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Birthplace: Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, United States. Film Director. He was eventually introduced to Oscar Apfel, a stage director who had been a director with the Edison Company. [268] DeMille appeared as himself in numerous films, including the MGM comedy Free and Easy. His family's, DeMille's niece and William deMille's daughter. They struggled to adapt the play from the stage to the set. 1902-08-16 Filmmaker Cecil B DeMille (21) weds actress . He was the first recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, which was named in his honor. [82] Additionally, because of DeMille's cordiality after the Peter Grimm incident, DeMille was able to rekindle his partnership with Belasco. Hot! [239], DeMille's films contained many similar themes throughout his career. They also learned that other filmmakers were successfully shooting in Los Angeles, even in winter. Character actor H. B. Warner was fifty, but looked Thirty was cast as Christ, and gives a gently . DeMille served as executive producer but could not improve Quinn's style of direction. She later became the second female play broker on Broadway. [244] Another minor characteristic of DeMille's films include train crashes which can be found in several of his films. Along the same lines, critics of DeMille often qualify him by his later spectacles and fail to consider several decades of ingenuity and energy that defined him during his generation. [81] The most successful films during the beginning of the Lasky Company were Brewster's Millions (co-directed by DeMille), Rose of the Rancho, and The Ghost Breaker. [13] She had emigrated from England with her parents in 1871 when she was 18; the newly arrived family settled in Brooklyn, New York, where they maintained a middle-class, English-speaking household. He directed and produced four films on his own, working with Producers Distributing Corporation because he found front office supervision too restricting. Produced in eight weeks without exceeding budget, the film was financially successful. English Wikipedia. They continued filming in 1955 in Paris and Hollywood on 30 different sound stages. imported from Wikimedia project. [134] William Keighley was his replacement. This Day and Age and Four Frightened People were box office disappointments, though Four Frightened People received good reviews. [41] However, none of these were very successful; William deMille was most successful when he worked alone. In the months prior to his death, DeMille was researching a film biography of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement. After the death of William deMille, DeMille revealed to Richard DeMille that William was his father and he had been born to William and a mistress. Ben Gabbe/Getty. Pioneering film director. The Warrens of Virginia (1915) $500 /week. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 in Ashfield, Massachusetts, U.S., United States, is Film Director, Producer. [191] Plot and dialogue were not a strong point of DeMille's films. [215][216][217] He also cast established stars such as Gary Cooper, Robert Preston, Paulette Goddard and Fredric March in multiple pictures. The director Cecil B. died at the age of 77. He was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974. Between 1914 and 1956, he made seventy feature films; all but seven were profitable. . [130] He resigned from the Lux Radio Show because he refused to pay a dollar to the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) because he did not believe that any organization had the right to "levy a compulsory assessment upon any member. [132], DeMille sued the union for reinstatement but lost. [170] DeMille's autobiography was mostly completed by the time DeMille died and was published in November 1959. [111], The immense popularity of DeMille's silent films enabled him to branch out into other areas. [60] In addition to directing, DeMille was the supervisor and consultant for the first year of films made by the Lasky Feature Play Company. [42] DeMille would later adapt Belasco's The Girl of the Golden West, Rose of the Rancho, and The Warrens of Virginia into films. [127] However, according to DeMille himself, he was not anti-union and belonged to a few unions himself. [157] Adolph Zukor convinced the board to change their minds on the grounds of morality. He graduated in 1900, and for graduation, his performance was the play The Arcady Trail. His first several films were westerns and he produced a chain of westerns during the sound era. The actor had 10 Globes nominations and five wins, including a special award for his vocal work on . [243] In relation to his own interests and sexual preferences, sadomasochism was a minor theme present in some of his films. Host Scott . [147], DeMille's next film, Samson and Delilah in 1949, became Paramount's highest-grossing film up to that time. In 1923, DeMille released a modern melodrama The Ten Commandments which was a significant change from his previous stint of irreligious films. Belasco was known for adding realistic elements in his plays such as real flowers, food, and aromas that could transport his audiences into the scenes. [235] DeMille was also known for his use of special effects without the use of digital technology. Compared to other directors, few film scholars have taken the time to academically analyze his films and style. Cecil Blount DeMille was a legendary. 10 June 2021. After Henry DeMille's death at age 40, Cecil's mother, Beatrice, ran a well-known boarding school for girls in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. His poor physical condition upon his return home affected the production of his 1922 film Manslaughter. The surgery caused him to suffer from sexual dysfunction for the rest of his life, according to some family members. "Give me any two pages of the Bible, and I'll give you a picture." -Cecil B. DeMille. Date of birth. Cause of death: Heart failure: Nationality: American: Occupation: Producer, director, editor, screenwriter, actor: Years active: 1913-1959: Spouse(s) Constance Adams (1902-1959) Partner(s) Jeanie MacPherson Julia Faye: Parent(s) Henry Churchill DeMille Beatrice Samuel: Cecil Blount DeMille (August 12, 1881 - January 21, 1959) was an . [139] DeMille was anti-communist and abandoned a project in 1940 to film Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls due to its communist themes despite the fact he had already paid $100,000 for the rights to the novel. [37] Despite his reputation for extramarital affairs, DeMille did not like to have affairs with his stars, as he believed it would cause him to lose control as a director. Cecil Blount DeMille (August 12, 1881 - January 21, 1959) was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. This was, according to DeMille, the lowest point of his career. The Enigmatic Pop Culture Professional. [113][295] The former film building at Chapman University in Orange, California, is named in honor of DeMille. Red carpet photos. [278] As one of the establishing members of Paramount Pictures and co-founder of Hollywood, DeMille had a role in the development of the film industry. Legendary producer-director Cecil B. DeMille, (1) affectionately known as C.B., was a seminal cofounder of Hollywood and a progenitor of Paramount studio who became a mega-star of . [90], During World War I, the Famous Players-Lasky organized a military company underneath the National Guard called the Home Guard made up of film studio employees with DeMille as captain. [316] DeMille's Union Pacific received a Palme d'Or in retrospect at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Sons-and daughters-in-law were required to call him "Mr. DeMille", and Richard deMille never recalled hugging his father, claiming he received handshakes instead. [293] Two schools have been named after him: Cecil B. DeMille Middle School, in Long Beach, California, which was closed and demolished in 2010 to make way for a new high school;[294] and Cecil B. DeMille Elementary School in Midway City, California. [15] The two were married on July 1, 1876, despite Beatrice's parents' objections because of the young couple's differing religions; Beatrice converted to Episcopalianism. Sarris added that despite the influence of styles of contemporary directors throughout his career, DeMille's style remained unchanged. [28] On Henry DeMille's deathbed, he told his wife that he did not want his sons to become playwrights. Moreover, DeMille's epics inspired directors such as Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and George Stevens to try producing epics. His first three films were Westerns, and he filmed many Westerns throughout his career. I'm ready for my close-up." [164] Although DeMille completed the film, his health was diminished by several more heart attacks. [114] He was additionally vice president of the Commercial National Trust and Savings Bank in Los Angeles where he approved loans for other filmmakers. [73] Furthermore, DeMille influenced about half of Spielberg's films, including War of the Worlds. Heart Ailment. The continued success of his productions led to the founding of Paramount Pictures with Lasky and Adolph Zukor. [92] DeMille and Adams adopted Katherine Lester in 1920 whom Adams had found in the orphanage over which she was the director. (Born, August 13, 1881 - died January 21, 1959) Cecil Blount DeMille's career plowed relentlessly forward living and dying again and again in waves - on the crests and in the troughs of the "American Dream.". *mother - Ashkenazi Jewish. Hollywood, California: Paramount Pictures.2011, Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 18:28, Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Drama, eighth-highest-grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation, "Back in the Day - Sept. 18, 1991: De Mille's Pompton Lakes roots recalled", "Anthony Quinn: Colourful Hollywood star who built a career playing ethnic heroes and villains", "Guide to the Richard DeMille Collection", "Cecil DeMille, 77, Pioneer of Movies, Dead in Hollywood", "How a Hollywood Director Almost Launched L.A.'s First Commercial Airline", "Register of the Cecil B. DeMille Archives, 1863-1983", "Financing Hollywood through the Great Depression", "Angelina Jolie Buys Historic Cecil B. DeMille Estate for $24.5 Million", "Sixty years later, The Ten Commandments remains one of the most popular biblical films ever made", "Angelina Jolie Buys Cecil B. DeMille's Estate at Record-Shattering Price", "Christie's East to Auction DeMille Possessions", "New Testament to Genius: Turner's "Cecil B. DeMille", "Cecil B. DeMille's "Samson and Delilah" Brings the World's Greatest Love Story to the Screen", "Hollywood Legend Claudette Colbert Dies", "Charlton Heston: as you won't remember him", "The Deep Focus Typecasting of Joseph Schildkraut as Judas Figure in Four DeMille Films", "A Brief History of Movie Special Effects", "All-Time Box-Office Hits By Decade and Year", "Ridley Scott: from Alien to Exodus, a Cecil B. DeMille for the digital age", "Samson as a Moses-Figure in Cecil B. DeMille's "Samson and Delilah" (1949)", "BFI Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll 2002 How the directors and critics voted", "Hollywood Flashback: Cecil B. DeMille Accepted the Golden Globe Named for Him in 1952", "Reel dictators: why despots love directors", "Disp L.A. Case #45: Cecil B. DeMille's Riding Crop", "DeMille's Re-Released 'Commandments'Better Than Ever", "Cecil B. DeMille the greatest filmmaking showman rediscovered! Date of Death: January 21, 1959. However, he did take a few months to set up a movie theater for the French front. DeMille: The Master of the American Biblical Epic . [39] Another unperformed play he wrote was Son of the Winds, a mythological Native American story. [132] [note 7], In 1939, DeMille's Union Pacific was successful through DeMille's collaboration with the Union Pacific Railroad. Work period (start) 1899; Work period (end) 1959; Country of citizenship: View the most popular Cecil B. DeMille pix. [130] From 1936 to 1945, he produced, hosted, and directed all shows with the occasional exception of a guest director. [202] Another important aspect of DeMille's editing technique was to put the film away for a week or two after an initial edit in order to re-edit the picture with a fresh mind. [126] DeMille was a conservative Republican activist, becoming more conservative as he aged. [108] The King of Kings established DeMille as "master of the grandiose and of biblical sagas". His films were distinguished by their epic . [69] DeMille rented a barn to function as their film studio. He volunteered for the Intelligence Office during World War II as well. Beatrice became a play broker and author's agent, influencing DeMille's early life and career. [49] In the 1910s, DeMille began directing and producing other writer's plays. Cecil DeMille's famous niece was named for her. Henry was a tall, red-headed student. [194] DeMille was particularly adept at directing and managing large crowds in his films. These films represent those which DeMille produced or assisted in directing, credited or uncredited. [18] The family lived in Washington, North Carolina,[19] until Henry built a three-story Victorian-style house for his family in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey; they named this estate "Pamlico". [269] He often appeared in his coming-attraction trailers and narrated many of his later films,[270] even stepping on screen to introduce The Ten Commandments. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. Now he wants to make the life of Moses. Find out about Cecil B DeMille's family tree, family history, ancestry, ancestors, genealogy, relationships and affairs! [259] He cultivated the image of the omnipotent director,[260] complete with megaphone, riding crop, and jodhpurs. The Captive (1915) $500 /week. [22] Agnes would die on February 11, 1894, at the age of three from spinal meningitis. In other "Talk Shop" columns, DeMille explained that "no stone was left unturned to make the picture absolutely true to the life portrayed" and that he had brought in "eighteen big Tiger Tribe Indians . Although he is one of the most commercially successful film directors of all time, Cecil B. DeMille has for a long time been considered at best a director of . Profile of the Hollywood directing legend who became known for his "spectaculars." Learn how DeMille helped establish Hollywood as the movie-making capital o. He received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director for his circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), which won both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Drama. DeMille's primary criticism was of closed shops, but later included criticism of communism and unions in general. [171], Cecil B. DeMille suffered a series of heart attacks from June 1958 to January 1959,[168] and died on January 21, 1959, following an attack. [189] In the 2012 Sight & Sound poll, both DeMille's Samson and Delilah and 1923 version of The Ten Commandments received votes, but did not make the top 100 films. Let's take a look back at 20 of his greatest movies, ranked worst to best. Movie posters. He was her mentor, while she was for many years his mistress (a liaison which was tolerated by De Mille's long-suffering wife Constance Adams ). Cause of Death: Heart Attack. DeMille instructed the guilty man to leave town and would never reveal his name. Here is all you want to know, and more! Many of these displays were thought to be staged, however, as an exercise in discipline. Paramount Pictures 1956 release of the Academy Award-winning, Cecil B. DeMille-directed epic and international success, "The Ten Commandments," is more than likely the most famous religious-drama of all time. [228] DeMille was often criticized for making his spectacles too colorful and for being too occupied with entertaining the audience rather than accessing the artistic and auteur possibilities that film could provide. However, his final films maintained that DeMille was still respected by his audiences. DeMille told the actor that he was "one hundred percent yellow". Mature refused to wrestle Jackie the Lion, even though DeMille had just tussled with the lion, proving that he was tame. [203], DeMille often edited in a manner that favored psychological space rather than physical space through his cuts. "[267] Salvador Dal wrote that DeMille, Walt Disney and the Marx Brothers were "the three great American Surrealists". DeMille did not believe a large movie set was the place to discuss minor character or line issues. Furthermore, DeMille argued with Zukor over his extravagant and over-budget production costs. [183] DeMille's father worked with David Belasco theatrical producer, impresario, and playwright. Right here at FameChain. In the audience was Charles Frohman who would cast DeMille in his play Hearts are Trumps, DeMille's Broadway debut. [304] Additionally, in 1958, he received an honorary Doctorate of Law degree from Temple University. 1956 theater brochure Carl Laemmle anniversary 1931.JPG 1,473 1,161; 359 KB. His daughter Cecilia took over as director as DeMille sat behind the camera with Loyal Griggs as the cinematographer. "[257] The critic Camille Paglia has called The Ten Commandments one of the ten greatest films of all time. However, he would never again vote for a Democratic candidate in a presidential election. [184] While working in theatre, DeMille used real fruit trees in his play California as influenced by Belasco. Mrs. DeMille's office and library opened to the music room. In his address, he compares the exodus of the Israelites under Moses's direction to that of the Mormon . Cecil B. DeMille Birthday and Date of Death. William had been a successful playwright, but DeMille was suffering from the failure of his plays The Royal Mounted and The Genius. His other well known films include The Sign of the Cross (1932), Cleopatra (1934), Samson and Delilah [] DeMille did not like the first draft of the biography, saying that he thought the person portrayed in the biography was an "SOB"; he said it made him sound too egotistical. (TV Special) Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient 1963-1964 Password (TV Series) Self - Celebrity Contestant / Self - James Stewart vs . DeMille developed a plan with his doctor to allow him to continue directing while reducing his physical stress. Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S. Ethnnicity: *father - English, small amounts of Scottish and Dutch, distant Belgian Flemish, remote Welsh. [84] Throughout his career, DeMille would frequently remake his own films. [172] DeMille's funeral was held on January 23 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. [32] Publicists wrote that he became an actor in order to learn how direct and produce, but DeMille admitted that he became an actor in order to pay the bills. AKA Cecil Blount DeMille. [123] The Sign of the Cross was the first film to integrate all cinematic techniques. ", "10 Great Films that Influenced Alfred Hitchcock", "The Construction of a Christ-figure within the 1956 and 1923 Versions of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments", "The International Film Magazine, Sight & Sound, All films", "Hollywood Heritage volunteers preserve the Industry's earliest incarnation", "National Register of Historic Places Program", "Cecil B. DeMille Film Festival July 2 & 16", "After 54 years, it's the end for DeMille Middle School", "Vietnamese Language Roundtable showcased effectiveness of dual-language immersion program at DeMille Elementary School", "Apollo 11-Technical Air to Ground Voice Transcription", "Cecilia DeMille Presley Joins National Film Preservation Foundation Board of Directors", "BYU special collections archives houses extensive Cecil B. DeMille memorabilia", "BYU Hears: "Understand the Law of God", DeMille Advises 1957 Graduates", "5th Annual DGA Awards Honoring Outstanding Directorial Achievement for 1952", "5th Annual DGA Awards: Honoring Outstanding Directorial Achievement for 1952", "Jeff Bridges to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Award at 2019 Golden Globes", "Academy Alum Cecil B. DeMille, The Founding Father of Hollywood Filmmaking", "Complete National Film Registry Listing", "Robert Townsend Directing 'Brewster's Millions' Reboot", "The Only Son/Cecil B. Demille [motion picture]", "DVD Extra: The first, and best 'Chicago' (1927)", "Rare 1949 Photographs Show the Making of 'Sunset Boulevard', "Screen: 'The Ten Commandments'; De Mille's Production Opens at Criterion The Cast", Cecil B. DeMille's Early Films' Costs and Grosses by David Pierce, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cecil_B._DeMille&oldid=1141568133, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 18:28. [62] They offered Farnum a choice to have a quarter stock in the company (similar to William deMille) or $250 per week as salary. Cecil B. DeMille's final film, another version of The Ten Commandments , is his most widely seen work, thanks to Easter-time television programming, but it is not one of his most respected. [180] His playwright father introduced him to the theater at a young age. Cecil was 77 years old at the time of death. However, the films of his silent era were often thematically different from the films of his sound era. [159] The Ten Commandments, released in 1956, was DeMille's final film. Cecil B. DeMille's trademark films were Biblical and historical dramas, usually told in sweeping, big-budget scale, emblematic of overwrought Hollywood hugeness. This is the earliest of DeMille's films available in a quality, color-tinted video format. "[265] Said fellow director William Wellman: "Directorially, I think his pictures were the most horrible things I've ever seen in my life. Adopted son of Cecil B. DeMille and Constance DeMille. [251] Director Ridley Scott has been called "the Cecil B. DeMille of the digital era" due to his classical and medieval epics. Male. Hijo del dramaturgo Henry Churchill DeMille, en cuyas obras particip durante su infancia y primera adolescencia, curs . [320], Filmography obtained from Fifty Hollywood Directors. [67], On December 12, 1913, DeMille, his cast, and crew boarded a Southern Pacific train bound for Flagstaff via New Orleans. This prohibited denying anyone the right to work if they refuse to pay a political assessment, however, the law did not apply retroactively. Between 1913 and 1956, he made a total of 70 features, both silent and sound films.He is acknowledged as a founding father of the cinema of the United States and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history. As DeMille continued to rely on Groesbeck, the nervous energy of his early films transformed into more steady compositions of his later films. [146][note 10] DeMille's subsequent film Unconquered (1947) had the longest running time (146 minutes), longest filming schedule (102 days) and largest budget of $5million. Age at Death: 77. [138] Despite the criticism, it was Paramount's highest-grossing film of the year. [276] Famed director Steven Spielberg stated that DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth was one of the films that influenced him to become a filmmaker. [18] DeMille and William collaborated on The Genius, The Royal Mounted, and After Five.