Charlton Heston

Described as

American actor (1923–2008)

Other names

Charlton John Carter, John Carter, Charlton Carter, John Heston, John Charles Carter

Born

October 4, 1923 · 8 references

Died

April 5, 2008 · 9 references

Born in

Evanston · 1 reference

Died in

Beverly Hills · 1 reference

Buried in

California

Cause of death

pneumonia; Alzheimer's disease

Name at birth

John Charles Carter

Citizen of

United States

Occupation

television actor; film actor; film director · 1 reference; autobiographer; stage actor; actor · 2 references; screenwriter; political activist

Positions held

President of SAG (1965–1971) · 1 reference

Political party

Republican Party (1972–); Democratic Party (–1972)

Education

Northwestern University; Northwestern University School of Communication

Awards

Presidential Medal of Freedom (2003) · 1 reference; Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1978) · 1 reference; Academy Award for Best Actor (1960) · 1 reference; Theatre World Award (1950) · 1 reference; SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award; Kennedy Center Honors; Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award (1966); Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres‎ (1997) · 1 reference; star on Hollywood Walk of Fame · 1 reference

Spouse

Lydia Clarke (1944–2008)

Children

Fraser Clarke Heston

Father

Russel Whitford Carter · 1 reference

Mother

Lila Charlton · 1 reference

Religion

Episcopal Church

Height

1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)

Wikipedias with a page

93

Wikidata item Q80739 (wikidata.org/wiki/Q80739), public domain (CC0). Copied November 13, 2026.

Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Hollywood films including biblical epics, historical drama films, science-fiction films, and action films. He won an Academy Award, a David di Donatello Award, a Laurel Award, a Photoplay Award, a Golden Globe Award (plus three additional nominations), as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards. He received numerous honorary accolades including a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 1960, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1967, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1971, an honorary Saturn Award in 1975, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Academy Award in 1978, the ShoWest Convention Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003.
Heston gained stardom for his leading roles as Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956) and as the title role of Ben-Hur (1959), the latter of which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. His other notable credits include The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Secret of the Incas (1954), Touch of Evil, The Big Country (both 1958), El Cid (1961), 55 Days at Peking (1963), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Khartoum (1966), Planet of the Apes (1968), Julius Caesar (1970), The Omega Man (1971), Antony and Cleopatra (1972), Soylent Green, The Three Musketeers (both 1973), Airport 1975, Earthquake (both 1974), and Crossed Swords (1978). He later acted in Mother Lode (1982), Tombstone (1993), True Lies (1994), Alaska, Hamlet (both 1996), and Cats & Dogs (2001).
In the 1950s and early 1960s, he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors who openly denounced racism and he was also an active supporter of the civil rights movement. In 1987, Heston left the Democratic Party and became a Republican, founding a conservative political action committee and supporting Ronald Reagan. Heston was a five-term president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), from 1998 to 2003. After announcing that he had Alzheimer's disease in 2002, he retired from acting and the NRA presidency.

Born, in its opening lines

October 4, 1923

Died, in its opening lines

April 5, 2008

From the Wikipedia article “Charlton Heston” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlton_Heston), by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Copied November 13, 2026; not changed.