He was a larger than life figure and often portrayed those kind of roles on screen. From “The Ten Commandments” to “Ben Hur,” Charlton Heston left an indelible impression on movie going audiences and leaves behind a host of time honored performances in some of Hollywood’s most cherished films.

Born in Evanston, Illinois in 1923, Charlton Heston's first break came when he appeared on Broadway in 1947, but it wasn't until 1952 that he made a big impact, nationally. That was the year he was cast as a circus manager in director Cecil B. DeMille's “The Greatest Show On Earth,” which looked at life under the Big Top. That same year Heston showed his versatility on screen with the movie Ruby Gentry. Playing a rich gentleman from North Carolina, he scorns a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks who's out for revenge.

In 1956 Heston teamed up with Demille again and made a movie that turned him into a legend. Portraying Moses in the epic film, “The Ten Commandments,” Heston not on only left an unforgettable mark with moviegoers, but began a career path that would often lead him to other historical dramas based on the lives of real-life icons.

His most famous film was playing this man. In “Ben Hur,” Heston played the famed Jewish prince who was cast into slavery, won his freedom and came back to settle the score. The role won Heston his only Academy Award for Best Actor and the film itself, with its classic, rousing chariot race, won a record braking eleven Oscars.

In 1961 Heston starred in “El Cid,” portraying the legendary Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz, who, without compromising his sense of honor, drove the Moors form Spain. He also played the gifted artist Michelangelo, who painted the Sistene Chapel ceilng in Rome, in “The Agony And The Ecstasy.”

Heston teamed up with the one and only Orson Welles in 1958 for the screen classic “Touch Of Evil.” Here, Heston plays a Mexican narcotics officer who tangles with a corrupt American cop.

In the sixties and early seventies Heston appeared in a number of sci fi films that went on to become cult classics. He starred in the orginal “Planet Of The Apes” and also had the lead role as a futuristic cop in “Soylent Green.” He also, in the 1970's starred in a number of movies, like “Earthquake,” that came to be known as disaster films, for their cataclysmic plots. (

A man of his convictions and a leader, both on screen and off, Heston served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute. Heston, who was a long time supporter of the constitutional right to bear arms, also served as president of The National Rifle Association. It was this controversial position that alienated him with some fans, while gaining him some others. Heston, not without a sense of humor, parodied his gun toting image, in “Town and Country.”

But whether you agreed with his politics, or not, the fact remains, that his unforgettable performances in a host of cherished films will stand the test of time for generations to come.