[275] Scorsese said he had viewed The Ten Commandments forty or fifty times. [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. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. Cecil B. DeMille real name: Cecil Blount DeMille Height: 5'11''(in feet & inches) 1.8034(m) 180.34(cm) , Birthdate(Birthday): August 12, 1881 , Age on January 21, 1959 (Death date): 77 Years 5 Months 9 Days Profession: Movies (Director), Also working as: Producer, Director, Editor, Screenwriter, Actor, Father: Henry Churchill de Mille, Mother: Matilda Beatrice deMille, Married: Yes, Children: Yes [225][226] DeMille was credited by actor Edward G. Robinson with saving his career following his eclipse in the Hollywood blacklist. However, his earlier films The Captive, Kindling, Carmen, and The Whispering Chorus are more serious films. [39] In the summer of 1905 DeMille joined the stock cast at the Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Next, he would work with writers to develop the story that he was envisioning. [17] As a child, DeMille created an alter-ego, Champion Driver, a Robin Hood-like character, evidence of his creativity and imagination. . [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. "[266] Producer David O. Selznick wrote: "There has appeared only one Cecil B. DeMille. cause of death. [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. Date of death: 21 Jan 1959. 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. "He was a thoroughly bad director," Huston said. Death: December 20, 1982 (68) Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States. [84] Goldwyn was later fired from Famous Players-Lasky due to frequent clashes with Lasky, DeMille, and finally Zukor. [191] DeMille was the first director to connect art to filmmaking; he created the title of "art director" on the film set. The Enigmatic Pop Culture Professional. 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 . [153] Besides filmmaking and finishing his autobiography, DeMille was involved in other projects. [14], DeMille's parents met as members of a music and literary society in New York. He stands as one among the famous individuals for he was a creative filmmaker. Lasky and DeMille maintained the widow Fleming on the payroll; however, according to leading actor House Peters Sr. DeMille refused to stop production for the funeral of Fleming. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 and died on January 21, 1959. [113][295] The former film building at Chapman University in Orange, California, is named in honor of DeMille. The Roaring Twenties were the boom years and DeMille took full advantage, opening the Mercury Aviation Company, one of America's first commercial airlines. Cecil Blount DeMille was a legendary. Produced in eight weeks without exceeding budget, the film was financially successful. [57] Having become disinterested in working in theatre, DeMille's passion for film was ignited when he watched the 1912 French film Les Amours de la reine lisabeth. DeMille would stick to his large-budget spectaculars for the rest of his career. DeMille also produced and directed plays. December 26, 2014 at 3:45 p.m. As the keeper of her grandfather Cecil B. DeMille's legacy, Cecilia de Mille Presley is used to fielding calls from people who want to ask her questions, recruit . [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. Eddie Murphy is going to the Golden Globes. She was born in Canada to a Scottish schoolteacher, Edward Gabriel Lester, and his Italian-Swiss wife, Cecile Bianca Bertha (Colani) Lester. [109] Western and frontier American were also themes that DeMille returned to throughout his career. It was the longest (3 hours, 39 minutes) and most expensive ($13million) film in Paramount history. Cause of death. DeMille served as executive producer, overseeing producer Henry Wilcoxon. After reading the screenplay, Daniel A. Lord warned DeMille that Catholics would find the film too irreverent, while non-Catholics would have considered the film Catholic propaganda. (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. However, one word is especially appropriate. Derided then . [202] DeMille was unique in using this technique. DeMille's reputation had a renaissance in the 2010s and his work has influenced numerous other films and directors. 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.' . "Give me any two pages of the Bible, and I'll give you a picture." -Cecil B. DeMille. [318], Cecil B. DeMille made 70 features. From the archive, 22 January 1959: Pioneering film maker Cecil B. deMille dies Even the severest critics of his films had to concede that he was a great showman Cecil B. deMille (1881-1959). DeMille traveled abroad to find employment until he was offered a deal at Paramount. [306] DeMille received a Golden Globe Award for Best Director[314] and was additionally nominated for the Best Director category at the 1953 Academy Awards for the same film. Additionally, he often starred in prologues and special trailers that he created for his films, having an opportunity to personally address the audience. [42] DeMille would later adapt Belasco's The Girl of the Golden West, Rose of the Rancho, and The Warrens of Virginia into films. [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. William deMille would later convert from theater to Hollywood and would spend the rest of his career as a film director. Mature refused to wrestle Jackie the Lion, even though DeMille had just tussled with the lion, proving that he was tame. 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. [79][note 3], Cecil B. DeMille's second film credited exclusively to him was The Virginian. Zukor became president with Lasky as the vice president. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12th, in 1881. Male. 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. In that respect, he was better than any of us. Cecil B. DeMille's income source is mostly from being a successful Producer. [39] DeMille wrote a few of his own plays in-between stage performances, but his playwriting was not as successful. 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. [238] Although he is known for his later "spectacular" films, his early films are held in high regard by critics and film historians. 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 . [47] In 1907, due to a scandal with one of Beatrice's students, Evelyn Nesbit, the Henry deMille School lost students. Date of Death: January 21, 1959. The second star is located at 1725 Vine Street. Consequently, the film was never made. "A dreadful showoff. However, his final films maintained that DeMille was still respected by his audiences. 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. [138] Critics were impressed with the visuals but found the scripts dull, calling it DeMille's "poorest Western". ", "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. [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. His father, Henry Churchill de Mille (1853-1893), was a North Carolina-born dramatist and lay reader in the Episcopal Church, who had earlier . [67], On December 12, 1913, DeMille, his cast, and crew boarded a Southern Pacific train bound for Flagstaff via New Orleans. He later moved to writing and directing stage productions, some with Jesse Lasky, who was then a vaudeville producer. He was eventually introduced to Oscar Apfel, a stage director who had been a director with the Edison Company. According to Simon Louvish, these films reflected DeMille's inner thoughts and opinions about marriage and human sexuality. [245], Known as the father of the Hollywood motion picture industry, Cecil B. DeMille made 70 films including several box-office hits. Credits. Any problems on the set were often fixed by writers in the office rather than on the set. [49] DeMille had a daughter, Cecilia, on November 5, 1908, who would be his only biological child. "[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. [109] Eight of his films were "epics" with five of those classified as "Biblical". [207], DeMille made stars of unknown actors: Gloria Swanson, Bebe Daniels, Rod La Rocque, William Boyd, Claudette Colbert, and Charlton Heston. [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. Of his seventy films, five revolved around stories of the Bible and the New Testament; however many others, while not direct retellings of Biblical stories, had themes of faith and religious fanaticism in films such as The Crusades and The Road to Yesterday. [229] He began the production of epics earlier in his career until they began to solidify his career in the 1920s. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Cecil B. DeMille. His poor physical condition upon his return home affected the production of his 1922 film Manslaughter. [117] He also popularized the camera crane. DeMille did not believe a large movie set was the place to discuss minor character or line issues. DeMille frequently made cameos as himself in other Paramount films. While he is known as DeMille (his nom d'oeuvre), his family name was Dutch and is usually spelled "de Mil". [241] Religion was a theme that DeMille returned to throughout his career. This prohibited denying anyone the right to work if they refuse to pay a political assessment, however, the law did not apply retroactively. The film was produced on a large budget of $600,000, the most expensive production at Paramount. Biography. Its interracial love story made it commercially successful and it first publicized Hollywood as the home of the U.S. film industry. [61] Sometimes, he directed scenes for other directors at the Feature Play Company in order to release films on time. 22. He would speak to the entire set, sometimes enormous with countless numbers of crew members and extras, via a microphone to maintain control of the set. [185] Similar to Belasco, DeMille's theatre was revolved around entertainment, rather than artistry. He was a Freemason who remained a member of Prince of Orange Lodge #16 in New York . [51] In 1911, DeMille became acquainted with vaudeville producer Jesse Lasky when Lasky was searching for a writer for his new musical. The film was considered a "masterpiece" and surpassed the quality of other sound films of the time. [7] His brother, William C. DeMille, was born on July 25, 1878. [128] He supported Herbert Hoover and in 1928 made his largest campaign donation to Hoover. [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. [156] DeMille did not have an exact budget proposal for the project,[158] and it promised to be the most costly in U.S. film history. Date of death: 21 January 1959 Hollywood: Cause of death: heart failure; Place of burial: Hollywood Forever Cemetery; Pseudonym: C.B. [309][310][note 17] For his contribution to the motion picture and radio industry, DeMille has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Age at Death: 77. [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. DeMille told the actor that he was "one hundred percent yellow". Friday 12 Aug 1881. DeMille achieved international recognition for his unique use of lighting and color tint in his film The Cheat. In his address, he compares the exodus of the Israelites under Moses's direction to that of the Mormon . MGM distributed the film in 1941 and donated profits to World War II relief charities. Self - The Real FBI Story (2017) . The American Academy of Dramatic Arts honored DeMille with an Alumni Achievement Award in 1958. Date of Death: January 21, 1959. Cecil B. DeMille. September 17, 1914. [252], Despite his box-office success, awards, and artistic achievements, DeMille has been dismissed and ignored by critics both during his life and posthumously. [268] DeMille appeared as himself in numerous films, including the MGM comedy Free and Easy. [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. 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. Oscars 1950 - Honorary Award. [49] In the 1910s, DeMille began directing and producing other writer's plays. Sitting in an IMAX [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. [124] DeMille followed this epic uncharacteristically with two dramas released in 1933 and 1934. William deMille reluctantly became a story editor. [91] Although DeMille considered enlisting in World War I, he stayed in the United States and made films. His art was even shown at Paramount meetings when pitching new films. [132] DeMille would never again work on radio. Memoir of DeMille titled 'The Autobiography of Cecil B. DeMille' was published in 1959. Stills. A lasting memory for DeMille was a lunch with his father and actor Edwin Booth. [84] In 1916, exhausted from three years of nonstop filmmaking, DeMille purchased land in the Angeles National Forest for a ranch which would become his getaway. [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. [28] On Henry DeMille's deathbed, he told his wife that he did not want his sons to become playwrights. [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. Eventually, the Guard was enlarged to a battalion and recruited soldiers from other film studios. [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. Additionally, during the war, DeMille volunteered for the Justice Department's Intelligence Office, investigating friends, neighbors, and others he came in contact with in connection with the Famous Players-Lasky. [168] DeMille was unable to attend the Los Angeles premiere of The Buccaneer. [242] Another common theme in DeMille's films is the reversal of fortune and the portrayal of the rich and the poor, including the war of the classes and man versus society conflicts such as in The Golden Chance and The Cheat. [204] As DeMille's career progressed, he increasingly relied on artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck's concept, costume, and storyboard art. DeMille served as executive producer but could not improve Quinn's style of direction. [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. [274] DeMille has influenced the careers of many modern directors. [187] It is difficult to typify DeMille's films into one specific genre. [69] DeMille rented a barn to function as their film studio. DeMille's first film, The Squaw Man (1914), was also the first full-length feature film shot in Hollywood. [163], On November 7, 1954, while in Egypt filming the Exodus sequence for The Ten Commandments, DeMille (who was seventy-three) climbed a 107-foot (33m) ladder to the top of the massive Per Rameses set and suffered a serious heart attack. [168] In the months before his death, DeMille was researching a film biography of Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement. She would die one year later. [251] Director Ridley Scott has been called "the Cecil B. DeMille of the digital era" due to his classical and medieval epics.

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