List of the best Cecil B. DeMille movies: The Ten Commandments(1956), The Godless Girl(1929), The Golden Bed(1925), Union Pacific(1939), Unconquered(1947), Male and Female(1919), The Plainsman(1936), The Whispering Chorus(1918), The Ten Commandments(1923), Samson and Delilah(1949), The Story of Dr. Wassell(1944), Reap the Wild Wind(1942 . DeMille's Ten Commandments premiered in 1956. [251] Director Ridley Scott has been called "the Cecil B. DeMille of the digital era" due to his classical and medieval epics. [36][note 6], Film started becoming more sophisticated and the subsequent films of the Lasky company were criticized for primitive and unrealistic set design. Next, he would work with writers to develop the story that he was envisioning. The actor had 10 Globes nominations and five wins, including a special award for his vocal work on . DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, and grew up in New York City. Eddie Murphy is going to the Golden Globes. His daughter Cecilia took over as director as DeMille sat behind the camera with Loyal Griggs as the cinematographer. "Give me any two pages of the Bible, and I'll give you a picture." -Cecil B. DeMille. Perhaps Cecil B. DeMille is more responsible for this than are today's preachers.' 13. [179][note 12], DeMille believed his first influences to be his parents, Henry and Beatrice DeMille. [117] He also popularized the camera crane. He said he was rather against union leaders such as Walter Reuther and Harry Bridges whom he compared to dictators. DeMille's mother sent him to Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University) in Chester, Pennsylvania, at age 15. He stated that The Ten Commandments was the final culmination of DeMille's style. [136] During pre-production of Union Pacific, DeMille was dealing with his first serious health issue. Date of death: 21 Jan 1959. [106] His first film in the new production company, DeMille Pictures Corporation, was The Road to Yesterday in 1925. [138] Critics were impressed with the visuals but found the scripts dull, calling it DeMille's "poorest Western". education: American Academy Of Dramatic Arts, Pennsylvania Military College. [305] From the film industry, DeMille received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the Academy Awards in 1953,[306] and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America Award the same year. DeMille's reputation had a renaissance in the 2010s and his work has influenced numerous other films and directors. [64] The Lasky Company bought the rights to the play The Squaw Man by Edwin Milton Royle and cast Dustin Farnum in the lead role. [247] Adjusted for inflation, DeMille's remake of The Ten Commandments is the eighth highest-grossing film in the world. [290][note 16] Donated by the Cecil B. DeMille Foundation in 2004, the moving image collection of Cecil B. DeMille is held at the Academy Film Archive and includes home movies, outtakes, and never-before-seen test footage. Constance Adams DeMille (April 27, 1873 July 17, 1960) actress and wife of filmmaker Cecil Blount DeMille. [88] On July 19, 1916, the Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company merged with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company, becoming Famous Players-Lasky. He initially sought out William deMille. . 10 June 2021. [191] DeMille was the first director to connect art to filmmaking; he created the title of "art director" on the film set. [187] DeMille's films Male and Female, Why Change Your Wife?, and The Affairs of Anatol can be retrospectively described as high camp and are categorized as "early DeMille films" due to their particular style of production and costume and set design. Cecil DeMille's famous niece was named for her. [160] The Exodus scene was filmed on-site in Egypt with the use of four Technicolor-VistaVision camera filming 12,000 people. 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 . imported from Wikimedia project. [10], Cecil B. DeMille's mother, Beatrice, a literary agent and scriptwriter, was the daughter of German Jews. 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. [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. Cecil B. DeMille. [46] Life was difficult for DeMille and his wife as traveling actors; however, traveling allowed him to experience part of the United States he had not yet seen. [123] The Sign of the Cross was the first film to integrate all cinematic techniques. They struggled to adapt the play from the stage to the set. [318], Cecil B. DeMille made 70 features. DeMille also was planning a film about the space race as well as another biblical epic about the Book of Revelation. Cecil B. DeMille passed away January 21, 1959, from a heart condition. DeMille told the actor that he was "one hundred percent yellow". [202] DeMille was unique in using this technique. Still, the members unanimously approved it. However, throughout his career, he filmed comedies, periodic and contemporary romances, dramas, fantasies, propaganda, Biblical spectacles, musical comedies, suspense, and war films. [111], The immense popularity of DeMille's silent films enabled him to branch out into other areas. [272] DeMille's reputation had a renaissance in the 2010s. However, he would never again vote for a Democratic candidate in a presidential election. Right here at FameChain. However, others interpreted DeMille's work as visually impressive, thrilling, and nostalgic. [235] DeMille was also known for his use of special effects without the use of digital technology. 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 ). Instead of portraying the danger and anarchy of the West, he portrayed the opportunity and redemption found in Western America. Constance Adams DeMille (April 27, 1873 - July 17, 1960) was an American actress and wife of filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille. The United States Supreme Court declined to review his case. Its interracial love story made it commercially successful and it first publicized Hollywood as the home of the U.S. film industry. [240] Moreover, before his religious-themed films, many of his silent era films revolved around "husband-and-wife-divorce-and-remarry satires", considerably more adult-themed. [317], Two of DeMille's films have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress: The Cheat (1915) and The Ten Commandments (1956). Hot! Date of Death: January 21, 1959. The original story Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is about two teenagers, Romeo and Juliet, who fall in love and their families' feud ends with death of Romeo and Juliet. Chromium. DeMille's film The Affairs of Anatol came under fire. . . He attempted to create a guild of a half a dozen directors with the same creative desires called the Director's Guild. Cecil Blount DeMille was a founder of the Hollywood motion-picture industry, one of the most commercially successful producer-directors of his time, and one of the most influential filmmakers in history. Considered one of the founders of Hollywood, film producer and director Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) earned a place in moviemaking history with such religious epic films as The Ten Commandmentsand King of Kings.. Cecil B. DeMille: Film director from the United States (1881 - 1959), Actor, Writer, Film producer, Film director, Film editor, Screenwriter, Playwright, Stage actor . [62] When William found out that DeMille had begun working in the motion picture industry, he wrote DeMille a letter, disappointed that he was willing "to throw away [his] future" when he was "born and raised in the finest traditions of the theater". DeMille used clips from his own films in Land of Liberty. Self - The Real FBI Story (2017) . [236][189][237], Aside from his Biblical and historical epics which are concerned with how man relates to God, some of DeMille's films contained themes of "neo-naturalism" which portray the conflict between the laws of man and the laws of nature. DeMille also produced and directed plays. . DeMille served as executive producer, overseeing producer Henry Wilcoxon. He wanted to prevent other companies from shooting on . [39] In the summer of 1905 DeMille joined the stock cast at the Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Film Director. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 and died on January 21, 1959. [186] Generally, Belasco's influence of DeMille's career can be seen in DeMille's showmanship and narration. [213] DeMille did receive help in his films, notably from Alvin Wyckoff who shot forty-three of DeMille's films;[80] brother William deMille who would occasionally serve as his screenwriter;[82] and Jeanie Macpherson, who served as DeMille's exclusive screenwriter for fifteen years;[214] and Eddie Salven, DeMille's favorite assistant director. His poor physical condition upon his return home affected the production of his 1922 film Manslaughter. 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 . [41] However, none of these were very successful; William deMille was most successful when he worked alone. The play was successful, and DeMille was distraught that his childhood idol had plagiarized his work. "[257] The critic Camille Paglia has called The Ten Commandments one of the ten greatest films of all time. [239], DeMille's films contained many similar themes throughout his career. Consequently, his mother hired him for her agency The DeMille Play Company and taught him how to be an agent and a playwright. He was disliked by many inside and outside of the film industry for his cold and controlling reputation. [244] Another minor characteristic of DeMille's films include train crashes which can be found in several of his films. [297] The title of the 2000 John Waters film Cecil B. Demented alludes to DeMille. [80] The first few years of the Lasky Company were spent in making films nonstop, literally writing the language of film. Frequent actors and actresses on the show included Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert, Loretta Young, Don Ameche, and Fred MacMurray. DeMille did not believe a large movie set was the place to discuss minor character or line issues. Pictorials. The Enigmatic Pop Culture Professional. This allowed for the rapid production of his films in the early years of the Lasky Company. De Mille daughter dies. Cecil Blount DeMille ( August 12, 1881 - January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker. He produced or directed about 80 movies - including The Ten Commandments (1956), a movie in the 'epic' genre for which he is probably best known today. Recommended For You. [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. When the AFRA expanded to television, DeMille was banned from television appearances. Cecil B. DeMille's income source is mostly from being a successful Producer. [205], Composer Elmer Bernstein described DeMille as "sparing no effort" when filmmaking. [148] Again, 1952's The Greatest Show on Earth became Paramount's highest-grossing film to that point. [289] The Dunes Center in Guadalupe, California contains an exhibition of artifacts uncovered in the desert near Guadalupe from DeMille's set of his 1923 version of The Ten Commandments, known as the "Lost City of Cecil B. [321]:2123. [52] The collaboration of DeMille and Lasky produced a successful musical called California which opened in New York in January 1912. Cecil B. DeMille began his career as an actor on the stage in the theatrical company of Charles Frohman in 1900. [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. Biography - A Short WikiDirector of the epic 1956 film The Ten Commandments, which featured Charlton Heston as Moses. Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S. Ethnnicity: *father - English, small amounts of Scottish and Dutch, distant Belgian Flemish, remote Welsh. Peters claimed that he encouraged the cast to attend the funeral with him anyway since DeMille would not be able to shoot the film without him. He was confined to bed and unable to eat. [114] He was additionally vice president of the Commercial National Trust and Savings Bank in Los Angeles where he approved loans for other filmmakers. Red carpet photos. [29] He fled the school to join the SpanishAmerican War, but failed to meet the age requirement. After the film was shown, viewers complained that the shadows and lighting prevented the audience from seeing the actors' full faces, complaining that they would only pay half price. Mini Bio (1) Julia Faye's career is inextricably linked to director Cecil B. DeMille. [234], DeMille was interested in art and his favorite artist was Gustave Dor; DeMille based some of his most well-known scenes on the work of Dor. Farnum chose $250 per week. [168] Despite a cast led by Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, the 1958 film The Buccaneer was a disappointment. [230] Actor Charlton Heston admitted DeMille was, "terribly unfashionable" and Sidney Lumet called Demille, "the cheap version of D.W. Griffith," adding that DeMille, "[didn't have]an original thought in his head," though Heston added that DeMille was much more than that. [190], DeMille's filmmaking process always began with extensive research. Cecil B. DeMille Birthday and Date of Death. Date of birth. [264], DeMille was liked by some of his fellow directors and disliked by others, though his actual films were usually dismissed by his peers as vapid spectacle. [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. Any problems on the set were often fixed by writers in the office rather than on the set. DeMille's early silent comedies influenced the comedies of Ernst Lubitsch and Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris. [31] In 1901, DeMille starred in productions of A Repentance, To Have and to Hold, and Are You a Mason? Derided then . His films were distinguished by their epic . [14], DeMille's parents met as members of a music and literary society in New York. Birthplace: Ashfield, MA Location of death: Hollywood, CA Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: Bu. [153] Besides filmmaking and finishing his autobiography, DeMille was involved in other projects. He bought the rights to the novel in 1925, but abandoned the project in pre-production. A documentary titled. Hijo del dramaturgo Henry Churchill DeMille, en cuyas obras particip durante su infancia y primera adolescencia, curs . 72 pictures of Cecil B. DeMille. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies. The cuts were sometimes rough, but the movies were always interesting. [303] In 1957, DeMille gave the commencement address for the graduation ceremony of Brigham Young University wherein he received an honorary Doctorate of Letter degree. However, one word is especially appropriate. [138] Audiences liked its highly saturated color, so DeMille made no further black-and-white features. View Bio. that DeMille found his greatest inspiration. He had completely adapted to the production of sound film despite the film's poor dialogue. [84] While on a European vacation in 1921, DeMille contracted rheumatic fever in Paris. Produced in eight weeks without exceeding budget, the film was financially successful. [11] Henry deMille frequently collaborated with David Belasco in playwriting;[12] their best-known collaborations included "The Wife", "Lord Chumley", "The Charity Ball", and "Men and Women". The first 24 of his silent films were made in the first three years of his career (1913-1916). The Roaring Twenties were the boom years and DeMille took full advantage, opening the Mercury Aviation Company, one of America's first commercial airlines. Then, he would help writers construct a script. He began his career as a stage actor in 1900. The selection is made by the HFPA's board of . The Ten Commandments (Documentary: Making Miracles) (Six-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo) Cecil B. DeMille / Paramount. Cause of Death: Heart Attack. Memoir of DeMille titled 'The Autobiography of Cecil B. DeMille' was published in 1959. However, he did take a few months to set up a movie theater for the French front. He directed 70 feature films, beginning in the silent era . The legendary comedian, 61, has been confirmed to receive one of the night's highest honors, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, given as a way to honor "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment," per the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Cecil B. DeMille. Story 2018 . Cecil Blount DeMille was a legendary. The longest-living Oscar winner is a recipient of the Golden Globes' prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award, which he was awarded in 1977, and he received the Producers Guild of America's Lifetime . "[266] Producer David O. Selznick wrote: "There has appeared only one Cecil B. DeMille. (1950) $10,000. If you have diabetes and take insulin or other oral medications aimed to reduce blood sugar, taking chromium may increase the risk of . [152] Art Arthur also interviewed people for the autobiography. [8] Henry de Mille, whose ancestors were of English and Dutch-Belgian descent, was a North Carolina-born dramatist, actor, and lay reader in the Episcopal Church. The school closed, and Beatrice filed for bankruptcy. [citation needed] He was known as anti-union and worked to prevent unionizing of film production studios. [209][note 13], DeMille was known for autocratic behavior on the set, singling out and berating extras who were not paying attention. heart failure. [65] Already $15,000 in debt to Royle for the screenplay of The Squaw Man, Lasky's relatives bought the $5,000 stock to save the Lasky Company from bankruptcy. Despite his loss, DeMille continued to lobby for the TaftHartley Act, which passed. Moreover, DeMille was audited by the Internal Revenue Service due to issues with his production company. (Cecil Blount De Mille o DeMille; Ashfield, 1881 - Hollywood, 1959) Productor y director de cine estadounidense recordado especialmente por sus superproducciones de epopeyas histricas y religiosas. DeMille toured with the circus while helping write the script. In his address, he compares the exodus of the Israelites under Moses's direction to that of the Mormon . . [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. More Facts. DeMille studied famous paintings that captured the life of Christ and brought them to the screen. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history. [296] During the Apollo 11 mission, Buzz Aldrin refers to himself in one instance as "Cecil B. DeAldrin", as a humorous nod to DeMille. Adopted son of Cecil B. DeMille and Constance DeMille. The other three children were surprised by this, as DeMille did not treat the children differently in life. "[267] Salvador Dal wrote that DeMille, Walt Disney and the Marx Brothers were "the three great American Surrealists". [60] As director-general, DeMille's job was to make the films. Cecil Blount Demille, known as Cecil B. DeMille, was a pioneering film director - in both silent and sound movies.Starting in 1913, he became a dominant force in the Hollywood film industry for 40 years. Cause of death. For More Information . The gathering drew 93,000, with short speeches by, While the film was a huge success, DeMille regretted that he could not share the success with his wife who had developed, The estate cycled through several different homeowners for the next 30 years until it was bought by American actress. [208] DeMille had an authoritarian persona on set; he required absolute attention from the cast and crew. DeMille left a physical legacy in 1923 when, on completing The Ten Commandments, he buried the Egyptian sets in the sand dunes of Guadalupe. English Wikipedia. [233] DeMille's 1956 version of The Ten Commandments, according to director Martin Scorsese, is renowned for its level of production and the care and detail that went into creating the film. [91] Although DeMille considered enlisting in World War I, he stayed in the United States and made films. Soon after, in 1959, he had another heart attack, which led to his death. 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! She was born in Canada to a Scottish schoolteacher, Edward Gabriel Lester, and his Italian-Swiss wife, Cecile Bianca Bertha (Colani) Lester. Death: December 20, 1982 (68) Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States. [134] William Keighley was his replacement. Heart Ailment. DeMille developed a plan with his doctor to allow him to continue directing while reducing his physical stress. [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. He adapted several of Belasco's screenplays into film. Cecil B. DeMille was an American film director, producer, and actor. Additionally, DeMille's epics such as The Crusades influenced Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky. Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA. Host Scott . [49] DeMille had a daughter, Cecilia, on November 5, 1908, who would be his only biological child. According to Simon Louvish, these films reflected DeMille's inner thoughts and opinions about marriage and human sexuality. [174] DeMille left his multi-million dollar estate in Los Feliz, Los Angeles in Laughlin Park to his daughter Cecilia because his wife had dementia and was unable to care for an estate. After more than thirty years in film production, DeMille reached a pinnacle in his career with Samson and Delilah (1949), a biblical epic which became the highest-grossing film of 1950. He is particularly remembered for his 1956 film "The Ten Commandments", but made over 70 films throughout his long career. Film Director. Cause of death: Heart failure: Nationality: American: Occupation: Producer, director, editor, screenwriter, actor: Years active: 1913-1959: Spouse(s) Constance Adams . Henry, a . The film was considered a "masterpiece" and surpassed the quality of other sound films of the time. DeMille's designs, most notably his design of the distinctive cadet parade uniform, won praise from Air Force and Academy leadership, were ultimately adopted, and are still worn by cadets. Married Life. MGM distributed the film in 1941 and donated profits to World War II relief charities. Unlike the other children the DeMille's adopted, John was never told about his birth parents. [63] The Lasky Company wanted to attract high-class audiences to their films so they began producing films from literary works. [73] Furthermore, DeMille influenced about half of Spielberg's films, including War of the Worlds. The Union Pacific gave DeMille access to historical data, early period trains, and expert crews, adding to the authenticity of the film. However, this version is actually a 1918 re-release. 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. [38], In 1902, he played a small part in Hamlet. The American Academy of Dramatic Arts honored DeMille with an Alumni Achievement Award in 1958. Furthermore, DeMille argued with Zukor over his extravagant and over-budget production costs. DeMille's highest-grossing films include: The Sign of the Cross (1932), Unconquered (1947), Samson and Delilah (1949), The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), and The Ten Commandments (1956). [107] Aside from The King of Kings, none of DeMille's films away from Paramount were successful. [218][219] DeMille cast some of his performers repeatedly, including: Henry Wilcoxon,[220] Julia Faye, Joseph Schildkraut,[221] Ian Keith,[222] Charles Bickford,[223] Theodore Roberts, Akim Tamiroff[224] and William Boyd. Early life [ edit ] Born in Orange, New Jersey , [1] DeMille was the daughter of Judge Fredrick Adams, [2] New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, [1] and Ella Adams, his first wife. Although this final reel looked so different from the previous eleven reels that it appeared to be from another movie, according to Simon Louvish, the film is one of DeMille's strangest and most "DeMillean" film. Despite a cast led by Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, the 1958 film, The Buccaneer was a disappointment. [228] Throughout his career, he did not alter his films to better adhere to contemporary or popular styles. His silent films included social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, and historical pageants. Date of death: 21 January 1959 Hollywood: Cause of death: heart failure; Place of burial: Hollywood Forever Cemetery; Pseudonym: C.B. [6] He was the second of three children of Henry Churchill de Mille (September 4, 1853 February 10, 1893) and his wife Matilda Beatrice deMille (ne Samuel; January 30, 1853 October 8, 1923), known as Beatrice. [231] Cecil B. DeMille has influenced the work of several well-known directors. DeMille instructed the guilty man to leave town and would never reveal his name. [180] His playwright father introduced him to the theater at a young age. He was the first recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, which was named in his honor.