Volunteered his time and effort to the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, and even marched alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on a number of occasions, including the 1963 March on Washington. In the original (uncut) version of King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970), he was narrator.
Was an avid runner, swimmer and tennis player in his youth.
Was asked by some Democrats to run for the California State Senate in 1969, but declined because he wanted to continue acting.
Was chosen to portray Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956) by Cecil B. DeMille because he bore an uncanny resemblance to the statue of Moses carved by Michelangelo.
Was considered for the role of "Police Chief Brody" in Jaws (1975), but both he and Oliver Reed turned it down. The part eventually went to Roy Scheider.
Was considered for the role of Jor-El in Superman (1978). The part went to Marlon Brando instead.
Was friends with Brock Peters, having worked with him in numerous plays throughout the 1940s and 50s and films throughout the 1960s and 70s. They were slated to star in a biracial cast of Romeo and Juliet in 1946 that would have had Peters playing Tybalt and Heston as Mercutio that was abandoned due to a lack of financial backing.
Was not hesitant about repeating roles: Played Ben Hur in Ben-Hur (1959) (live action) and Ben Hur (2003) (V) (animated); Andrew Jackson in the biography The President's Lady (1953), then in The Buccaneer (1958); Marc Antony in Julius Caesar (1970) and Antony and Cleopatra (1972). (Richelieu does not count, as The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974) were filmed at the same time.).
Was offered the role of Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort in The Longest Day (1962), but John Wayne signed for the part before Heston could accept.
Was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1966-1971.
Was sick with the flu during filming of Planet of the Apes (1968). The producers decided to have him act through his illness, even though it was physically grueling, because they felt the hoarse sound of his voice added something to the character. Heston recounted in a diary he kept during filming that he "felt like Hell" during the filming of the scene where his character was forcefully separated from Nova (Linda Harrison), made worse by the impact of the fire hose used on him.
Was the original choice to star in Alexander the Great (1956), but declined so he could play Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956). The part eventually went to Richard Burton.
Was unable to use his real name, John (Charles) Carter as an actor because it bore too close a resemblance to the name of the hero in Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel "Princess of Mars."
Went to British Columbia to promote guns, arguing it is man's "God-given right" to own guns.
When he met Toshirô Mifune around 1960, he was extremely taken with the Japanese star and claimed that if Mifune spoke English "he could be the greatest star in the world". The two actors exchanged Christmas cards since their meeting until Mifune's death.
When Heston asked director James Cameron why he wanted him to play Spencer Trilby in True Lies (1994), Cameron replied "I need someone who can plausibly intimidate Arnold Schwarzenegger.".
When his TV series "The Colbys" (1985) was canceled, both he and fellow cast members John James and Emma Samms were offered contracts to continue playing their characters on "Dynasty" (1981), the series that "The Colbys" was spun off from. Heston ultimately declined because his salary demands could not be met. James and Samms, on the other hand, accepted contracts.
While studying acting early in his career, he made ends meet by posing as a model in New York at The Art Students League, across from Carnegie Hall. The lure to Hollywood and a contract soon ended his modeling days.
While they were starring in a play together in 1960, Laurence Olivier told Heston that he had the potential to become the greatest American actor of the century. When the play received unfavorable notices, Heston said, "I guess you learn to forget bad notices?", to which Olivier replied, "What's more important, laddie, and much harder -- learn to forget good notices."