Owned more than 400 modern and antique guns.
Participated in the March on Washington for Civil Rights on 28 August 1963, along with Burt Lancaster, Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier, Bob Dylan and Harry Belafonte.
Prior to starring in The Omega Man (1971), a remake of Vincent Price's film The Last Man on Earth (1964), Heston and Price appeared together in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956).
Professed great respect and admiration for the late actor Gregory Peck, despite their opposing political ideals.
Ranked #28 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Recipient of Kennedy Center honors in 1997, along with Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, Jessye Norman and Edward Villella.
Reports at the time suggested that Heston badly wanted to play Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons (1966). The part went to Paul Scofield instead.
Said that Planet of the Apes (1968) was the most physically demanding film he had ever done.
Somewhat ironically, Heston was a vocal supporter of the Gun Control Act of 1968, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.
Stated in his autobiography 'In The Arena' that while he felt Anthony Mann was a good director, he also felt that Mann's lack of experience in directing large scale historical films such as their 1961 epic El Cid (1961) hurt the overall product and also stated that El Cid may have benefited from being directed by William Wyler, who directed Heston in The Big Country (1958) and Ben-Hur (1959), or someone like Wyler.
The actors he admired the most were Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, Clark Gable, Cary Grant and James Stewart.
Though often portrayed as an ultra-conservative, Heston wrote in his 1995 autobiography "In the Arena" that he was opposed to the McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950s, was against the Vietnam War and thought President Richard Nixon was bad for America.
Three grandsons: John Alexander Clarke "Jack" Heston, Ridley Charlton Rochell, and "Charlie" Rochell.
Tried to revive the play "Mister Roberts" in the early 1990s, but was unsuccessful.
Turned down Rock Hudson's role as the captain of a nuclear submarine in Ice Station Zebra (1968) because he didn't think there was much characterization in the script.
Turned down Gary Cooper's role in High Noon (1952).
Turned down an offer to co-star with Marilyn Monroe in Let's Make Love (1960) in order to be directed in a play by Laurence Olivier, whom he greatly admired.
Turned down the lead in The Omen (1976). The role then went to Gregory Peck.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Heston continued to act on the stage. He appeared in Long Day's Journey Into Night opposite Deborah Kerr, Macbeth opposite Vanessa Redgrave and The Caine Mutiny with Ben Cross. His final stage role was opposite his wife Lydia Clarke in Love Letters at the Haymarket Theatre in London in the summer of 1999.
Very popular in Japan, where even his less successful films were generally well received, because his screen persona embodied the qualities that the Japanese had admired in their Samurai warriors.