Home> Facts and Trivia > Stars > Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston Facts
| Sign | Libra |
| Born |
Oct 4, 1923 Evanston, IL |
| Died |
Apr 5, 2008 Beverly Hills, CA |
| Age | Died at 84 |
| Total Facts | 119 |
John Wayne offered Heston the role of Jim Bowie in The Alamo (1960), but he declined due to the political implications of the film.
Laurence Olivier was so impressed by Heston's stage skills that he commented that Heston had a future on the stage.
A frail-looking Heston was presented with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, at the White House by George W. Bush in July, 2003.
A World War II U.S. Army veteran, he visited troops fighting during the Vietnam War in 1967. In fact, in one camp in South Vietnam's delta area, he was "initiated" into the GI's on-base club, by having to receive a kiss on the ear!.
Accepted the role in Ben-Hur (1959) after Burt Lancaster turned it down.
According to Gore Vidal, as recounted in The Celluloid Closet (1995), one of the script elements he was brought in to re-write for Ben-Hur (1959) was the relationship between Messalah and Ben-Hur. Director William Wyler was concerned that two men who had been close friends as youths would not simply hate one another as a result of disagreeing over politics. Thus, Vidal devised a thinly veiled subtext suggesting the Messalah and Ben-Hur had been lovers as teenagers, and their fighting was a result of Ben-Hur spurning Messalah. Wyler was initially hesitant to implement the subtext, but agreed on the conditions that no direct reference ever be made to the characters' sexuality in the script, that Vidal personally discuss the idea with Stephen Boyd, and not mention the subtext to Heston who, Wyler feared, would panic at the idea. After Vidal admitted to adding the homosexual subtext in public, Heston denied the claim, going so far as to suggest Vidal had little input into the final script, and his lack of screen credit was a result of his being fired for trying to add gay innuendo. Vidal rebutted by citing passages from Heston's 1978 autobiography, where t
After his starring role in the 1968 version of Planet of the Apes (1968), he had an uncredited cameo in the 2001 remake, Planet of the Apes (2001), as Gen. Thade's dying father.
After their son was born, they decided to adopt their next child so that they could be sure it would be a girl. Heston and his wife felt that one son and one daughter made the perfect family.
Along with Tony Curtis, Heston admitted to voting for Russell Crowe to win the Best Actor Oscar in 2001, saying before the ceremony, "I hope he gets it. He's very good."
Although he and Kirk Douglas differed greatly on politics (Douglas was a very liberal Democrat and Heston a very conservative Republican), Heston and Douglas were very close friends. Douglas spoke highly of their friendship; so highly, in fact, that after a viewing of the film Bowling for Columbine (2002) (and in particular the scene where Heston is grilled on his involvement in the NRA and asked to apologize for murder as a member of the NRA) Douglas said he would "never forgive" Michael Moore, the film's director and the man who conducted the interview) for the way he treated Heston.
Although he had supported Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey in the 1968 presidential election, in 1972 he openly supported Republican Richard Nixon.
Although Heston was a lifelong non-smoker, he did hold a pipe in some early publicity photographs because both Clark Gable and Cary Grant smoked pipes.
Alumnus of New Trier Township High School East, Winnetka, Illinois, where tennis was among his extracurricular activities. Other New Trier graduates include Ralph Bellamy, Rock Hudson, Hugh O'Brien, Ann-Margret, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Virginia Madsen and Liz Phair.
As president of the NRA, he would usually tell his audience in speeches that he had "marched for civil rights long before it became fashionable to do so". In reality he only attended two events, the first in 1961 and the second the March on Washington in August 1963. Due to his busy film career at the time, he was unable to appear more frequently to back the Civil Rights cause.
Attended the funeral of Lew Wasserman in June 2002.
Attended the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan as President of the United States of America, along with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Ray Charles. (20 January 1985).
Broke his nose in high school playing football. He later commented that this was ultimately to his advantage as an actor because it gave him "the profile of an Eagle.".
Campaigned for fifty Republican candidates in the 1996 presidential election.
Cited Will Penny (1968) as his personal favorite film from his career.
Cited actor Gary Cooper as a childhood role model. Heston starred opposite Cooper in The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). Heston commended Cooper for being able to perform his own stunts, such as being under water for long periods of time, despite being in poor health and getting older.
Cited not doing a Hispanic accent for his Mexican narcotics officer Miguel 'Mike' Vargas in Touch of Evil (1958) as one of the biggest mistakes he ever made as an actor.
Co-chairman of the American Air Museum in Britain.
Did a great deal of research on the historical Cardinal Richelieu for his appearance in The Three Musketeers (1973)/The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974). Even though the character is portrayed as an antagonist, Heston gained a great deal of respect for the man's real accomplishments on behalf of France. He came across a quote attributed to Richelieu: "I have no enemies, France has enemies." He liked the line so much that he insisted it be worked into the films somewhere, and he ultimately got his wish. Though slightly modified ("I have no enemies, only enemies of France."), the line appears in the second film, in the scene where Richelieu offers d'Artagnan the opportunity to be one of his soldiers.
During the Waco standoff in 1993, Heston was hired by the FBI to provide the voice of God when talking to David Koresh in an attempt to reason with him. The plan was never used.
Elected as the president of the National Rifle Association, he was re-elected to an unprecedented 4th 3-year term in 2001.
Elected first vice-president of the National Rifle Association of America (1997).
Elected president of the National Rifle Association of America. [June 1998]
Father of director Fraser Clarke Heston and Holly Heston Rochell.
First recipient of the American Film Institute's Charlton Heston Award, created in 2003. The second recipient was his close friend Jack Valenti in 2004.
Had a fondness for drawing and sketching, and often sketched the cast and crew of his films whenever he had the chance to do so. His sketches were later published in the book Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years In American Film.
Had a hip replacement in 1996.
Has stated that he sees no contradiction with his work as a Civil Rights activist in the 1960s and his advocacy for gun ownership rights in the 1990s, insisting that he is simply promoting "freedom in the truest sense."
Has two films on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. They are The Ten Commandments (1956) at #79 and Ben-Hur (1959) at #56.
He and Linda Harrison are the only actors to appear in both the 1968 and 2001 versions of Planet of the Apes.
He and The Big Country (1958) co-star Gregory Peck both played the infamous Nazi war criminal, Dr. Josef Mengele: Heston in Rua Alguem 5555: My Father (2003) and Peck in The Boys from Brazil (1978).
He and his wife, Lydia Clarke, both battled cancer. He survived prostate cancer and she, breast cancer.
He campaigned for Republican presidential candidates Ronald Reagan in 1984, George Bush in 1988, George W. Bush in 2000, and Republican candidate for governor of Virginia George Allen in 1993.
He defended some of his less successful films in the mid-1960s, arguing that he had already made several million dollars and therefore wanted to concentrate on projects which interested him personally.
He is an opponent of abortion and gave the introduction to an anti-abortion documentary by Bernard Nathanson called Eclipse of Reason (1980) which focuses on late-term abortions.
He played the Roman politician and general Mark Antony in 3 different Shakespearean films: Julius Caesar (1950), Julius Caesar (1970) and Antony and Cleopatra (1972).
He played three roles after they had been turned down by Burt Lancaster. In 1958 the producers of Ben-Hur (1959) offered Lancaster $1 million to play the title role in their epic, but he turned it down because, as an atheist, he did not want to help promote Christianity. Lancaster also said he disagreed with the "violent morals" of the story. Three years later, in 1961 Lancaster announced his intention to produce a biopic of Michelangelo, in which he would play the title role and show the truth about the painter's homosexuality. However, he was forced to shelve this project due to the five-month filming schedule on Luchino Visconti's masterpiece The Leopard (1963). Heston starred as Michelangelo in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) and even in his autobiography thirty years later was still denying that the painter had been gay, despite all evidence to the contrary. Lancaster also turned down the role of General Gordon in Khartoum (1966).
He retired as president of the National Rifle Association in April 2003, citing reasons of ill health.
He turned down the role of Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell in Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979) because he felt the film was an insult to World War II veterans.
He was a friend of the author Patrick O'Brian, who in turn envisaged Heston playing his character Captain Jack Aubrey.
He was a vocal opponent of a nuclear freeze in the early 1990s, and openly supported the 1991 Gulf war.
He was considered for the role of Pike Bishop in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969). The role went to William Holden instead.
He was considered, along with English actor Ronnie Barker, for the role of Claudius in the British series "I, Claudius" (1976), but the role went to the less famous Derek Jacobi instead.
He was one of several prominent people to serve on the advisory board of U.S. English, a group that seeks to make English the official language of the United States. Other members include Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and golfer Arnold Palmer.
He was unable to campaign for Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential election when Major Dundee (1965) went over schedule. Heston later admitted in his autobiography "In the Arena" (1995) that it was here that his political beliefs began moving to the Right.
He was voted the 52nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.