John Clellon Holmes
American Beat Generation writer, novelist
Charlton Heston was a legendary American actor known for his roles in biblical epics, science-fiction films, and action movies. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award, and was also a political activist and president of the National Rifle Association.
Table of Contents
About the Charlton Heston
Charlton Hestonwas an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction films and action films. He won the Academy Award as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards. He won numerous honorary accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1978, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1967, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1971, 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 (1958), The Big Country (1958), El Cid (1961), 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 (1973), The Three Musketeers (1974), Airport 1975 (1974), Earthquake (1974), and Crossed Swords (1978). He later acted in Mother Lode (1982), Tombstone (1993), True Lies (1994), Alaska (1996), and Hamlet (1996).
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Charlton Heston’s real name was John Charles Carter.
Charlton Heston’s most famous roles were as Moses in The Ten Commandments and as the title character in Ben-Hur, for which he won an Academy Award.
Charlton Heston won the Academy Award for Best Actor and received numerous other accolades, including three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and several prestigious honors like the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Charlton Heston left the Democratic Party and became a Republican in 1987, later founding a conservative political action committee and supporting Ronald Reagan.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Charlton Heston was one of the few Hollywood actors who openly denounced racism and was an active supporter of the civil rights movement.
Charlton Heston announced that he had Alzheimer’s disease in 2002, after which he retired from acting and the presidency of the National Rifle Association.
Charlton Heston served as the five-term president of the National Rifle Association (NRA) from 1998 to 2003.
16 Quotes by Charlton Heston
- 1.
Undeniably the American art form, too. And yet more and more, we see films made that diminish the American experience and example. And sometimes trash it completely.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 2.
To the world, you are America.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 3.
Well, we have certainly produced great art before we did this. In my view, there are any number of areas of government which tax money should not be spent.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 4.
And their pals vote for their stuff when they’re not on the panel, and it just keeps going that way. And they tend to be very fringe artists, so anything before the 20th century is not worth considering. This is out of date.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 5.
You can spend a lifetime, and, if you’re honest with yourself, never once was your work perfect.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 6.
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 HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 7.
You cut their money back, for one thing… I go back a long way with the NEA.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 8.
I’ve played three presidents, three saints and two geniuses – and that’s probably enough for any man.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 9.
In recent years, anyone in the government, certainly anyone in the FBI or the CIA, or recently, in again, Clint’s film, In the Line of Fire, the main bad guy is the chief advisor to the president.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 10.
It’s been quite a ride. I loved every minute of it.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 11.
As an artist, I understand that, and I value the creative input of the artist.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 12.
Society mends its wounds. And that’s invariably true in all the tragedies, in the comedies as well. And certainly in the histories.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 13.
Dirty Harry, for example. Clint Eastwood was not a rogue cop. He was a maverick cop, but he was a good guy.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 14.
The big studio era is from the coming of sound until 1950, until I came in… I came in at a crux in film, which was the end of the studio era and the rise of filmmaking.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 15.
Shakespeare is the outstanding example of how that can be done. In all of Shakespeare’s plays, no matter what tragic events occur, no matter what rises and falls, we return to stability in the end.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)
- 16.
You could think of extraordinary examples to the contrary: The Grapes of Wrath… and even into the 70s.
Charlton HestonAmerican actor (1923-2008)