[21] DeMille's sister Agnes was born on April 23, 1891; his mother nearly did not survive the birth. Cecil B. DeMille's 'Ten Commandments' on Blu-ray - The New York Times In the months prior to his death, DeMille was researching a film biography of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement. DeMille told the actor that he was "one hundred percent yellow". The October 2002 issue of Vanity Fair Magazine saluted Paramount's ninetieth Anniversary by writing: "Somewhere Cecil B. DeMille is smiling.". "He was a thoroughly bad director," Huston said. Covers. Cecil Blount DeMille | Collection of Historical Figures | Chapman A Biblical epic with sex, it was a characteristically DeMille film. [147], DeMille's next film, Samson and Delilah in 1949, became Paramount's highest-grossing film up to that time. Apfel. [187] E.H. Sothern's early influence on DeMille's work can be seen in DeMille's perfectionism. [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. education: American Academy Of Dramatic Arts, Pennsylvania Military College. The 1956 film was a partial remake of an earlier silent . [29] He fled the school to join the SpanishAmerican War, but failed to meet the age requirement. [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. [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. [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. 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. Jeakins admitted that she received quality training from him, but that it was necessary to become a perfectionist on a DeMille set to avoid being fired. DeMille frequently made cameos as himself in other Paramount films. [18] DeMille and William collaborated on The Genius, The Royal Mounted, and After Five. 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. The Squaw Man (1914), co-directed by Oscar Apfel, was a sensation and it established the Lasky Company. De Mille daughter dies. Consequently, he formed the DeMille Foundation for Political Freedom in order to campaign for the right to work. [111], The immense popularity of DeMille's silent films enabled him to branch out into other areas. [232] In the early age of cinema, DeMille differentiated the Lasky Company from other production companies due to the use of dramatic, low-key lighting they called "Lasky lighting" and marketed as "Rembrandt lighting" to appeal to the public. [191] Plot and dialogue were not a strong point of DeMille's films. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. [47] In 1907, due to a scandal with one of Beatrice's students, Evelyn Nesbit, the Henry deMille School lost students. [145] After working on Reap the Wild Wind, in 1944, he was the master of ceremonies at the massive rally organized by David O. Selznick in the Los Angeles Coliseum in support of the DeweyBricker ticket as well as Governor Earl Warren of California. Once there, he chose not to shoot in Edendale, where many studios were, but in Hollywood. [83], DeMille's most successful film was The Cheat; DeMille's direction in the film was acclaimed. [251] Director Ridley Scott has been called "the Cecil B. DeMille of the digital era" due to his classical and medieval epics. 'Some Like It Hot' Producer Walter Mirisch Dead at 101 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 . [191] DeMille was the first director to connect art to filmmaking; he created the title of "art director" on the film set. "[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. [179][note 12], DeMille believed his first influences to be his parents, Henry and Beatrice DeMille. Broadway Actor. [101], After five years and thirty hit films, DeMille became the American film industry's most successful director. Male. [168] DeMille was unable to attend the Los Angeles premiere of The Buccaneer. Eventually, he became manager of the agency and later, a junior partner with his mother. [118] His first three sound films were produced at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. [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. ", "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. Consequently, his mother hired him for her agency The DeMille Play Company and taught him how to be an agent and a playwright. Age at Death: 77. (He would later cast her in The Ten Commandments.) [227], Cecil B. DeMille's film production career evolved from critically significant silent films to financially significant sound films. [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. cause of death. Oscars 1950 - Honorary Award. DeMille was omitted from the list, thought to be too unsophisticated and antiquated to be considered an auteur. [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. Cecil B. DeMille | The Tombstone Tourist [172] DeMille's funeral was held on January 23 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. - Death and the Maiden (1973) . [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". 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 . Cecil B. DeMille Pictures - Cecil B. DeMille Photo Gallery - 2022 DeMille wanted to film in Canada; however, due to budget constraints, the film was instead shot in Oregon and Hollywood. He adapted several of Belasco's screenplays into film. Cecil B. DeMille Death Fact Check, Birthday & Date of Death [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. He bought the rights to the novel in 1925, but abandoned the project in pre-production. [139] DeMille was anti-communist and abandoned a project in 1940 to film Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls due to its communist themes despite the fact he had already paid $100,000 for the rights to the novel. [36] One of DeMille's affairs was with his screenwriter Jeanie MacPherson. Cecil Blount DeMille. He produced many flops. [204] As DeMille's career progressed, he increasingly relied on artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck's concept, costume, and storyboard art. A dark, exotic beauty, Katherine DeMille was a fascinating screen presence in the 1930s and 1940s. Character actor H. B. Warner was fifty, but looked Thirty was cast as Christ, and gives a gently . In 1923, DeMille released a modern melodrama The Ten Commandments which was a significant change from his previous stint of irreligious films. However, the films of his silent era were often thematically different from the films of his sound era. DeMille was painstakingly attentive to details on set and was as critical of himself as he was of his crew. Cecil B. DeMille - Wikidata DeMille served as executive producer but could not improve Quinn's style of direction. He was disliked by many inside and outside of the film industry for his cold and controlling reputation. Born in 1881, DeMille made his directorial debut with "The Squaw Man" (1914), a story he remade in 1918 and 1931 . Cecil B. DeMille Biography - life, family, children, story, death He is particularly remembered for his 1956 film "The Ten Commandments", but made over 70 films throughout his long career. [283] In response to the claims, DeMille donated some of the profits from The King of Kings to charity. [113][295] The former film building at Chapman University in Orange, California, is named in honor of DeMille. Cecil B. DeMille's income source is mostly from being a successful Producer. [114] He was additionally vice president of the Commercial National Trust and Savings Bank in Los Angeles where he approved loans for other filmmakers. 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. His father, Henry Churchill de Mille (1853-1893), was a North Carolina-born dramatist and lay reader in the Episcopal Church, who had earlier . DeMille did not believe a large movie set was the place to discuss minor character or line issues. Derided then . [92] DeMille and Adams adopted Katherine Lester in 1920 whom Adams had found in the orphanage over which she was the director. [citation needed] He was known as anti-union and worked to prevent unionizing of film production studios. [138] Critics were impressed with the visuals but found the scripts dull, calling it DeMille's "poorest Western". DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, and grew up in New York City. This is the earliest of DeMille's films available in a quality, color-tinted video format. About Cecil B. DeMille: Film director from the United States (1881 [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. William deMille would later convert from theater to Hollywood and would spend the rest of his career as a film director. 77. The film began production in 1949, Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey were paid $250,000 for use of the title and facilities. Date of death: 21 January 1959 Hollywood: Cause of death: heart failure; Place of burial: Hollywood Forever Cemetery; Pseudonym: C.B. The Enigmatic Pop Culture Professional. However, his final films maintained that DeMille was still respected by his audiences. The surgery caused him to suffer from sexual dysfunction for the rest of his life, according to some family members. The Ten Commandments: DeMille was here | Manchester Ink Link [188][189] DeMille recalled that one of the most influential plays he saw was Hamlet, directed by Sothern. retrieved. Heart Ailment. However, this version is actually a 1918 re-release. Martin Scorsese cited Unconquered, Samson and Delilah, and The Greatest Show on Earth as DeMille films that have imparted lasting memories on him. DeMille's early silent comedies influenced the comedies of Ernst Lubitsch and Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris. 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. His other well known films include The Sign of the Cross (1932), Cleopatra (1934), Samson and Delilah [] [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). [225][226] DeMille was credited by actor Edward G. Robinson with saving his career following his eclipse in the Hollywood blacklist. [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. Constance Adams DeMille - Wikipedia Cecil B DeMille announced that his next production would be his biggest and most ambitious to date. Self - Actor, The F.B.I. Cecil B. DeMille was a master of spectacle. [79][note 3], Cecil B. DeMille's second film credited exclusively to him was The Virginian. [127] However, according to DeMille himself, he was not anti-union and belonged to a few unions himself. Cause of Death: Heart Attack. If you have diabetes and take insulin or other oral medications aimed to reduce blood sugar, taking chromium may increase the risk of . Actor, The F.B.I. A documentary titled. In the early 1950s, DeMille was recruited by Allen Dulles and Frank Wisner to serve on the board of the anti-communist National Committee for a Free Europe, the public face of the organization that oversaw the Radio Free Europe service. [45] His 1905 performance in The Prince Chap as the Earl of Huntington was well received by audiences. [134] William Keighley was his replacement. [22] Agnes would die on February 11, 1894, at the age of three from spinal meningitis. English Wikipedia. 21 January 1959. DeMille developed a plan with his doctor to allow him to continue directing while reducing his physical stress. He directed and produced four films on his own, working with Producers Distributing Corporation because he found front office supervision too restricting. [103] It held the Paramount record for twenty-five years until DeMille broke the record again himself. DeMille, Cecil B. - Senses of Cinema Then, he would help writers construct a script. The film was produced on a large budget of $600,000, the most expensive production at Paramount. DeMille's Ten Commandments premiered in 1956. Epic. 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. [261][262] He was known for his unique, working wardrobe which included riding boots, riding pants, and soft, open necked shirts. However, one word is especially appropriate. [309][310][note 17] For his contribution to the motion picture and radio industry, DeMille has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. [259] He cultivated the image of the omnipotent director,[260] complete with megaphone, riding crop, and jodhpurs. He called this place, "Paradise", declaring it a wildlife sanctuary; no shooting of animals was allowed besides snakes. Constance was born the daughter of Judge Frederic Adams, New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, and Ella Adams, Frederics first wife. 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. Media in category "Cecil B. DeMille" The following 53 files are in this category, out of 53 total. Host Scott . This prohibited denying anyone the right to work if they refuse to pay a political assessment, however, the law did not apply retroactively. They screened four of his films at Christ Church, where DeMille and his family attended church when they lived there. [119] These three films, Dynamite, Madame Satan, and his 1931 remake of The Squaw Man were both critically and financially unsuccessful. Cause of death. [241] Religion was a theme that DeMille returned to throughout his career. [297] The title of the 2000 John Waters film Cecil B. Demented alludes to DeMille. [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. Cecil B. DeMille's granddaughter writes new book The picture of her husband was taken in 1916, the year they bought the house, when he was 35 and an increasingly active and . [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. He volunteered for the Intelligence Office during World War II as well. DeMille adored the art of Groesbeck, even hanging it above his fireplace, but film staff found it difficult to convert his art into three-dimensional sets. Beatrice became a play broker and author's agent, influencing DeMille's early life and career. DeMille instructed the guilty man to leave town and would never reveal his name. [177] Cecilia lived in the house for many years until her death in 1984,[178] but the house was auctioned by his granddaughter Cecilia DeMille Presley who also lived there in the late 1980s. [132] DeMille would never again work on radio. DeMille's trademark scenes included bathtubs, lion attacks, and Roman orgies. finding aid. He donated. His wife did not like Paradise, so DeMille often brought his mistresses there with him including actress Julia Faye. Date of Death: January 21, 1959. [85][86] In addition to his Paradise, DeMille purchased a yacht in 1921 which he called The Seaward. Adopted son of Cecil B. DeMille and Constance DeMille. They continued filming in 1955 in Paris and Hollywood on 30 different sound stages. Director John Huston intensely disliked both DeMille and his films. They also learned that other filmmakers were successfully shooting in Los Angeles, even in winter. Constance Adams DeMille - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia [27] Before Henry deMille's death, Beatrice had "enthusiastically supported" her husband's theatrical aspirations. The actual parting of the sea was created by releasing 360,000 gallons of water into a huge water tank split by a U-shaped trough, overlaying it with film of a giant waterfall that was built on the Paramount backlot, and playing the clip backwards. [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. Still, the members unanimously approved it. [141], In 1942, DeMille worked with Jeanie MacPherson and brother William deMille in order to produce a film called Queen of Queens which was intended to be about Mary, mother of Jesus. Cecil B. DeMille's final film, another version of The Ten Commandments , is his most widely seen work, thanks to Easter-time television programming, but it is not one of his most respected. date of death. Cecil B. DeMille Facts for Kids | KidzSearch.com Spanish Wikipedia. U.S. State: Massachusetts. [51] In 1911, DeMille became acquainted with vaudeville producer Jesse Lasky when Lasky was searching for a writer for his new musical. [33] They had met in a theater in Washington D.C. while they were both acting in Hearts Are Trumps. In his first instance, in 1917, he remade The Squaw Man (1918), only waiting four years from the 1914 original. [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. [62] They offered Farnum a choice to have a quarter stock in the company (similar to William deMille) or $250 per week as salary. [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. [190], DeMille's filmmaking process always began with extensive research. Cause of Death. DeMille also was planning a film about the space race as well as another biblical epic about the Book of Revelation. [136] During pre-production of Union Pacific, DeMille was dealing with his first serious health issue. An example is the Bible which has been remade into many different movies including The Ten Commandments by Cecil B. DeMille and The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson. Cecil B. Demille - Turner Classic Movies "[265] Said fellow director William Wellman: "Directorially, I think his pictures were the most horrible things I've ever seen in my life. In addition to his use of volatile and abrupt film editing, his lighting and composition were innovative for the time period as filmmakers were primarily concerned with a clear, realistic image. His daughter Cecilia took over as director as DeMille sat behind the camera with Loyal Griggs as the cinematographer. Unlike the other children the DeMille's adopted, John was never told about his birth parents. [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. . 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.' . [144], In 1942, DeMille released Paramount's most successful film, Reap the Wild Wind. [52] The collaboration of DeMille and Lasky produced a successful musical called California which opened in New York in January 1912. Julia Faye - Biography - IMDb [43] DeMille was credited with creating the premise of Belasco's The Return of Peter Grimm. Cecil B. DeMille Birthday, Real Name, Age, Weight, Height, Family Cecil B. DeMille - Wikimedia Commons According to Simon Louvish, these films reflected DeMille's inner thoughts and opinions about marriage and human sexuality. [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. Work period (start) . [207] Costume designer Dorothy Jeakins, who worked with DeMille on The Ten Commandments (1956), said that he was skilled in humiliating people. [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". Here we have a man who made a film praising the Jewish people, that tells of Samson, one of the legends of our Scripture. A lasting memory for DeMille was a lunch with his father and actor Edwin Booth. (Born, August 13, 1881 - died January 21, 1959) Cecil Blount DeMille's career plowed relentlessly forward living and dying again and again in waves - on the crests and in the troughs of the "American Dream.". Cecil B. DeMille - Hollywood Walk of Fame