Cecil Blount deMille, 12 th August 1881, Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA. Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA. He was disliked by many inside and outside of the film industry for his cold and controlling reputation. [309][310][note 17] For his contribution to the motion picture and radio industry, DeMille has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Cecil Blount DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, while his parents were vacationing there, and grew up in Washington, North Carolina. [209][note 13], DeMille was known for autocratic behavior on the set, singling out and berating extras who were not paying attention. Cecil B. DeMille was a master of spectacle. His first several films were westerns and he produced a chain of westerns during the sound era. Noisy and bright, it was not well-liked by critics, but was a favorite among audiences. Cecil B. DeMille's trademark films were Biblical and historical dramas, usually told in sweeping, big-budget scale, emblematic of overwrought Hollywood hugeness. Movie posters. [166] [note 11], Due to his frequent heart attacks, DeMille asked his son-in-law, actor Anthony Quinn, to direct a remake of his 1938 film The Buccaneer. Heart Ailment. In that respect, he was better than any of us. [261][262] He was known for his unique, working wardrobe which included riding boots, riding pants, and soft, open necked shirts. He joined the Producers Distributing Corporation. [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". His father, Henry Churchill de Mille (1853-1893), was a North Carolina-born dramatist and lay reader in the Episcopal Church, who had earlier . "A dreadful showoff. [320], Filmography obtained from Fifty Hollywood Directors. [85][86] In addition to his Paradise, DeMille purchased a yacht in 1921 which he called The Seaward. He volunteered for the Intelligence Office during World War II as well. On the day of DeMille's death, President McKay sent a telegram to the DeMille family stating that DeMille "merits the welcome, 'well done that good and faithful servant; enter thou into the rest prepared for the just.' . [44], DeMille performed on stage with actors whom he would later direct in films: Charlotte Walker, Mary Pickford, and Pedro de Cordoba. 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. [165] This film would be his last. Self - Actor, The F.B.I. "[156], Alfred Zukor responding to DeMille's proposal of The Ten Commandments remake, In 1952, DeMille sought approval for a lavish remake of his 1923 silent film The Ten Commandments. [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. 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 . [140][note 8] While concurrently filmmaking, he served in World War II at the age of sixty as his neighborhood air-raid warden. Biography: Cecil B. deMille is one of the most important and successful filmmakers Hollywood has ever produced. Its interracial love story made it commercially successful and it first publicized Hollywood as the home of the U.S. film industry. [33] They had met in a theater in Washington D.C. while they were both acting in Hearts Are Trumps. Lasky and DeMille convinced film pioneer Siegmund Lubin of the Lubin Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia to have his experienced technicians reperforate the film [74] This was also the first American feature film; however, only by release date, as D. W. Griffith's Judith of Bethulia was filmed earlier than The Squaw Man, but released later. [225][226] DeMille was credited by actor Edward G. Robinson with saving his career following his eclipse in the Hollywood blacklist. (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. Eventually, he became manager of the agency and later, a junior partner with his mother. [124] DeMille followed this epic uncharacteristically with two dramas released in 1933 and 1934. Henry was a tall, red-headed student. According to Simon Louvish, these films reflected DeMille's inner thoughts and opinions about marriage and human sexuality. Cecil B. DeMille didn't make the kind of movies that wind up in French film festivals. [115] In 1916, DeMille purchased a mansion in Hollywood. [319] The Ten Commandments is broadcast every Saturday at Passover in the United States on the ABC Television Network. The second star is located at 1725 Vine Street. DeMille's film The Affairs of Anatol came under fire. [111], The immense popularity of DeMille's silent films enabled him to branch out into other areas. He claimed he abandoned the project in order to complete a different project, but in reality, it was to preserve his reputation and avoid appearing reactionary. His art was even shown at Paramount meetings when pitching new films. Famous Players-Lasky donated the films. [315] He was further nominated in the Best Picture category for The Ten Commandments at the 1957 Academy Awards. In his address, he compares the exodus of the Israelites under Moses's direction to that of the Mormon . [34], They were sexually incompatible; according to DeMille, Adams was too "pure" to "feel such violent and evil passions. The film was produced on a large budget of $600,000, the most expensive production at Paramount. ", "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. They screened four of his films at Christ Church, where DeMille and his family attended church when they lived there. [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. Additionally, he often starred in prologues and special trailers that he created for his films, having an opportunity to personally address the audience. [61] Sometimes, he directed scenes for other directors at the Feature Play Company in order to release films on time. [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. [15], DeMille was a brave and confident child. He produced many flops. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. Cause of Death: Heart failure due to a series of heart attacks. Film Director. He graduated in 1900, and for graduation, his performance was the play The Arcady Trail. As DeMille continued to rely on Groesbeck, the nervous energy of his early films transformed into more steady compositions of his later films. . that DeMille found his greatest inspiration. DeMille achieved international recognition for his unique use of lighting and color tint in his film The Cheat. The Ten Commandments (Documentary: Making Miracles) (Six-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo) Cecil B. DeMille / Paramount. [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. [89] DeMille was maintained as director-general and Goldwyn became chairman of the board. Oscars 1950 - Honorary Award. DeMille instructed the guilty man to leave town and would never reveal his name. In 1923, DeMille released a modern melodrama The Ten Commandments which was a significant change from his previous stint of irreligious films. "[132] Consequently, he had to resign from the radio show. [206] Bernstein recalled that DeMille would scream, yell, or flatter, whatever it took to achieve the perfection he required in his films. 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.. While he is known as DeMille (his nom d'oeuvre), his family name was Dutch and is usually spelled "de Mil". [47] DeMille sometimes worked with the director E.H. Sothern, who influenced DeMille's later perfectionism in his work. His silent films included social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, and historical pageants. [60] As director-general, DeMille's job was to make the films. [129], From June 1, 1936, until January 22, 1945, Cecil B. DeMille hosted and directed Lux Radio Theater, a weekly digest of current feature films. [245], Known as the father of the Hollywood motion picture industry, Cecil B. DeMille made 70 films including several box-office hits. The actor had 10 Globes nominations and five wins, including a special award for his vocal work on . He donated. [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. We should get down on our knees to Cecil and say "Thank you! [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. He then appealed to the California Supreme Court and lost again. . 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. Full name. [107] Aside from The King of Kings, none of DeMille's films away from Paramount were successful. Cecil Blount DeMille ( August 12, 1881 - January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker. Adopted son of Cecil B. DeMille and Constance DeMille. Cleopatra (1934) was his first film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The picture of her husband was taken in 1916, the year they bought the house, when he was 35 and an increasingly active and . DeMille, Cecil B. He began his career as a stage actor in 1900. He had completely adapted to the production of sound film despite the film's poor dialogue. [92] DeMille and Adams adopted Katherine Lester in 1920 whom Adams had found in the orphanage over which she was the director. The other three children were surprised by this, as DeMille did not treat the children differently in life. LOS ANGELES -- Cecilia de Mille Harper, daughter of pioneer film-director Cecil B. de Mille and one of the first child movie actresses, has died after a long battle with . Despite a cast led by Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, the 1958 film, The Buccaneer was a disappointment. Cecil B. DeMille. [103] It held the Paramount record for twenty-five years until DeMille broke the record again himself. The continued success of his productions led to the founding of Paramount Pictures with Lasky and Adolph Zukor. But they have inspired cutting edge directors including Stephen Spielberg and Martin Scorcese. His other well known films include The Sign of the Cross (1932), Cleopatra (1934), Samson and Delilah [] He called this place, "Paradise", declaring it a wildlife sanctuary; no shooting of animals was allowed besides snakes. September 17, 1914. [69] DeMille rented a barn to function as their film studio. DeMille directed The King of Kings (1927), a biography of Jesus, which gained approval for its sensitivity and reached more than 800million viewers. Adams was 29 years old at the time of their marriage, eight years older than DeMille. [84] Throughout his career, DeMille would frequently remake his own films. Frequent actors and actresses on the show included Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert, Loretta Young, Don Ameche, and Fred MacMurray.