In 1944, he had married fellow Northwestern drama student Lydia Clarke and their marriage lasted 64 years until his death. They had two children, Fraser Clarke and Holly Ann, and three grandchildren Jack Alexander, Ridley and Charlie.
Heston gained attention in 1947 in "Anthony and Cleopatra," which landed him a job in the "Studio One" television series that re-enacted famous plays.
The television work led to movies and Cecil B DeMille put him in "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952), portraying a circus manager determined that the show must go on.
In 1956, DeMille cast Heston as Moses for "The 10 Commandments", saying the actor reminded him of Michelangelo's statue. The $7.5 million epic was the most expensive film up to that time and became the second-biggest money maker of the time, behind "Gone With the Wind".
In addition to playing Moses, Heston did the voice of God in the film. His 3-month-old son, Fraser, played the baby Moses floating down the Nile in a basket.
WESTERNS AND SCIENCE FICTION
He took some roles in Westerns, with a break in 1957 for Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil", followed by more epics.
Less successful were his portrayal of John the Baptist in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" about the life of Jesus and that of Michelangelo in "The Agony and the Ecstasy", a 1965 commercial flop.
Heston was a besieged astronaut in 1968's "The Planet of the Apes" but made sure his character was killed off in 1970's "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" so he would not be sought for further sequels.
The "Ape" pictures opened the science fiction door to him and hits like "The Omega Man" (1971) and "Soylent Green" (1973). He was also a leading figure in disaster epics, among them "Skyjacked" (1972) and "Airport 1975" (1974).
In 1984, Heston returned to television in two CBS mini-series and the following year he played patriarch Jason Colby in the TV soap opera "Dynasty II: The Colbys of California."
In the 1960s Heston was involved in the civil rights movement. He served six terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild and in 1987, 16 years after leaving the SAG job, locked horns with SAG President Ed Asner over the guild's left-leaning stance.
He once campaigned for Democrats - Adlai Stevenson against Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy against Richard Nixon. But he switched to Republican Nixon in 1972 and backed old friend Ronald Reagan in the ex-actor's quest for the presidency. Thereafter, he was identified with conservative politics and causes.
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W Bush in 2003.
