Biographer Scott Eyman suggested that this may have been a result of Adams's recent miscarriage. [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. 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. [160] Production of The Ten Commandments began in October 1954. "He was a thoroughly bad director," Huston said. The film was considered a "masterpiece" and surpassed the quality of other sound films of the time. date of death. He related a story that he maintained his self-control when Gloria Swanson sat on his lap, refusing to touch her. In the silent era, he was renowned for Male and Female (1919), Manslaughter (1922), The Volga Boatman (1926), and The Godless Girl (1928). He was disliked by many inside and outside of the film industry for his cold and controlling reputation. Oscars 1950 - Honorary Award. When the AFRA expanded to television, DeMille was banned from television appearances. [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. However, the idea failed due to lack of funding and commitment. Cecil B. DeMille. [193], DeMille rarely gave direction to actors; he preferred to "office-direct" where he would work with actors in his office, going over characters and reading through scripts. . Alfred Hitchcock cited DeMille's 1921 film Forbidden Fruit as an influence of his work and one of his top ten favorite films. 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. Cecil B. DeMille Born: 1881-08-12, Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA Education: NY Academy of Dramatic Arts Ethnicity: Caucasian Death Date:-0001-11-30 . Stills. Cause of Death: Heart failure. DeMille had considered making the film himself. They continued filming in 1955 in Paris and Hollywood on 30 different sound stages. The film began production in 1949, Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey were paid $250,000 for use of the title and facilities. [243] In relation to his own interests and sexual preferences, sadomasochism was a minor theme present in some of his films. Date of Death: January 21, 1959. [42] DeMille would later adapt Belasco's The Girl of the Golden West, Rose of the Rancho, and The Warrens of Virginia into films. [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. 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. Although less critically revered than D.W. Griffith, DeMille actually played a more important role in . [10] He worked as a playwright, administrator, and faculty member during the early years of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, established in New York City in 1884. 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. [39] DeMille wrote a few of his own plays in-between stage performances, but his playwriting was not as successful. [283] In response to the claims, DeMille donated some of the profits from The King of Kings to charity. Cause of death: Heart failure: Nationality: American: Occupation: Producer, director, editor, screenwriter, actor: Years active: 1913-1959: Spouse(s) Constance Adams . [244] Another minor characteristic of DeMille's films include train crashes which can be found in several of his films. 77. Robin Williams, 2005. DeMille was omitted from the list, thought to be too unsophisticated and antiquated to be considered an auteur. Cecil B. DeMille: Film director from the United States (1881 - 1959), Actor, Writer, Film producer, Film director, Film editor, Screenwriter, Playwright, Stage actor . However, DeMille's second remake at MGM in 1931 would be a failure. 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 achieved international recognition for his unique use of lighting and color tint in his film The Cheat. [41] His first play was The Pretender-A Play in a Prologue and 4 Acts set in seventeenth century Russia. While visually appealing, this made the films appear more old-fashioned. 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. [60] In addition to directing, DeMille was the supervisor and consultant for the first year of films made by the Lasky Feature Play Company. [289] The Dunes Center in Guadalupe, California contains an exhibition of artifacts uncovered in the desert near Guadalupe from DeMille's set of his 1923 version of The Ten Commandments, known as the "Lost City of Cecil B. I'm ready for my close-up." Cecil Blount DeMille was a legendary. However, Sam Goldwyn realized that if they called it "Rembrandt" lighting, the audience would pay double the price. The sets and effects were so realistic that 30 extras needed to be hospitalized due to a scene with fireballs and flaming arrows. On January 8, 1893, at age 40, Henry de Mille died suddenly from typhoid fever, leaving Beatrice with three children. He was an active Freemason and member of Prince of Orange Lodge #16 in New York City.[1]. Broadway Actor. 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. [248], According to Sam Goldwyn, critics did not like DeMille's films, but the audiences did and "they have the final word". At least one DeMille film can represent each film genre. Mini Bio (1) Julia Faye's career is inextricably linked to director Cecil B. DeMille. Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S. Ethnnicity: *father - English, small amounts of Scottish and Dutch, distant Belgian Flemish, remote Welsh. However much I may dislike some of his pictures, it would be very silly of me, as a producer of commercial motion pictures, to demean for an instant his unparalleled skill as a maker of mass entertainment. Epic. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. [117] He also popularized the camera crane. [105] Consequently, DeMille left Paramount in 1924 despite having helped establish it. [104], In the early 1920s, scandal surrounded Paramount; religious groups and the media opposed portrayals of immorality in films. [181] Henry was heavily influenced by the work of Charles Kingsley whose ideas trickled down to DeMille. [209][note 13], DeMille was known for autocratic behavior on the set, singling out and berating extras who were not paying attention. These films represent those which DeMille produced or assisted in directing, credited or uncredited. Next, he would work with writers to develop the story that he was envisioning. Beatrice DeMille's family was not in attendance, and Simon Louvish suggests that this was to conceal DeMille's partial Jewish heritage. A Biblical epic with sex, it was a characteristically DeMille film. [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. He worked with visual technicians, editors, art directors, costume designers, cinematographers, and set carpenters in order to perfect the visual aspects of his films. [303] In 1957, DeMille gave the commencement address for the graduation ceremony of Brigham Young University wherein he received an honorary Doctorate of Letter degree. [187] E.H. Sothern's early influence on DeMille's work can be seen in DeMille's perfectionism. [152] Art Arthur also interviewed people for the autobiography. Age. [29] He fled the school to join the SpanishAmerican War, but failed to meet the age requirement. Cecil B. DeMille's "Ten Commandments" is getting appropriately colossal treatment in honor of its 55th anniversary. Consequently, the film was never made. 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. [287][288] The Lasky-DeMille Barn was dedicated as a California historical landmark in a ceremony on December 27, 1956; DeMille was the keynote speaker. [109] Western and frontier American were also themes that DeMille returned to throughout his career. [136] During pre-production of Union Pacific, DeMille was dealing with his first serious health issue. Film Director. 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. Considered one of the founders of Hollywood, film producer and director Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) earned a place in moviemaking history with such religious epic films as The Ten Commandmentsand King of Kings.. [259] He cultivated the image of the omnipotent director,[260] complete with megaphone, riding crop, and jodhpurs. [113][295] The former film building at Chapman University in Orange, California, is named in honor of DeMille. DeMille plays himself in the film. Red carpet photos. DeMille purchased the home in 1916 for $27,893 (Yes, five digits) and lived there with his family until his death in 1959. The continued success of his productions led to the founding of Paramount Pictures with Lasky and Adolph Zukor. The school closed, and Beatrice filed for bankruptcy. [73] There were problems; however, with the perforation of the film stock and it was discovered the DeMille had brought a cheap British film perforator which had punched in sixty-five holes per foot instead of the industry-standard of sixty-four. She would die one year later. DeMille was credited in small print as "based on an idea by Cecil DeMille". "A dreadful showoff. [281] However, not everyone received DeMille's religious films favorably. Right here at FameChain. [39] Another unperformed play he wrote was Son of the Winds, a mythological Native American story. [309][310][note 17] For his contribution to the motion picture and radio industry, DeMille has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. De Mille daughter dies. 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 [] [228] Throughout his career, he did not alter his films to better adhere to contemporary or popular styles. [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. View the latest Cecil B. DeMille photos. Cause of death. In March 1938, he underwent a major emergency prostatectomy. 10 June 2021. A censorship board called the Hays Code was established. However, his final films maintained that DeMille was still respected by his audiences. Self - The Real FBI Story (2017) . They were even required to expand to RKO sound studios for filming. "[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. The Union Pacific gave DeMille access to historical data, early period trains, and expert crews, adding to the authenticity of the film. Despite its quick turnaround, the film was fairly successful. Noisy and bright, it was not well-liked by critics, but was a favorite among audiences. They also learned that other filmmakers were successfully shooting in Los Angeles, even in winter. He was entombed at the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery (now known as Hollywood Forever). Host Scott . [204] As DeMille's career progressed, he increasingly relied on artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck's concept, costume, and storyboard art. [180] His playwright father introduced him to the theater at a young age. [108] The King of Kings established DeMille as "master of the grandiose and of biblical sagas". [citation needed] He was known as anti-union and worked to prevent unionizing of film production studios. [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. "[266] Producer David O. Selznick wrote: "There has appeared only one Cecil B. DeMille. Full name. Its interracial love story made it commercially successful and it first publicized Hollywood as the home of the U.S. film industry. heart failure. [188][189] DeMille recalled that one of the most influential plays he saw was Hamlet, directed by Sothern. 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. [205], Composer Elmer Bernstein described DeMille as "sparing no effort" when filmmaking. He volunteered for the Intelligence Office during World War II as well. He stands as one among the famous individuals for he was a creative filmmaker. [109] Eight of his films were "epics" with five of those classified as "Biblical". Maude Fealy would appear as the featured actress in several productions that summer and would develop a lasting friendship with DeMille. education: American Academy Of Dramatic Arts, Pennsylvania Military College. DeMille discovered the possibilities of the "bathroom" or "boudoir" in film without being "vulgar" or "cheap". [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. ", "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. [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. [47] In 1907, due to a scandal with one of Beatrice's students, Evelyn Nesbit, the Henry deMille School lost students. . [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. [130] From 1936 to 1945, he produced, hosted, and directed all shows with the occasional exception of a guest director. Frequent actors and actresses on the show included Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert, Loretta Young, Don Ameche, and Fred MacMurray. If you have diabetes and take insulin or other oral medications aimed to reduce blood sugar, taking chromium may increase the risk of . [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. Hot! [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. [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. 1902-08-16 Filmmaker Cecil B DeMille (21) weds actress . Birthplace: Ashfield, MA Location of death: Hollywood, CA Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: Bu. Pioneering film director. Biography: Cecil B. deMille is one of the most important and successful filmmakers Hollywood has ever produced. Cause of Death: Heart failure due to a series of heart attacks. 1956 theater brochure [172] DeMille's funeral was held on January 23 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. Heart Ailment. [321]:2123. [91] Although DeMille considered enlisting in World War I, he stayed in the United States and made films. 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. Notably, DeMille had cinematographer John P. Fulton create the parting of the Red Sea scene in his 1956 film The Ten Commandments, which was one of the most expensive special effects in film history, and has been called by Steven Spielberg "the greatest special effect in film history". "[265] Said fellow director William Wellman: "Directorially, I think his pictures were the most horrible things I've ever seen in my life. 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. The second star is located at 1725 Vine Street. [41] However, none of these were very successful; William deMille was most successful when he worked alone. (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.". [184] While working in theatre, DeMille used real fruit trees in his play California as influenced by Belasco. [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. [202] Another important aspect of DeMille's editing technique was to put the film away for a week or two after an initial edit in order to re-edit the picture with a fresh mind. [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. 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. 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. [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. He consistently was criticized for producing shallow films without talent or artistic care. [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. [102] Many of his films featured scenes in two-color Technicolor. [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. Now he wants to make the life of Moses. 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 . [165] This film would be his last. DeMille's early silent comedies influenced the comedies of Ernst Lubitsch and Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris. Between 1914 and 1956, he made seventy feature films; all but seven were profitable. Henry was a tall, red-headed student. Terrible. Heart Ailment. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies. 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. A dark, exotic beauty, Katherine DeMille was a fascinating screen presence in the 1930s and 1940s. However, throughout his career, he filmed comedies, periodic and contemporary romances, dramas, fantasies, propaganda, Biblical spectacles, musical comedies, suspense, and war films. The play was successful, and DeMille was distraught that his childhood idol had plagiarized his work. 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 . Constance Adams DeMille (April 27, 1873 - July 17, 1960) was an American actress and wife of filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille. [63] The Lasky Company wanted to attract high-class audiences to their films so they began producing films from literary works. He went before the Paramount board of directors, which was mostly Jewish-American.