Taylor from Planet of the Apes: George Taylor and Charlton Heston
Taylor in Planet of the Apes (1968) is George Taylor, the astronaut played by Charlton Heston, who crash lands on a planet ruled by talking apes and learns it is a ruined future Earth. He returns in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) and does not appear in the 2001 remake or the modern films, where other characters carry the story.
Who Plays George Taylor?
Who Is Taylor in Planet of the Apes?
Taylor is George Taylor, the astronaut at the center of planet of the apes 1968, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, and Charlton Heston plays him, billed first in the cast. He is one of three surviving crew members who crash land their ship in a lake on an unknown planet after a long space journey, and their instruments suggest that about two thousand years have passed on Earth. Together with Landon and Dodge, Taylor crosses a barren desert, finds a lush area with mute, primitive humans, and watches armed gorillas on horseback raid it, killing and capturing people. He is shot in the throat and taken to a city run by intelligent talking apes.
The credits give his name as George Taylor in 1968, and as simply Taylor in beneath the planet of the apes (1970), directed by Ted Post, where Heston is billed fourth. Those two films are the full extent of his screen time. Tim Burton's planet of the apes 2001 is a standalone remake led by Mark Wahlberg as Captain Leo Davidson, and the modern run from rise of the planet of the apes to kingdom of the planet of the apes has no Taylor in its cast. If you are placing him in the planet of the apes movies in order, his two films sit fifth and sixth chronologically, after the four modern films.
George Taylor Films
George Taylor's Story Arc Across Two FilmsSpoilers
Taylor's arc moves from stranded outsider to prisoner, then to a man who learns the truth about his world and cannot stop what follows. It is told across Planet of the Apes (1968) and Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), with a long shadow over Escape.
He lands in a lake with Landon and Dodge, and the desert march ends in a gorilla hunt that leaves him with a throat wound and no voice. In Ape City the chimpanzees Zira and Cornelius start to suspect their patient can think, while Dr. Zaius treats him as a danger to the ape order. Once Taylor speaks aloud, the apes have to answer for their own doctrine at a hearing. There he learns that Landon has been lobotomized. Zira, Cornelius and Lucius then help him and Nova slip away toward the Forbidden Zone.
The chase ends at a cave where Zaius, covered by Taylor's gun, concedes that he has always known an older human civilization existed. He destroys the proof and lets the pair ride on, urging Taylor to stop searching. The answer arrives anyway, on a beach, in the form of a half buried Statue of Liberty.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes takes him out of the story almost at once: fire, a splitting ground and a rock wall swallow him while Nova looks on. Brent arrives in a second crashed ship and goes looking for him. Taylor resurfaces as a captive of telepathic mutants who worship an old atomic bomb.
He also matters in escape from the planet of the apes (1971) without appearing. Cornelius, Zira and Dr. Milo use his repaired spaceship to flee, and in 1973 the commission questions them about him. They claim not to know him at first, and a truth serum later draws out what Zira knows.
Taylor's Relationships: Zira, Cornelius, Zaius and Nova
Taylor's closest bonds are with Nova, with the two chimpanzees who help him, and with his opponent Dr. Zaius. Linda Harrison plays Nova in both films, and she travels with Taylor into the Forbidden Zone and stays with him until she is killed in the final battle of Beneath. Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowall in 1968, David Watson in Beneath) are the scientists who first treat him as a person. Lucius, played by Lou Wagner, helps with the escape.
Zaius, played by Maurice Evans, is the orangutan doctor and leader, and he is the one who shows Taylor the cave. In my opinion their gunpoint scene makes him less a simple villain than a keeper of knowledge that he decided the apes should not have. In Beneath, he is again against Taylor, and Taylor is wounded while confronting him.
Taylor's crewmates are Landon (Robert Gunner) and Dodge (Jeff Burton). Dodge is killed in the desert and Landon is captured, and Taylor later learns that Landon has been lobotomized. In Beneath, Brent (James Franciscus) comes looking for him, and the mutant leader Mendez (Paul Richards) forces the two men to fight. General Ursus (James Gregory) leads the ape invasion. As a small point of naming, the shelter owner John Landon and his son Dodge Landon in Rise share names with Taylor's crew, but they are different characters.
What Happens to Taylor at the End?Spoilers
Taylor dies in the final minutes of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and his last act is to detonate the doomsday bomb that destroys the planet. Before that, the mutant leader Mendez has used mind control to pit him against Brent, until Nova's scream breaks the spell and the two men turn on Mendez. Taylor then tells Brent what the bomb is.
The ape army pours into the underground city, and the fighting is chaotic. Nova is killed. Mendez is shot as he lifts the bomb into place. Taylor is wounded as he faces Zaius, and Brent kills Ursus before being shot himself. Left dying, Taylor drives his hand onto the detonator, and the planet goes with him.
The first film leaves him alive but broken: on the beach he drops to his knees before the Statue of Liberty, furious and grieving, and curses humanity. His final status in the original run is dead. His spaceship outlives him, since in Escape it carries Cornelius, Zira and Dr. Milo to 1973.
Best Taylor Moments in Planet of the Apes (1968) and Beneath
In my opinion, the strongest Taylor moments are the ones where he is outnumbered and has only words or one weapon. The first is his return of speech in front of the apes. After a throat wound that silences him for a time, the man who was the scientists' specimen becomes the loudest voice in the room, and the film earns its central reversal there. The second is the cave scene with Zaius, where Taylor has a gun and Zaius has the truth. It could be argued that it is the best conversation in the franchise, because Zaius admits what he has known and then destroys the proof anyway.
The Statue of Liberty beach is the obvious entry, and it holds up because the film withholds the planet's identity until that last shot. Taylor realizes he has been on Earth all along, collapses in rage and grief, and curses humanity.
In Beneath, I would pick the forced fight with Brent under Mendez's control, because it shows Taylor as a prisoner rather than a hero. The final detonation is bleak and fitting, and it makes Taylor's act the thing that ends this world. Paradoxically, the character who tries hardest to learn the truth is the one who closes the book on it. Compared with Caesar in the modern films, who builds something, Taylor mostly uncovers and destroys. If you want the other side of that story, start with caesar planet of the apes.
Facts
- Planet of the Apes (1968) was released in the US on February 8, 1968. Box Office Mojo, checked 2026-11-03
- Planet of the Apes (1968) was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and runs 112 minutes. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Charlton Heston is billed first as George Taylor in Planet of the Apes (1968). TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Beneath the Planet of the Apes was released in the US on May 26, 1970. The Numbers, checked 2026-11-03
- Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) was directed by Ted Post and runs 95 minutes. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Charlton Heston is billed fourth as Taylor in Beneath the Planet of the Apes. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Jerry Goldsmith composed the score for Planet of the Apes (1968). AFI Catalog, checked 2026-11-03
- Leonard Rosenman composed the score for Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Box Office Mojo, checked 2026-11-03
FAQs
Who plays Taylor in Planet of the Apes?
Charlton Heston plays George Taylor in Planet of the Apes (1968) and in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). He is billed first in the first film and fourth in the sequel.
Who is the orangutan doctor in Planet of the Apes?
Dr. Zaius, played by Maurice Evans, is the orangutan doctor and leader who sees Taylor as a threat. He shows Taylor a cave with evidence of an older human civilization, admits he has long known the truth, and destroys the evidence.
Who was Nova to Caesar in Planet of the Apes?
In War for the Planet of the Apes, Nova is a mute orphan girl, played by Amiah Miller, whom the orangutan Maurice names. She travels with Caesar's group and reaches the new refuge with the apes. She is a different character from Linda Harrison's Nova, who is Taylor's companion in 1968.
What happened to the colonel in Planet of the Apes?
The Colonel in War for the Planet of the Apes, played by Woody Harrelson, is a different character from Taylor. He is already sick when Caesar finds him, Caesar refuses to kill him, and the Colonel ends his own life.
What is the last line in Planet of the Apes?
The last words of Planet of the Apes (1968) belong to Taylor. On the beach, after finding the half buried Statue of Liberty, he realizes the planet is a future Earth ruined by human war, falls to his knees in rage and grief, and curses humanity.
Which Planet of the Apes films is George Taylor in?
Taylor appears in Planet of the Apes (1968) and Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). He is discussed but does not appear in Escape from the Planet of the Apes, and he is not in the 2001 remake or the modern films.