Host Scott . [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". Charlie Chaplin lived next door for a time, and after he moved, DeMille purchased the other house and combined the estates. [182] DeMille noted that his mother had a "high sense of the dramatic" and was determined to continue the artistic legacy of her husband after he died. [180] His playwright father introduced him to the theater at a young age. [255], Publicly Episcopalian, DeMille drew on his Christian and Jewish ancestors to convey a message of tolerance. In the audience was Charles Frohman who would cast DeMille in his play Hearts are Trumps, DeMille's Broadway debut. [130] Broadcast on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from 1935 to 1954,[131] the Lux Radio show was one of the most popular weekly shows in the history of radio. The Ten Commandments gave the director a chance to play God, to film miracles. [169] DeMille attended the Santa Barbara premiere of The Buccaneer in December 1958. He wanted to prevent other companies from shooting on . [154] In 1954, Secretary of the Air Force Harold E. Talbott asked DeMille for help in designing the cadet uniforms at the newly established United States Air Force Academy. Cecil B. DeMille: Film director from the United States (1881 - 1959), Actor, Writer, Film producer, Film director, Film editor, Screenwriter, Playwright, Stage actor . [173] After his death, notable news outlets such as The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian honored DeMille as "pioneer of movies", "the greatest creator and showman of our industry", and "the founder of Hollywood". The picture of her husband was taken in 1916, the year they bought the house, when he was 35 and an increasingly active and . [206] Bernstein recalled that DeMille would scream, yell, or flatter, whatever it took to achieve the perfection he required in his films. Further illustrated by his home life, DeMille required formality and politeness at home. Barbara Stanwyck. They continued filming in 1955 in Paris and Hollywood on 30 different sound stages. [107] Aside from The King of Kings, none of DeMille's films away from Paramount were successful. In March 1938, he underwent a major emergency prostatectomy. Among his best-known films are The Ten Commandments (1956), Cleopatra (1934), and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film was considered a "masterpiece" and surpassed the quality of other sound films of the time. [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. [47] DeMille sometimes worked with the director E.H. Sothern, who influenced DeMille's later perfectionism in his work. Noisy and bright, it was not well-liked by critics, but was a favorite among audiences. Consequently, DeMille's television and radio appearance ban lasted for the remainder of his life, though he was permitted to appear on radio or television to publicize a movie. The star was being honored with the Cecil B. DeMille award, which was presented to her by Reese Witherspoon, her co-star in the upcoming Disney film A Wrinkle in Time. He was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974. His overriding spirit . His first several films were westerns and he produced a chain of westerns during the sound era. His silent films included social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, and historical pageants. Consequently, he formed the DeMille Foundation for Political Freedom in order to campaign for the right to work. [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. MGM distributed the film in 1941 and donated profits to World War II relief charities. He then appealed to the California Supreme Court and lost again. [59] Lasky and DeMille were said to have sketched out the organization of the company on the back of a restaurant menu. [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. [231], According to Scott Eyman, DeMille's films were at the same time masculine and feminine due to his thematic adventurousness and his eye for the extravagant. A documentary titled. education: American Academy Of Dramatic Arts, Pennsylvania Military College. The Ten Commandments, filmed here at the Guadeloupe sand dunes, 150 miles from Hollywood. He was so eager to produce the film, that he hadn't yet read the novel. [134] William Keighley was his replacement. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 in Ashfield, Massachusetts, U.S., United States, is Film Director, Producer. [49] In the 1910s, DeMille began directing and producing other writer's plays. Here we have a man who made a film praising the Jewish people, that tells of Samson, one of the legends of our Scripture. Full name. Studio: A Cecil B. DeMille Production Paramount Pictures Premiered: February 4, 1938 Featured Cast: Fredric March, Franciska Gaal, Akim Tamiroff Producer-director: Cecil B. DeMille Screenwriter: Harold Lamb, Edwin Justus Mayer, C. Gardner Sullivan Source: Lyle Saxon's book Lafitte the Pirate Additional writers: Emily Barrye, Grover Jones, Jesse Lasky Jr., Jeanie Macpherson, Preston . He joined the Producers Distributing Corporation. [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. Cecil Blount DeMille (/ s s l d m l /; August 12, 1881 - January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor.Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films.He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history. Death: December 20, 1982 (68) Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States. But he put on pictures that made a fortune. He began his career as a stage actor in 1900. [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. 27 October 2022. [138] Audiences liked its highly saturated color, so DeMille made no further black-and-white features. Cecil Blount DeMille (/ssl dml/; August 12, 1881 January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. View the most popular Cecil B. DeMille pix. - Death and the Maiden (1973) . . [132] DeMille would never again work on radio. [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". [38], In 1902, he played a small part in Hamlet. Cleopatra (1934) was his first film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. DeMille achieved international recognition for his unique use of lighting and color tint in his film The Cheat. DeMille's first film, The Squaw Man (1914), was also the first full-length feature film shot in Hollywood. DeMille instructed the guilty man to leave town and would never reveal his name. [109] Western and frontier American were also themes that DeMille returned to throughout his career. [258], DeMille was one of the first directors to become a celebrity in his own right. [101], After five years and thirty hit films, DeMille became the American film industry's most successful director. [136] During pre-production of Union Pacific, DeMille was dealing with his first serious health issue. [68] He continued to Los Angeles. Mature refused to wrestle Jackie the Lion, even though DeMille had just tussled with the lion, proving that he was tame. [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. [319] The Ten Commandments is broadcast every Saturday at Passover in the United States on the ABC Television Network. [100] Consequently, Beatrice deMille introduced the Famous Players-Lasky to Wilfred Buckland, who DeMille had known from his time at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and he became DeMille's art director. While he is known as DeMille (his nom d'oeuvre), his family name was Dutch and is usually spelled "de Mil". [283] In response to the claims, DeMille donated some of the profits from The King of Kings to charity. [31] In 1901, DeMille starred in productions of A Repentance, To Have and to Hold, and Are You a Mason? He stated that The Ten Commandments was the final culmination of DeMille's style. The Warrens of Virginia (1915) $500 /week. DeMille was omitted from the list, thought to be too unsophisticated and antiquated to be considered an auteur. [172], DeMille received two Academy Awards: an Honorary Award for "37 years of brilliant showmanship" in 1950[313] and a Best Picture award in 1953 for The Greatest Show on Earth. [172] DeMille's funeral was held on January 23 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. Cecil B. DeMille's trademark films were Biblical and historical dramas, usually told in sweeping, big-budget scale, emblematic of overwrought Hollywood hugeness. She had a Southern drawl which she never lost. Cecil DeMille's famous niece was named for her. [78] In December 1914, Constance Adams brought home John DeMille, a fifteen-month-old, whom the couple legally adopted three years later. DeMille lent Roosevelt a car for his campaign for the 1932 United States presidential election and voted for him. [192] DeMille had large and frequent office conferences to discuss and examine all aspects of the working film including story-boards, props, and special effects. Name in native language: Cecil Blount DeMille: Date of birth: 12 August 1881 Ashfield: Date of death: 21 January 1959 Hollywood: Cause of death: heart failure; Place of burial: Hollywood Forever Cemetery; Pseudonym: C.B. His daughter Cecilia took over as director as DeMille sat behind the camera with Loyal Griggs as the cinematographer. View Bio. Between 1914 and 1956, he made seventy feature films; all but seven were profitable. Recent images. His most notable works include The Ten Commandments -1923, The Sign of the Cross-1932 and Cleopatra-1934.Cleopatra earned him credits as it was the first film that was listed among the nominees for an Academy Award.. An annual award, the Golden Globe's Cecil B. DeMille Award recognizes lifetime achievement in the film industry. However, Birchard acknowledged that Sarris's point was more likely that DeMille's style was behind the development of film as an art form. As DeMille continued to rely on Groesbeck, the nervous energy of his early films transformed into more steady compositions of his later films. He appeared in eleven of the fifteen plays presented that season, although all were minor roles. cause of death. [104], In the early 1920s, scandal surrounded Paramount; religious groups and the media opposed portrayals of immorality in films. DeMille plays himself in the film. DeMille had considered making the film himself. [281] However, not everyone received DeMille's religious films favorably. [201], DeMille experimented in his early films with photographic light and shade which created dramatic shadows instead of glare. [61], The Squaw Man was a success, which led to the eventual founding of Paramount Pictures and Hollywood becoming the "film capital of the world". His tentative plan was to shoot a film in Arizona, but he felt that Arizona did not typify the Western look they were searching for. [279][280] DeMille received more than a dozen awards from Christian and Jewish religious and cultural groups, including B'nai B'rith. Name Constance DeMille Cause of death pneumonia: Born April 27, 1874 . Once there, he chose not to shoot in Edendale, where many studios were, but in Hollywood. His films were distinguished by their epic . (He would later cast her in The Ten Commandments.) He said he was rather against union leaders such as Walter Reuther and Harry Bridges whom he compared to dictators. [187] It is difficult to typify DeMille's films into one specific genre. [159] The Ten Commandments, released in 1956, was DeMille's final film. This prohibited denying anyone the right to work if they refuse to pay a political assessment, however, the law did not apply retroactively. [168] DeMille was unable to attend the Los Angeles premiere of The Buccaneer. Martin Scorsese cited Unconquered, Samson and Delilah, and The Greatest Show on Earth as DeMille films that have imparted lasting memories on him. DeMille told the actor that he was "one hundred percent yellow". Heart Ailment. [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". (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. Cecil B. DeMille's income source is mostly from being a successful Producer. Date of death: 21 January 1959 Hollywood: Cause of death: heart failure; Place of burial: Hollywood Forever Cemetery; Pseudonym: C.B. DeMille, Cecil B. However, this version is actually a 1918 re-release. [63] The Lasky Company wanted to attract high-class audiences to their films so they began producing films from literary works. Furthermore, DeMille argued with Zukor over his extravagant and over-budget production costs. Learning of the Eagles' work and keen to promote his film with their cause the director encouraged the group to donate carved stone tablets . [252], Despite his box-office success, awards, and artistic achievements, DeMille has been dismissed and ignored by critics both during his life and posthumously. Cause of death. Date of birth. [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. He debuted as an actor on February 21, 1900, in the play Hearts Are Trumps at New York's Garden Theater. [72] DeMille's next project was to aid Oscar Apfel and directing Brewster's Millions, which was wildly successful. [256] Meanwhile, Sumiko Higashi sees DeMille as "not only a figure who was shaped and influenced by the forces of his era but as a filmmaker who left his own signature on the culture industry. DeMille frequently made cameos as himself in other Paramount films. [250] Five of DeMille's film were the highest-grossing films at the year of their release, with only Spielberg topping him with six of his films as the highest-grossing films of the year. Age. Heart Ailment. 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 ). He had a band of assistants who catered to his needs. While visually appealing, this made the films appear more old-fashioned. [32] At the age of twenty-one, Cecil B. DeMille married Constance Adams on August 16, 1902, at Adams's father's home in East Orange, New Jersey. Cecil B DeMille Bio Details. [162] Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, it grossed over $80million, which surpassed the gross of The Greatest Show on Earth and every other film in history, except for Gone with the Wind. [92] DeMille and Adams adopted Katherine Lester in 1920 whom Adams had found in the orphanage over which she was the director. Farnum chose $250 per week. Along with biblical and historical narratives, he also directed films oriented toward "neo-naturalism", which tried to portray the laws of man fighting the forces of nature. In the silent era, he was renowned for Male and Female (1919), Manslaughter (1922), The Volga Boatman (1926), and The Godless Girl (1928). [61], The Lasky Play Company sought out William DeMille to join the company, but he rejected the offer because he did not believe there was any promise in a film career. 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. [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. [248], According to Sam Goldwyn, critics did not like DeMille's films, but the audiences did and "they have the final word". [273], As a filmmaker, DeMille was the aesthetic inspiration of many directors and films due to his early influence during the crucial development of the film industry. Robin Williams won the Cecil B. DeMille Awards in 2005. He had completely adapted to the production of sound film despite the film's poor dialogue. If you have diabetes and take insulin or other oral medications aimed to reduce blood sugar, taking chromium may increase the risk of . He began his career with reserved yet brilliant melodramas; from there, his style developed into marital comedies with outrageously melodramatic plots. Additionally, DeMille's epics such as The Crusades influenced Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky. Any problems on the set were often fixed by writers in the office rather than on the set. [10] At the military college, even though his grades were average, he reportedly excelled in personal conduct. Golden Globes 1953 - Best Director and Best . However, his earlier films The Captive, Kindling, Carmen, and The Whispering Chorus are more serious films. [16] He gained his love of theater while watching his father and Belasco rehearse their plays. View the latest Cecil B. DeMille photos. [212] Paulette Goddard's refusal to risk personal injury in a scene involving fire in Unconquered cost her DeMille's favor and a role in The Greatest Show on Earth. Many of these displays were thought to be staged, however, as an exercise in discipline. [215][216][217] He also cast established stars such as Gary Cooper, Robert Preston, Paulette Goddard and Fredric March in multiple pictures. Martin Scorsese recalled that DeMille had the skill to maintain control of not only the lead actors in a frame but the many extras in the frame as well. DeMille left a physical legacy in 1923 when, on completing The Ten Commandments, he buried the Egyptian sets in the sand dunes of Guadalupe. The members rejected his proposal, even though his last two films, Samson and Delilah and The Greatest Show on Earth, had been record-breaking hits. DeMille served as executive producer but could not improve Quinn's style of direction. However, DeMille's second remake at MGM in 1931 would be a failure. [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. [5] On September 1, 1881, the family returned with the newborn DeMille to their flat in New York. DeMille was accused of antisemitism after the release of The King of Kings,[282] and director John Ford despised DeMille for what he saw as "hollow" biblical epics meant to promote DeMille's reputation during the politically turbulent 1950s. Adams was 29 years old at the time of their marriage, eight years older than DeMille. 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. But they have inspired cutting edge directors including Stephen Spielberg and Martin Scorcese. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. [243] In relation to his own interests and sexual preferences, sadomasochism was a minor theme present in some of his films. The Roaring Twenties were the boom years and DeMille took full advantage, opening the Mercury Aviation Company, one of America's first commercial airlines. [66] With no knowledge of filmmaking, DeMille was introduced to observe the process at film studios. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 and died on January 21, 1959. 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. [160] The Exodus scene was filmed on-site in Egypt with the use of four Technicolor-VistaVision camera filming 12,000 people.
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