Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 in Ashfield, Massachusetts, U.S., United States, is Film Director, Producer. [72] DeMille adapted Belasco's dramatic lighting techniques to film technology, mimicking moonlight with U.S. cinema's first attempts at "motivated lighting" in The Warrens of Virginia. [50], DeMille was poor and struggled to find work. Cecil B. DeMille Facts for Kids - Kiddle AKA Cecil Blount DeMille. [18] DeMille and William collaborated on The Genius, The Royal Mounted, and After Five. [261][262] He was known for his unique, working wardrobe which included riding boots, riding pants, and soft, open necked shirts. Cecil B. DeMille Biography, Life, Interesting Facts [note 4], While filming The Captive in 1915, an extra, Bob Fleming, died on set when another extra failed to heed to DeMille's orders to unload all guns for rehearsal. [170] DeMille's autobiography was mostly completed by the time DeMille died and was published in November 1959. DeMille served as executive producer, overseeing producer Henry Wilcoxon. Additionally, he often starred in prologues and special trailers that he created for his films, having an opportunity to personally address the audience. [259] He cultivated the image of the omnipotent director,[260] complete with megaphone, riding crop, and jodhpurs. Biography: Cecil B. deMille is one of the most important and successful filmmakers Hollywood has ever produced. [citation needed] He was known as anti-union and worked to prevent unionizing of film production studios. Furthermore, DeMille argued with Zukor over his extravagant and over-budget production costs. [180] His playwright father introduced him to the theater at a young age. 'Some Like It Hot' Producer Walter Mirisch Dead at 101 [53] Another DeMille-Lasky production that opened in January 1912 was The Antique Girl. This was, according to DeMille, the lowest point of his career. Date of Death: January 21, 1959. [129] DeMille also liked Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, finding him charismatic, tenacious, and intelligent and agreeing with Roosevelt's abhorrence of Prohibition. [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). [10], Cecil B. DeMille's mother, Beatrice, a literary agent and scriptwriter, was the daughter of German Jews. [23][note 2] DeMille's parents operated a private school in town and attended Christ Episcopal Church. Any problems on the set were often fixed by writers in the office rather than on the set. Farnum chose $250 per week. . [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. [132] [note 7], In 1939, DeMille's Union Pacific was successful through DeMille's collaboration with the Union Pacific Railroad. [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. [41] The Return of Peter Grimm sparked controversy; however, because Belasco had taken DeMille's unnamed screenplay, changed the characters and named it The Return of Peter Grimm, producing and presenting it as his own work. [284] Although many of DeMille's films are available on DVD and Blu-ray release, only 20 of his silent films are commercially available on DVD [285][note 15], The original Lasky-DeMille Barn in which The Squaw Man was filmed was converted into a museum named the "Hollywood Heritage Museum". [91] Although DeMille considered enlisting in World War I, he stayed in the United States and made films. According to Simon Louvish, these films reflected DeMille's inner thoughts and opinions about marriage and human sexuality. [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. While he is known as DeMille (his nom d'oeuvre), his family name was Dutch and is usually spelled "de Mil". Name Constance DeMille Cause of death pneumonia: Born April 27, 1874 . [151] DeMille would reminisce into a voice recorder, the recording would be transcribed, and the information would be organized in the biography based on the topic. In addition to his Best Picture Awards, he received an Academy Honorary Award for his film contributions, the Palme d'Or (posthumously) for Union Pacific (1939), a DGA Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Cause of Death: Heart Attack. Oscars 1950 - Honorary Award. Cecil B. DeMille - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cecil B. DeMille's income source is mostly from being a successful Producer. James Stewart - Credits (text only) - IMDb He began his career with reserved yet brilliant melodramas; from there, his style developed into marital comedies with outrageously melodramatic plots. Heart Ailment. Moreover, DeMille's epics inspired directors such as Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and George Stevens to try producing epics. 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. [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 . [155], We have just lived through a war where our people were systematically executed. He debuted as an actor on February 21, 1900, in the play Hearts Are Trumps at New York's Garden Theater. However, the films of his silent era were often thematically different from the films of his sound era. Eddie Murphy is going to the Golden Globes. When the AFRA expanded to television, DeMille was banned from television appearances. 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. [298][299], DeMille's legacy is maintained by his granddaughter Cecilia DeMille Presley who serves as the president of the Cecil B. DeMille Foundation, which strives to support higher education, child welfare, and film in Southern California. The Ten Commandments gave the director a chance to play God, to film miracles. DeMille told the actor that he was "one hundred percent yellow". Cleopatra (1934) was his first film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. [39] DeMille wrote a few of his own plays in-between stage performances, but his playwriting was not as successful. He directed and produced four films on his own, working with Producers Distributing Corporation because he found front office supervision too restricting. Furthermore, DeMille's film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Academy Award for Best Story. According to director of photography Janusz Kaminski, Steven Spielberg's earliest home movies still exist, and were consulted for the scene in "The Fabelmans" in which young Sammy Fabelman recreates a train crash scene from Cecil B. DeMille's 1952 film "The Greatest Show on Earth." "We've watched them before, but they are a little too primitive [] The wedding party was small. While visually appealing, this made the films appear more old-fashioned. 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. [89] DeMille was maintained as director-general and Goldwyn became chairman of the board. They were even required to expand to RKO sound studios for filming. 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. 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 . Here is all you want to know, and more! 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 [300] In 1963, the Cecil B. DeMille Foundation donated the "Paradise" ranch to the Hathaway Foundation, which cares for emotionally disturbed and abused children. [40], His brother William was establishing himself as a playwright and sometimes invited him to collaborate. [204] As DeMille's career progressed, he increasingly relied on artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck's concept, costume, and storyboard art. Cecil B. DeMille, of course, is the legendary filmmaker, director of The Ten Commandments, The King of Kings, Cleopatra, Samson & Delilah, The Greatest Show on Earth, and many more excellent and timeless films. DeMille was variously declared 'the master of the religious epic', 14. the 'arch apostle of spectacle', 15. and the 'King of the epic Biblical spectacular', 16. as also [148] Again, 1952's The Greatest Show on Earth became Paramount's highest-grossing film to that point. Few words can describe the monumental Cecil B. DeMille. Cecil B. DeMille Movie List - FindThatMovie 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 . This prohibited denying anyone the right to work if they refuse to pay a political assessment, however, the law did not apply retroactively. Cecil B. DeMille, in full Cecil Blount DeMille, (born August 12, 1881, Ashfield, Massachusetts, U.S.died January 21, 1959, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California), American motion-picture producer-director whose use of spectacle attracted vast audiences and made him a dominant figure in Hollywood for almost five decades. This Day and Age and Four Frightened People were box office disappointments, though Four Frightened People received good reviews. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. 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. 22. Full name. By 1930, DeMille had perfected his film style of mass-interest spectacle films with Western, Roman, or Biblical themes. Cecil B. DeMille Winners Through the Years at the Golden Globes - Peoplemag Occupations. [207], DeMille made stars of unknown actors: Gloria Swanson, Bebe Daniels, Rod La Rocque, William Boyd, Claudette Colbert, and Charlton Heston. Between 1914 and 1956, he made seventy feature films; all but seven were profitable. people have heard of the Ten Commandments. [42] DeMille would later adapt Belasco's The Girl of the Golden West, Rose of the Rancho, and The Warrens of Virginia into films. [308] In 1952, DeMille was awarded the first Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes. Character actor H. B. Warner was fifty, but looked Thirty was cast as Christ, and gives a gently . Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S. Ethnnicity: *father - English, small amounts of Scottish and Dutch, distant Belgian Flemish, remote Welsh. Consequently, the film was never made. Moreover, DeMille was audited by the Internal Revenue Service due to issues with his production company. Comparison Of Romeo And Juliet And Warm Bodies | ipl.org [180] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. Cause of Death: Heart failure due to a series of heart attacks. 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. [304] Additionally, in 1958, he received an honorary Doctorate of Law degree from Temple University. [92] DeMille and Adams adopted Katherine Lester in 1920 whom Adams had found in the orphanage over which she was the director. [202] DeMille was unique in using this technique. [172] DeMille's funeral was held on January 23 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. [125], Cecil B. DeMille was outspoken about his strong Episcopalian integrity but his private life included mistresses and adultery. He is one of the most extraordinarily able showmen of modern times. [82] Additionally, because of DeMille's cordiality after the Peter Grimm incident, DeMille was able to rekindle his partnership with Belasco. education: American Academy Of Dramatic Arts, Pennsylvania Military College. Biographer Scott Eyman suggested that this may have been a result of Adams's recent miscarriage. [29] He fled the school to join the SpanishAmerican War, but failed to meet the age requirement. [117] He also popularized the camera crane. 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. He was eventually introduced to Oscar Apfel, a stage director who had been a director with the Edison Company. [5] On September 1, 1881, the family returned with the newborn DeMille to their flat in New York. Cecil Blount DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, while his parents were vacationing there, and grew up in Washington, North Carolina. The Union Pacific gave DeMille access to historical data, early period trains, and expert crews, adding to the authenticity of the film. Age at Death: 77. [103] It held the Paramount record for twenty-five years until DeMille broke the record again himself. heart failure. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. In the 1950s, Paramount sold its entire pre-1948 film library, including those of DeMille, to, The set was discovered by Peter Brosnan after hearing a rumor in 1982 that DeMille had ordered the enormous set to be buried after filming rather than taken away. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 and died on January 21, 1959. Actress and director Angelina Jolie is reportedly moving her six children with Brad Pitt into the historic estate once owned by legendary director Cecil B. DeMille who was famous for his over-the-t However, the idea failed due to lack of funding and commitment. Birthplace: Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, United States. Cecil B. DeMille's trademark films were Biblical and historical dramas, usually told in sweeping, big-budget scale, emblematic of overwrought Hollywood hugeness. Journal of Religion & Film He donated. He was the first recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, which was named in his honor. 27 October 2022. [247] Adjusted for inflation, DeMille's remake of The Ten Commandments is the eighth highest-grossing film in the world. [211] He despised actors who were unwilling to take physical risks, especially when he had first demonstrated that the required stunt would not harm them. Pictorials. [68] He continued to Los Angeles. Cecil B. DeMille - Wikimedia Commons Soon after, in 1959, he had another heart attack, which led to his death. imported from Wikimedia project. Sitting in an IMAX View the latest Cecil B. DeMille photos. [78] In December 1914, Constance Adams brought home John DeMille, a fifteen-month-old, whom the couple legally adopted three years later. Cemetery Name: Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The play was successful, and DeMille was distraught that his childhood idol had plagiarized his work. DeMille's reputation had a renaissance in the 2010s and his work has influenced numerous other films and directors. [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. [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. DeMille developed a plan with his doctor to allow him to continue directing while reducing his physical stress. DeMille's first film, The Squaw Man (1914), was also the first full-length feature film shot in Hollywood. "A dreadful showoff. He went before the Paramount board of directors, which was mostly Jewish-American. 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 . [112] He was also a real estate speculator,[113] an underwriter of political campaigns, and vice president of Bank of America. [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. 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. [274] DeMille has influenced the careers of many modern directors. [41] However, none of these were very successful; William deMille was most successful when he worked alone. DeMille discovered the possibilities of the "bathroom" or "boudoir" in film without being "vulgar" or "cheap". 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 worked with visual technicians, editors, art directors, costume designers, cinematographers, and set carpenters in order to perfect the visual aspects of his films. [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. Zukor became president with Lasky as the vice president. In the audience was Charles Frohman who would cast DeMille in his play Hearts are Trumps, DeMille's Broadway debut. The first, for radio contributions, is located at 6240 Hollywood Blvd. retrieved. "He was a thoroughly bad director," Huston said. [187] DeMille produced the majority of his films before the 1930s, and by the time sound films were invented, film critics saw DeMille as antiquated, with his best filmmaking years behind him. [194] DeMille was particularly adept at directing and managing large crowds in his films. His overriding spirit . The American Academy of Dramatic Arts honored DeMille with an Alumni Achievement Award in 1958. [105] Consequently, DeMille left Paramount in 1924 despite having helped establish it. [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. He also toured with the Standard Opera Company, but there are few records to indicate DeMille's singing ability. The sets and effects were so realistic that 30 extras needed to be hospitalized due to a scene with fireballs and flaming arrows. DeMille's mother sent him to Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University) in Chester, Pennsylvania, at age 15. [307] In the same ceremony, DeMille received a nomination from Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for The Greatest Show on Earth. The October 2002 issue of Vanity Fair Magazine saluted Paramount's ninetieth Anniversary by writing: "Somewhere Cecil B. DeMille is smiling.". Epic. Born in 1881, DeMille made his directorial debut with "The Squaw Man" (1914), a story he remade in 1918 and 1931 . Robin Williams won the Cecil B. DeMille Awards in 2005. However, he would never again vote for a Democratic candidate in a presidential election. 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. DeMille was omitted from the list, thought to be too unsophisticated and antiquated to be considered an auteur. A documentary titled. 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. Date of death: 21 Jan 1959. Birthplace: Ashfield, MA Location of death: Hollywood, CA Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: Bu. DeMille: The Master of the American Biblical Epic . [109] Eight of his films were "epics" with five of those classified as "Biblical". 16 references. He consistently was criticized for producing shallow films without talent or artistic care. d. 21 st January 1959, Hollywood, California, USA. [228] Throughout his career, he did not alter his films to better adhere to contemporary or popular styles. [76][77] The film grossed over ten times its budget after its New York premiere in February 1914. 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 . DeMille served as executive producer but could not improve Quinn's style of direction. . Cecil B. DeMille movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best [137] Following his surgery and the success of Union Pacific, in 1940, DeMille first used three-strip Technicolor in North West Mounted Police. He stated that The Ten Commandments was the final culmination of DeMille's style. [63] The Lasky Company wanted to attract high-class audiences to their films so they began producing films from literary works. [55][56] However, changes in the theater rendered DeMille's melodramas obsolete before they were produced, and true theatrical success eluded him. [183] DeMille's father worked with David Belasco theatrical producer, impresario, and playwright. [122] His first film back at Paramount, The Sign of the Cross, was also his first success since leaving Paramount besides The King of Kings. [34], They were sexually incompatible; according to DeMille, Adams was too "pure" to "feel such violent and evil passions. Cecil Blount DeMille (/ssl dml/; August 12, 1881 January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. The Ten Commandments (Documentary: Making Miracles) (Six-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo) Cecil B. DeMille / Paramount. [31] In 1901, DeMille starred in productions of A Repentance, To Have and to Hold, and Are You a Mason? [54] DeMille found success in the spring of 1913 producing Reckless Age by Lee Wilson, a play about a high society girl wrongly accused of manslaughter starring Frederick Burton and Sydney Shields. [71] Apfel filmed most of The Squaw Man due to DeMille's inexperience; however, DeMille learned quickly and was particularly adept at impromptu screenwriting as necessary. Cecil Blount DeMille | Collection of Historical Figures | Chapman The Warrens of Virginia (1915) $500 /week. Date of death: 21 Jan 1959. [255] Consequently, the name "DeMille" has become synonymous with filmmaking. His silent films included social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, and historical pageants. [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. 5 Supplements You Shouldn't Be Taking If You Have Diabetes, According [7] His brother, William C. DeMille, was born on July 25, 1878. [109] Considered at the time to be the most successful Christian film of the silent era, DeMille calculated that it had been viewed over 800 million times around the world. A deficiency in chromium may cause high blood sugar; however, deficiency is very rare. However, Beatrice introduced Lasky to DeMille instead. Film Director. The 1956 film was a partial remake of an earlier silent . Although less critically revered than D.W. Griffith, DeMille actually played a more important role in . Robin Williams, 2005. 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.. Just two years before his death, and shortly after the release of his last film, The Ten Commandments, he delivered a commencement address at Brigham Young University. Compared to other directors, few film scholars have taken the time to academically analyze his films and style. DeMille made a 1905 reprise in Hamlet as Osric. Cecil B. DeMille Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family Male. [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. Billy Jim Hawkins . Angelina Jolie's historic new home matches over-the-top life [9] DeMille's father was also an English teacher at Columbia College (now Columbia University). I'm ready for my close-up." [26] The aim of the school was to teach young women to properly understand and fulfill the women's duty to herself, her home, and her country. Death: December 20, 1982 (68) Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States.