He played three roles after they had been turned down by Burt Lancaster. In 1958 the producers of Ben-Hur (1959) offered Lancaster $1 million to play the title role in their epic, but he turned it down because, as an atheist, he did not want to help promote Christianity. Lancaster also said he disagreed with the "violent morals" of the story. Three years later, in 1961 Lancaster announced his intention to produce a biopic of Michelangelo, in which he would play the title role and show the truth about the painter's homosexuality. However, he was forced to shelve this project due to the five-month filming schedule on Luchino Visconti's masterpiece The Leopard (1963). Heston starred as Michelangelo in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) and even in his autobiography thirty years later was still denying that the painter had been gay, despite all evidence to the contrary. Lancaster also turned down the role of General Gordon in Khartoum (1966).
He retired as president of the National Rifle Association in April 2003, citing reasons of ill health.
He turned down the role of Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell in Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979) because he felt the film was an insult to World War II veterans.
He was a friend of the author Patrick O'Brian, who in turn envisaged Heston playing his character Captain Jack Aubrey.
He was a vocal opponent of a nuclear freeze in the early 1990s, and openly supported the 1991 Gulf war.
He was considered for the role of Pike Bishop in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969). The role went to William Holden instead.
He was considered, along with English actor Ronnie Barker, for the role of Claudius in the British series "I, Claudius" (1976), but the role went to the less famous Derek Jacobi instead.
He was one of several prominent people to serve on the advisory board of U.S. English, a group that seeks to make English the official language of the United States. Other members include Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and golfer Arnold Palmer.
He was unable to campaign for Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential election when Major Dundee (1965) went over schedule. Heston later admitted in his autobiography "In the Arena" (1995) that it was here that his political beliefs began moving to the Right.
He was voted the 52nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
He wore a hairpiece in every movie from Skyjacked (1972) onwards.
Heston has often been compared with his friend Ronald Reagan. Both actors started out as liberal Democrats but gradually converted to conservative Republicans, both served as Presidents of the Screen Actors Guild, both went into politics (Reagan as President of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and Heston as President of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003), and both suffered from Alzheimer's disease in later life. Heston attended Reagan's state funeral on 11 June 2004.
Heston is a popular actor in Greece, where his name is written as "Charlton Easton" due to "Heston" having scatological connotations in the Greek language.
Heston served on the Advisory Board of Accuracy in the Media (AIM), a conservative media "watchdog" group founded by the late Reed Irvine.
Heston wanted to appear in The Return of the Musketeers (1989), but his character of Cardinal Richelieu from the previous film was deceased in the film's setting of 1648. Fortunately, director Richard Lester had a painting of Richelieu created, with Heston as the model. This painting is seen in the beginning of the film, and was given to Heston after filming.
Heston's Hollywood mansion is filled with memorabilia from his career. He and his wife have lived in the same house near Los Angeles's Mulholland Drive for more than forty years. Built by the actor's father after Heston won the Academy Award for best actor in Ben-Hur (1959), the postmodern style home - inside and out - is filled with the memorabilia. Sitting on a table in the back yard is the figure of a Roman, whip in hand, lashing vigorously at four straining horses harnessed to a chariot. Mounted on the entrance of his study are the two great brass ring knockers from the movie set's House of Hur. Hung above the fireplace is a painting of a lumbering Conestoga wagon and, nearby, a pencil sketch of friend Sir Laurence Olivier portraying King Lear. From most windows sparkle views of canyons. In the home's central hallway hang twenty paintings of Heston in signature roles: Ben-Hur, Moses, Richelieu, Michelangelo, the Planet of the Apes (1968) marooned astronaut Commander Taylor, the steel-willed Major Dundee, Soylent Green (1973) detective Thorn, Andrew Jackson in
Heston's portrayal of William F. Cody in Pony Express (1953), a western from early in his career, inspired the Bills, a Congolese youth cult that idolized American westerns.
His classmates at Northwestern University included Cloris Leachman, Paul Lynde, Charlotte Rae, Martha Hyer, Patricia Neal and Agnes Nixon.
His funeral was held a week after his death on 12 April 2008 in a ceremony which was attended by 250 people including former First Lady Nancy Davis, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olivia de Havilland, Keith Carradine, Pat Boone, Tom Selleck, Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner.
His professional name of Charlton Heston came from a combination of his mother's maiden name (Lila Charlton) and his stepfather's last name (Chester Heston).