Oscar- Winning Actors: Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston has been similarly loved for his strong screen roles and despised for some of his personal political views throughout the years. He seemed created to play heroes and his brash, swaggering style brought him roles in some of Hollywood's biggest epic films. He satisfied female fans by appearing in obligatory scenes in which he revealed his bare, sculpted chest In spite of such compromises, Heston is still considered to have been one of the best movie actors of his generation.

Born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois on October 4, 1924. After his parents Russell and Lila divorced in 1934, his mother remarried and Chester Heston became young Charles' stepfather and, from thereon, he grew up in a more affluent area of Illinois and took the last name of his new stepdad.

Charles started performing in high school plays and was so good at acting that he got a drama scholarship to Northwestern University. He chose to leave college in order to serve in the Army Air Corps during World War II and he was a B-25 radio operator/ gunner with the Eleventh Air Force.

After war ended, he went to New York in search of acting work and took modeling jobs to make ends meet. After moving briefly to North Carolina to manage and do theater work at a local playhouse, he eventually returned to NYC and finally got offered a role on Broadway. His first big Broadway role was as Mark Anthony in a 1947 production of Anthony and Cleopatra. It was actually television, though, that got Heston the most notice. He appeared on Studio One, an anthology series, in which he played various parts, including Shakespearean characters. He got enough of a buzz going to get Hollywood's attention and he appeared in the movie Dark City in 1950. It was Cecile B. DeMille's grandiose The Greatest Show On Earth in 1952 that provided Heston a major breakthrough. In it, he played circus manager Brad Braden. While critics may not have been particularly kind regarding what some felt was an overblown production, there was praise for Heston.