FACTBOX: Key movies in the career of Charlton Heston

(Reuters) - Actor Charlton Heston, who also president of the influential National Rifle Association lobbying group, died on Saturday night, at the age of 84, his family said.

Following are the key movies in his career:

* "Peer Gynt," 1941: played the title role in his movie debut, which was made by a fellow Northwestern University student.

* "The Greatest Show on Earth," 1952: starred as the circus manager Brad Braden under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille.

* "The Ten Commandments," 1956: played Moses in the biblical epic that was DeMille's last film as a director.

* "Touch of Evil," 1958: Heston was a Mexican narcotics official opposite Orson Welles; Heston reportedly insisted that Welles be allowed to direct the film, too.

* "Ben Hur," 1959: Heston won his only Academy Award for the title role; the movie also won 10 other Oscars, including best picture.

* "El Cid," 1961: another historical epic, co-starring Sophia Loren.

* "The Greatest Story Ever Told," 1965: played John the Baptist.

* "The Agony and the Ecstasy," 1965: portrayed Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel.

* "Planet of the Apes," 1968: Heston's astronaut character ends up in a world where apes are more advanced than men; snarled the memorable line "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"

* "Will Penny," 1968: a Western that reportedly was Heston's favorite among his films.

* "Soylent Green," 1973: set in 2022 in a vastly overcrowded New York, Heston's detective character discovers the secret ingredient in a mysterious food source and proclaims: "Soylent Green is people!"

* "Airport 1975," 1974: disaster film was a sequel to the 1970 hit "Airport" and was followed by two more "Airport" movies.

(Writing by Bill Trott in Washington, Editing by Sandra Maler)