This Actor Played 14 Different Historical People In His Career (& 3 Of Them A Combined 7 Times)

Over the course of his long career, Charlton Heston played more than a dozen Biblical and historical figures, some more than once. One of the biggest action heroes of the 1950s, Charlton Heston was a major box office draw during his time in Hollywood, heading a long list of successful and critically acclaimed movies. No single movie stands out as his most famous film, as Heston was responsible for turning several films into household favorites, including Planet of the Apes, The Ten Commandments, and Ben-Hur.

Heston developed a knack for Biblical epics like The Ten Commandments, but never let himself get tied down to a single genre. The actor dabbled in several different areas, trying his hand at Westerns, film noir, romance, science fiction, and war films. But as varied as his career was in Hollywood, there were certainly some noteworthy constants with some of the projects he accepted. One of the most striking facts about his contributions to cinema is the whopping number of times Heston played someone based in reality.

Charlton Heston Was Known Largely For His Biblical Roles

Charlton Heston Was A Popular Choice For Headlining Biblical Epics

With his commanding presence, Charlton Heston was a natural choice to play charismatic, strong leaders from the Bible. One of Charlton Heston’s best movies, The Ten Commandments told the story of Moses, highlighting his journey as a slave to a prophet of God. Heston’s memorable portrayal of Moses led to the actor essentially becoming the face of the Biblical epic genre, as Heston also took the starring role as Ben-Hur. But though the film was rooted in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Charlton Heston’s character was not Biblical; he was created for the 1880 Lew Wallace novel the movie was adapting.

That said, Heston did wind up playing a character associated with the life of Jesus eventually. In 1965, an ensemble cast packed with A-list stars was put together for The Greatest Story Ever Told. Given his connections to Biblical projects, it seemed fitting that Heston was cast as John the Baptist.

Charlton Heston Played 12 Other Historical Figures In His Movies

Charlton Heston Starred In Several Historical Movies

Charlton Heston began and ended his career playing figures from history. His first-ever role was in a lesser-known adaptation of Julius Ceasar, in which Heston took on the role of Mark Antony. The last movie he ever made was Rua Alguem 5555: My Father, where Heston played Josef Mengele, an infamous Nazi scientist. Between these roles, which came in 1950 and 2003 respectively, Heston appeared as nine other prominent names from different eras in history.

The next for him to bring to the big screen was President Andrew Jackson, who he played in The President’s Lady opposite Susan Hayward. Parts like this continued to come for Heston, who played William Frederick Cody a.k.a. Buffalo Bill a year later in Pony Express. These two back-to-back roles seemed to be a trendsetter for Charlton Heston, as the actor also portrayed William Clark and Ed Bannon in two more 1950s Westerns, The Far Horizons and Arrowhead, respectively.

Of course, Heston’s work went far beyond American history. In 1961, he played the titular Spanish knight in Anthony Mann’s El Cid. Similar to his El Cid character, Heston became attached to another historical figure known for making the ultimate sacrifice when he played General Charles Gordon in Khartoum, a film about the British military officer’s mission to defend Khartoum in 1880s Egypt. Perhaps in honor of his reputation for playing historical legends, Hollywood studios kept this going even when Heston was no longer a leading actor, with Heston playing King Henry VIII in The Prince and the Pauper, for instance.

Charlton Heston Played 3 Historical Figures A Combined 7 Times

Charlton Heston Played Mark Antony 3 Times & Andrew Jackson Twice

Rather than move on to a different historical icon with each film, Heston sometimes found himself revisiting an old role. One such example of this was Andrew Jackson; Charlton Heston played him on two separate occasions, with the second coming in 1958’s The Buccaneer. Unlike the situation with The President’s Lady, The Bucaneer’s take on Andrew Jackson had yet to become the President of the United States and wasn’t the focus of the film. Also in the 1970s, Heston played Cardinal Richelieu, the nemesis of the Three Musketeers and a real-life figure in French history, in a Three Musketeers adaptation as well as its sequel.

Interestingly, the first role of his career – Marc Antony – is one that he reprised twice more. 20 years after his film debut, Heston returned to play Marc Antony alongside a star-studded cast. What made this film different from the last is that it was a proper Hollywood adaptation of Julius Ceasar, whereas the first was a low-budget rendition of the story that only received a limited release in the United States. Two years later, Charlton Heston played Antony again in Antony and Cleopatra, this time adapting a different period from the Roman leader’s life, namely his relationship with Cleopatra.