John Charles Carter, better known as Charlton Heston, was an American actor of film, theatre, and television, who voiced a cameo narrator in the 1997 Disney animated feature film Hercules. He was also the cameo narrator in Armageddon.
Heston was born on October 4, 1923, in Wilmette, Illinois and developed an interest in acting in early childhood. He earned a drama scholarship to Northwestern University from 1941 to 1943. After school, he joined the army where he reached the rank of staff sergeant during World War II. After the war, he moved to New York where he worked as a model and actor. With encouragement from his wife, Heston decided to give Hollywood a try.
His first major role came from an independent film adaptation of Julius Caesar (1950) where he played Mark Antony. However, he breakthrough came with Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth. Throughout the 1950s, Heston appeared in films, such as The Savage, Arrowhead, The Ten Commandments, The Private War of Major Benson, The Naked Jungle, Touch of Evil, and Ben-Hur where won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He continued his career throughout the 20th century with El Cid, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Soylent Green, The Omega Man, Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes, The Three Musketeers (1973), Earthquake, Airport 1975, Hamlet, Wayne's World 2, Tombstone, and True Lies.
From 1965 until 1971, Heston served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and was one of a handful of Hollywood actors who actively supported the Civil Rights Movement. Heston was also a five-term president of the National Rifle Association of America, from 1998 to 2003. However, by 2002, he developed symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and died in 2008 due to pneumonia.
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- Charles Elias Disney and Daniel H. Disney, who were Walt Disney's nephew's via his brother, Raymond A. Disney, were longtime friends with Heston and his wife, Lydia.
- He was among many actors considered for the role of Barnaby in Babes in Toyland.
