Charlton Heston (1923–2008,) formerly John Charles Carter, was an American actor and social activist. One of the most commanding performers in film history, he celebrated his numerous larger-than-life movie roles as historical figures and famous literary characters.
Born in Evanston, Illinois, Heston made his film début in an amateur production of Peer Gynt (1941.) He studied drama at Northwestern University and served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He made his Broadway début in Antony and Cleopatra (1947.) His first Hollywood film was Dark City (1950,) but his major early successes were the Cecil B DeMille films The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and The Ten Commandments (1956.)
Heston also played the larger-than-life heroes for which his strapping physique suited him in Ben Hur (1959; Academy Award for Best Actor) and El Cid (1961.) Other films include Touch of Evil (1958,) Planet of the Apes (1968,) and Earthquake (1974.) He frequently returned to the stage and directed Antony and Cleopatra (1972) on film and A Man for All Seasons (1988) on television.
Heston published the autobiographies The Actor’s Life (1978,) and In the Arena (1995.) He was president of the Screen Actors Guild (1966–71) and the National Rifle Association (1998–2003,) actively campaigning against gun control in the U.S.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Charlton Heston
You can spend a lifetime, and, if you’re honest with yourself, never once was your work perfect.
—Charlton Heston
Topics: Perfection
A TV host asked my wife, “Have you ever considered divorce?” She replied: “Divorce, never. Murder, often.”
—Charlton Heston
Topics: Marriage
The trouble with movies as a business is that it’s an art, and the trouble with movies as art is that it’s a business.
—Charlton Heston
Topics: Trouble
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