Charlton Heston Biography Remembered for his epic movies such as ‘Ben Hurr’, ‘The Ten Commandments’ and ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ in which he played larger than life characters, along with other Hollywood greats such as Yul Brenner, John Derek, and Vincent Price. This Hollywood idol has also involved himself in the written word, publishing several books on religion, and has often voiced his opinions in various political campaigns. Charlton Heston was born on October 4th 1924 in Evanston, Illinois to Russell and Lila Carter. His father was a mill worker but was only in Charleton’s life until he was ten years old at which time he divorced Lila. Charlton and his mother moved to Wilmette, Illinois where she met and married Chester Heston, whose name Charleton adopted. In Willmette, Heston attended New Trier School where he took part in the drama program and through his exceptional acting attributes won himself a drama scholarship to Northwestern University. After leaving university Heston joined the United States Army Air Corps where he was deployed at the Alasken Aleutian Islands and rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. It was during his period in the army, in 1944, that he met and married a girl from his university days, Lydia Clarke.
When Heston left the army, he and Lydia moved to New York City where they worked as models and in it was there in 1948 that Heston was cast in the role of Antony in the Broadway production of “Antony and Cleopatra’. In 1965 he persuaded Universal International into having Orson Welles direct him in the blockbuster, ‘A Touch of Evil’. With his strong personality and winning ways Heston became president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1966 until 1971. Heston’s second chance to play Mark Antony came in 1970 when he was cast in the epic Technicolour film version of ‘Julius Caesar’ when he starred alongside an all star cast which included John Gielgud, Diana Rigg, Robert Vaughn and Richard Chamberlain. Between 1968 and 1974 Charlton also starred in a number of science fiction and disaster films. Among them, ‘Planet of the Apes’, ‘The Omega Man’, ‘Soylent Green’, and ‘Earthquake’, which have since become cult classics. During the years between 1985 and 1987 Charlton played Jason Colby in the ‘Dynasty’ spin off series, ‘The Colby’s’. The series had a cross over cast from Dynasty including, John James, John Forsythe, British actress Joan Collins and Barbara Stanwyck, who played Jason’s sister.
The 1990’s saw Heston playing lesser roles in movies and making cameo’s in films such as ‘Wayne’s World’ with Mike Myers and ‘Planet of the Apes’ with Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter and Kris Kristofferson. In 1998 illness struck Heston when he required a hip replacement and was later diagnosed with prostate cancer, followed by his 2002 public announcement of his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. At the White House in 2003, Heston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom which he received from President George W Bush. Heston has always had a deep interest in politics dating back to his campaigning days for John F Kennedy and as a civil rights activist along with Martin Luther King Jr in 1963. He had also intended to campaign for Lyndon b Johnson but due to filming commitments had to decline. Again entering the political arena, following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, Heston appeared on ‘The Joey Bishop Show’ and, along with fellow actors Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas and James Stewart, called for public support for President Johnson's Gun Control Act of 1968. Heston has been harshly criticized over the years for his support of the gun law most notably when he raised a rifle above his head at the 2002 NRA convention, stating that Al Gore would take away his Second Amendment rights and again when being interviewed by Michael Moore in his documentary, ‘Bowling for Columbine’ when Heston is seen walking away from Moore’s probing questions. His outspoken views on gun laws have also incurred the fury of George Clooney. Charlton now resides in at his home in Beverly Hills where he is currently in the more advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Let us know of updates to the Charlton Heston biography at editor@yuddy.com ABB |
