While to most people Charlton Heston is known for his larger-than-life roles as some of history's most extraordinary men, from Moses to Michelangelo to Ben Hur, which brought him an Oscar in 1959, he was also a heated liberal active in the civil rights movement, although he is now mostly identified with the Republican Party and the conservative National Rifle Association.

A devoted Christian and patriot, a trained Shakespearean actor, a man of strong morals, of great contradictions, of big dentures, Heston, born John Charles Carter, was born on October 4th 1924 in Evanston, Illinois.

Growing up in Michigan, he took his father's name after his parents got divorced in the early 1930s. He first approached drama while still in high school after his family moved to Chicago, and later pursued his calling by attending Northwestern University. He met Lydia Marie Clarke, who was also a drama student there, and married her on March 17, 1944.

Characterized by a muscular build and booming voice, Heston started his career in the burgeoning medium of television. Early "playhouse" shows like "Studio One" and "Playhouse 90" had a desperate need for hungry actors, and he fit the bill. He served three years in the Army in the 40s, then returned to acting after WWII.

His major Hollywood breakthrough in "Dark City" in 1950, one of over 100 theatrical films and TV movies in which he appeared. He also starred in several "B-movies" such as "The Naked Jungle," and "The Secret of the Incas," during early 1950s, before "The Ten Commandments." He did double duty in this epic drama by playing the role of Moses but also supplying the voice of God. His 3 months old son played the baby Moses floating down the Nile in a reed basket.

Then came "Ben Hur," a gamble that saved MGM from bankruptcy while taking 11 Oscars, and "The Agony and the Ecstasy" a few years later, in which he portrayed Michelangelo.

He was also one of the early action-film stars, having fronted movies such as "Planet of the Apes," "The Omega Man," "Soylent Green," and the disaster flicks "Airport 1975" and "Earthquake."

A leading man on the screen, Heston was a leader in Hollywood as well, heading the Screen Actors Guild and chairing the American Film Institute. A Democrat who supported civil rights, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. in the early 1960s, Heston, like his friend Ronald Reagan, became conservative. Near the end of his film career, he headed the National Rifle Association, from 1998 to 2003.

Although he defeated prostate cancer, in 2002, the actor publicly announced his doctors had told him he was "suffering symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease," but he would "neither giving up nor give in."

"For now, I'm not changing anything. I'll insist on work when I can; the doctors will insist on rest when I must. If you see a little less spring to my step, if your name fails to leap to my lips, you'll know why. And if I tell you a funny story for the second time, please laugh anyway," he said in a statement at that time.

A towering figure in Hollywood, Heston was also the recipient of many prestigious awards including the Medal of Freedom, which was placed around his neck by President George W. Bush at a White House ceremony.

His former publicist Michael Levine, who worked with Heston for 20 years, told Associated Press the actor's passing represented the end of an iconic era for cinema.

"If Hollywood had a Mount Rushmore, Heston's face would be on it. He was a heroic figure that I don't think exists to the same degree in Hollywood today."