONS performer
1955 LUCY GALLANT performer
1955 THE PRIVATE WAR OF MAJOR BENSON performer
1956 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS performer
1956 THREE VIOLENT PEOPLE performer
1958 THE BIG COUNTRY performer
1958 THE BUCCANEER performer
1958 TOUCH OF EVIL performer
1959 BEN-HUR performer
1959 THE WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE performer
1961 EL CID performer
1962 DIAMOND HEAD performer
1962 THE PIGEON THAT TOOK ROME performer
1963 55 DAYS AT PEKING performer
1965 THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY performer
1965 THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD performer
1965 MAJOR DUNDEE performer
1965 THE WAR LORD performer
1966 KHARTOUM performer
1967 ALL ABOUT PEOPLE performer
1968 COUNTERPOINT performer
1968 PLANET OF THE APES performer
1968 WILL PENNY performer
1969 THE FESTIVAL GAME performer
1969 NUMBER ONE performer
1970 BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES performer
1970 THE HAWAIIANS performer
1970 JULIUS CAESAR performer
1970 KING: A FILMED RECORD… MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS performer
1971 THE OMEGA MAN performer
1971 VIETNAM! VIETNAM! performer
1972 CALL OF THE WILD performer
1972 SKYJACKED/SKY TERROR performer
1973 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA director, adapted screenplay, performer
1973 SOYLENT GREEN performer
1974 AIRPORT 1975 performer
1974 EARTHQUAKE performer
1974 THE THREE MUSKETEERS performer
1975 THE FOUR MUSKETEERS performer
1976 AMERICA AT THE MOVIES performer
1976 THE LAST HARD MEN performer
1976 MIDWAY performer
1976 TWO MINUTE WARNING performer
1978 CROSSED SWORDS/THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER performer
1978 GRAY LADY DOWN performer
1980 THE AWAKENING performer
1980 THE MOUNTAIN MEN performer
1982 MOTHER LODE/SEARCH FOR THE MOTHER LODE: THE LAST GREAT TREASURE director, performer
1984 NAIROBI AFFAIR performer
1986 DIRECTED BY WILLIAM WYLER performer
1986 THE FANTASY FILM WORLD OF GEORGE PAL performer
1987 PROUD MEN performer
1988 A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS director, performer
1989 CALL FROM SPACE performer
1989 ORIGINAL SIN performer
1990 ALMOST AN ANGEL performer
1990 THE LITTLE KIDNAPPERS performer
1990 SOLAR CRISIS performer
1990 TREASURE ISLAND performer
1991 THE CRUCIFER OF BLOOD performer
1993 TOMBSTONE performer
1993 WAYNE'S WORLD 2 performer
1994 TRUE LIES performer
1995 AVENGING ANGEL performer
1995 IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS performer
Award
Charlton Heston
Academy Awards®
© A.M.P.A.S.®
Actor 1959: BEN-HUR
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 1977
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