The actor played 14 different historical figures in his career (and 3 of them combined 7 times)

In 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 one 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 CommandmentsAnd Ben Hur.

Heston developed a knack for biblical epics like The Ten CommandmentsBut he never allowed himself to be tied 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 has been in Hollywood, there are certainly some noteworthy constants with some of the projects he’s taken on. One of the most striking facts about his contributions to cinema is the staggering number of times Heston played someone based in reality.

Charlton Heston was largely known 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 the Bible’s charismatic, powerful leader. One of Charlton Heston’s best movies, The Ten Commandments Tells 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 on the starring role as Ben Hur. But although the film was rooted in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Charlton Heston’s character is not biblical; He was created for the 1880 Lew Wallace novel the movie was adapted from.

In this case, Heston eventually played a character associated with the life of Jesus. 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 role was in a lesser known adaptation of Julius CaesarIn which Heston took the role of Mark Antony. The last movie he ever made was Rua Alguem 5555: My father, Where Heston played Joseph Mengele, a sad Nazi scientist. Between the roles, which came in 1950 and 2003 respectively, Heston appeared as nine other famous names from different eras in history.

The next for him to bring to the big screen was President Andrew Jackson, which he played in The President’s Lady Opposite Susan Hayward. Parts like this continued to come for Heston, who played William Frederick Cody aka Buffalo Bill a year later in Pony Express. The 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 Arrowheadrespectively.

It goes without saying that Heston’s work is far outside of American history. In 1961, he played the titular Spanish knight in Anthony Mann’s Al Sid. similar to be Al Sid Heston was attached to another historical figure known for making the ultimate sacrifice when he played General Charles Gordon in KhartoumA film about the British military officer’s mission to defend Khartoum in Egypt in the 1880s. 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 Puppet, For example.

Charlton Heston played 3 historical figures 7 times together

Charlton Heston played Mark Antony 3 times and Andrew Jackson twice

Rather than going to a different historical icon with each film, Heston once came across an old role. Such an example of this was Andrew Jackson; Charlton Heston played him on two separate occasions, with the second in 1958 The Buccaneer. Unlike the situation with The President’s Lady, The Buccaneers Take on Andrew Jackson has yet to become the President of the United States and is not 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. Three Musketeers Adaptation as well as its sequel.

Interestingly, the first role of his career – Marc Antony – is one that he reprized 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 one was that it was a proper Hollywood adaptation of Julius Caesar, Whereas the first was a low-budget reading of the story that only received a limited release in the United States. two years later, Charlton Heston Played Antonio again in Antony and CleopatraThis time adapted a different period of the Roman leader’s life, namely his relationship with Cleopatra.