CHARLTON HESTON BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Charlton Heston, born John Charles Carter on October 4, 1924, in Evanston, Illinois, USA to parents, Russell Whitford and Lilla Charlton Carter.  He began his training trained in the classics in Northwestern University's drama program and gained experience in acting early, playing the lead in a 1941 filmed school production of "Peer Gynt".   He also did part time performances on the radio.  During World War II, he served on the Air Force for three years and  achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant with the 11th Air Force.
 
After serving in the  military, he went to work as a model in New York, where he met his wife, fellow model Lydia Clarke.  Together, they ran a theater in Asheville, North Carolina.  They remained married until his death and had 2 children, Fraser Clarke, and Holly Ann.  He made his Broadway debut in Katharine Cornell's 1947 production of "Anthony and Cleopatra".  He then moved on to film, with his first Hollywood debut in, "Dark City" (1950) followed by, "The Savage" (1952) and then as a snob who snubs a country girl in, "King Vidor's Ruby Gentry" (1952).  Heston had hit the big times when Cecil B. DeMille cast him as the bitter circus manager in "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952).
 
He began a long stint of playing historical characters with his portrayal of Buffalo Bill in Pony Express and then Andrew Jackson in "The President's Lady"  (1953).  He was given the opportunity to play Moses in "The Ten Commandments" (1956).  In 1959, Heston won an Academy Award for the title role in William Wyler's epic production Ben-Hur.   By the mid-1960's, Heston began appearing in westerns "Will Penny" (1968) and epic war dramas "Midway" (1976).   He also did sci-fi films, the most famous ,"Planet of the Apes" (1968) and "Soylent Green" (1973). 
 
The next epic of films he began working on in the 1970's were called the disaster films.  Most noted were, "Skyjacker" (1972), Airport" (1974) and "Earthquake" (1974).  Heston also returned to work in Television, but did not abandon film completely.  Heston directed his first feature in 1971 with a decent adaptation of Shakespeare's, "Antony and Cleopatra" and did so again with "Mother Lode" (1982).  He even did some voice over work, one where he was the narrator of "Armageddon" 1998.
 
In later years he applied his stardom to conservative political causes; most notably, he became president of the National Rifle Association.  Heston served six terms as the president of the Screen Actors Guild and also chaired the American Film Institute.   He aided in such charities as The Will Rogers Institute and was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1977 Oscar ceremony.  In the early sixties, Heston campaigned for racial equality throughout the Southwest and headed a contingent from the arts community for Dr. Martin Luther King's march on Washington, DC, which led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act.  
 
Charlton Heston's impact on the American political scene has been as powerful as his undeniable film presence. He starred in over 70 films and nearly as many theater productions and authored at least five books.  While he played modern men characters, he was best at portraying larger then life figures from world history.
 
In August of 2002, he made it publicly known that he had early symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease.  He finished his NRA term in April of 2003, and made no further public appearances until his death on April 5th, 2008 at the age of 84.  The cause of death is still unknown.  
 

Filmography

2003   My Father, Rua Alguem 5555
2001   The Order
2001   Planet Of The Apes
2001   Cats & Dogs
2001   Town and Country
1999   Any Given Sunday
1999   Gideon
1999   Forever Hollywood
1999   Toscano
1998   Armageddon
1998   Illusion Infinity
1997   Hercules
1997   Alaska: Spirit Of The Wild
1996   Hamlet
1996   Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right
1996   Alaska
1996   Lord Protector
1995   In the Mouth of Madness
1994   True Lies
1994   A Century of Cinema
1993   Tombstone
1993   Wayne's World 2
1993   Solar Crisis
1990   Almost an Angel
1989   Call from Space
1986   Directed by William Wyler
1985   The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
1982   Mother Lode
1980   The Mountain Men
1980   The Awakening
1978   Gray Lady Down
1978   Crossed Swords
1976   The Last Hard Men
1976   America at the Movies
1976   Midway
1976   Two Minute Warning
1964   The Four Musketeers
1974   Earthquake
1974   Airport 1975
1973   The Three Musketeers
1973   Soylent Green
1973   Antony and Cleopatra
1972   Call of the Wild
1972   Skyjacked
1971   The Omega Man
1970   Beneath the Planet of the Apes
1970   The Hawaiians
1970   Julius Caesar
1970   King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1969   Number One
1968   Will Penny
1968   Planet Of The Apes
1968   Counterpoint
1968   Rowan & Martin at the Movies
1967   While I Run This Race
1966   Khartoum
1965   The War Lord
1965   The Agony and the Ecstasy
1965   Major Dundee
1965   The Greatest Story Ever Told
1963   55 Days at Peking
1963   The Five Cities of June
1962   The Pigeon That Took Rome
1962   Diamond Head
1961   El Cid
1959   Ben-Hur
1959   The Wreck of the Mary Deare
1958   The Buccaneer
1958   The Big Country
1958   Touch of Evil
1956   The Ten Commandments
1956   Three Violent People
1955   The Private War of Major Benson
1955   The Far Horizons
1955   Lucy Gallant 
1954   The Naked Jungle
1954   The Secret of the Incas
1953   Bad for Each Other
1953   Arrowhead
1953   Pony Express
1953   The President's Lady
1952   The Greatest Show on Earth
1952   Ruby Gentry
1952   The Savage
1950   Dark City
1950   Julius Caesar