He appeared in eleven of the fifteen plays presented that season, although all were minor roles. "[265] Said fellow director William Wellman: "Directorially, I think his pictures were the most horrible things I've ever seen in my life. Explore Cecil B. DeMille's biography, personal life, family and cause of death. [21] DeMille's sister Agnes was born on April 23, 1891; his mother nearly did not survive the birth. Cecil B. DeMille (Filmmaker and Director) - On This Day He is one of the most extraordinarily able showmen of modern times. . Cecil B. DeMille Pictures - Cecil B. DeMille Photo Gallery - 2022 [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. Media in category "Cecil B. DeMille" The following 53 files are in this category, out of 53 total. [300] In 1963, the Cecil B. DeMille Foundation donated the "Paradise" ranch to the Hathaway Foundation, which cares for emotionally disturbed and abused children. DeMille's primary criticism was of closed shops, but later included criticism of communism and unions in general. Date of death: 21 Jan 1959. Cecil Blount DeMille | Encyclopedia.com According to Richard Birchard, DeMille's weakened state during production may have led to the film being received as uncharacteristically substandard. [239], DeMille's films contained many similar themes throughout his career. They screened four of his films at Christ Church, where DeMille and his family attended church when they lived there. [66] With no knowledge of filmmaking, DeMille was introduced to observe the process at film studios. [33] They had met in a theater in Washington D.C. while they were both acting in Hearts Are Trumps. The Ten Commandments, filmed here at the Guadeloupe sand dunes, 150 miles from Hollywood. 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 . Sitting in an IMAX DeMille asked David Niven to star in the film, but it was never made. [316] DeMille's Union Pacific received a Palme d'Or in retrospect at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. While he is known as DeMille (his nom d'oeuvre), his family name was Dutch and is usually spelled "de Mil". Cecil B. Demille - Turner Classic Movies [92] DeMille and Adams adopted Katherine Lester in 1920 whom Adams had found in the orphanage over which she was the director. [255] Andrew Sarris, a leading proponent of the auteur theory, ranked DeMille highly as an auteur in the "Far Side of Paradise", just below the "Pantheon". [citation needed] He was known as anti-union and worked to prevent unionizing of film production studios. Barbara Stanwyck. DeMille: The Master of the American Biblical Epic . Cause of death: Heart failure: Nationality: American: Occupation: Producer, director, editor, screenwriter, actor: Years active: 1913-1959: Spouse(s) Constance Adams . DeMille did not believe a large movie set was the place to discuss minor character or line issues. [110] After the release of DeMille's The Godless Girl, silent films in America became obsolete and DeMille was forced to shoot a shoddy final reel with the new sound production technique. 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 [] [72] He made his first film run sixty minutes, as long as a short play. Pioneering film director. Category:Cecil B. DeMille - Wikimedia Commons 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. Constance Adams DeMille - Wikipedia 1956 theater brochure Cemetery Name: Hollywood Forever Cemetery. [258], DeMille was one of the first directors to become a celebrity in his own right. His silent films included social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, and historical pageants. [279][280] DeMille received more than a dozen awards from Christian and Jewish religious and cultural groups, including B'nai B'rith. [170] DeMille's autobiography was mostly completed by the time DeMille died and was published in November 1959. [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. [109] Western and frontier American were also themes that DeMille returned to throughout his career. [17] As a child, DeMille created an alter-ego, Champion Driver, a Robin Hood-like character, evidence of his creativity and imagination. DeMille's first film, The Squaw Man (1914), was also the first full-length feature film shot in Hollywood. Early Life Katherine DeMille - Biography - IMDb [62] When William found out that DeMille had begun working in the motion picture industry, he wrote DeMille a letter, disappointed that he was willing "to throw away [his] future" when he was "born and raised in the finest traditions of the theater". The mistress could not keep the boy due to her tuberculosis. It was the longest (3 hours, 39 minutes) and most expensive ($13million) film in Paramount history. DeMille instructed the guilty man to leave town and would never reveal his name. [231] DeMille's distinctive style can be seen through camera and lighting effects as early as The Squaw Man with the use of daydream images; moonlight and sunset on a mountain; and side-lighting through a tent flap. [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. In March 1938, he underwent a major emergency prostatectomy. [82] Additionally, because of DeMille's cordiality after the Peter Grimm incident, DeMille was able to rekindle his partnership with Belasco. [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. Date of death: 21 Jan 1959. Consequently, DeMille's television and radio appearance ban lasted for the remainder of his life, though he was permitted to appear on radio or television to publicize a movie. [207] Costume designer Dorothy Jeakins, who worked with DeMille on The Ten Commandments (1956), said that he was skilled in humiliating people. DeMille lent Roosevelt a car for his campaign for the 1932 United States presidential election and voted for him. DeMille claimed that MacPherson was not a good writer, but she received credit in his films because she gave him many ideas for the screenplays. heart failure. Cecil B. DeMille Born: 1881-08-12, Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA Education: NY Academy of Dramatic Arts Ethnicity: Caucasian Death Date:-0001-11-30 . [64] The Lasky Company bought the rights to the play The Squaw Man by Edwin Milton Royle and cast Dustin Farnum in the lead role. Host Scott . He is particularly remembered for his 1956 film "The Ten Commandments", but made over 70 films throughout his long career. [28] On Henry DeMille's deathbed, he told his wife that he did not want his sons to become playwrights. The selection is made by the HFPA's board of . [106] His first film in the new production company, DeMille Pictures Corporation, was The Road to Yesterday in 1925. Although this final reel looked so different from the previous eleven reels that it appeared to be from another movie, according to Simon Louvish, the film is one of DeMille's strangest and most "DeMillean" film. [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. [108] The King of Kings established DeMille as "master of the grandiose and of biblical sagas". . 16 references. Biography - Cecil B. DeMille To provide for her family, she opened the Henry C. DeMille School for Girls in her home in February 1893. Martin Scorsese cited Unconquered, Samson and Delilah, and The Greatest Show on Earth as DeMille films that have imparted lasting memories on him. [107] Aside from The King of Kings, none of DeMille's films away from Paramount were successful. Now he wants to make the life of Moses. His silent era films often included the "battle of the sexes" theme due to the era of women's suffrage and the enlarging role of women in society. He produced many flops. Next, he would work with writers to develop the story that he was envisioning. Cecil B. DeMille - NNDB As DeMille continued to rely on Groesbeck, the nervous energy of his early films transformed into more steady compositions of his later films. DeMille frequently made cameos as himself in other Paramount films. New Bio Gives Cecil B. DeMille His Own Close-Up : NPR The other three children were surprised by this, as DeMille did not treat the children differently in life. Zukor became president with Lasky as the vice president. DeMille's trademark scenes included bathtubs, lion attacks, and Roman orgies. [337], Charles Frohman, Constance Adams, and David Belasco, Scandalous dramas, Biblical epics, and departure from Paramount, There are several variants of DeMille's surname. Birthplace: Ashfield, MA Location of death: Hollywood, CA Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: Bu. 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. Once there, he chose not to shoot in Edendale, where many studios were, but in Hollywood. retrieved. [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. DeMille toured with the circus while helping write the script. 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. [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". (TV Special) Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient 1963-1964 Password (TV Series) Self - Celebrity Contestant / Self - James Stewart vs . Few words can describe the monumental Cecil B. DeMille. [45] His 1905 performance in The Prince Chap as the Earl of Huntington was well received by audiences. Julia Faye - Biography - IMDb - Death and the Maiden (1973) . His poor physical condition upon his return home affected the production of his 1922 film Manslaughter. She later became the second female play broker on Broadway. Constance was born the daughter of Judge Frederic Adams, New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, and Ella Adams, Frederics first wife. [5] On September 1, 1881, the family returned with the newborn DeMille to their flat in New York. [228] Throughout his career, he did not alter his films to better adhere to contemporary or popular styles. [58], Desiring a change of scene, Cecil B. DeMille, Jesse Lasky, Sam Goldfish (later Samuel Goldwyn), and a group of East Coast businessmen created the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company in 1913 over which DeMille became director-general. With his editor, Anne Bauchens, DeMille used editing techniques to allow the visual images to bring the plot to climax rather than dialogue. He claimed he abandoned the project in order to complete a different project, but in reality, it was to preserve his reputation and avoid appearing reactionary. 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. Name in native language: Cecil Blount DeMille: Date of birth: 12 August 1881 Ashfield: Date of death: 21 January 1959 Hollywood: Cause of death: heart failure; Place of burial: Hollywood Forever Cemetery; Pseudonym: C.B. Despite its quick turnaround, the film was fairly successful. Cause of Death: Heart failure due to a series of heart attacks. William deMille would later convert from theater to Hollywood and would spend the rest of his career as a film director. [156] Fifty-two of his features are silent films. Cecil B. DeMille - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 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 Cause of Death: Heart failure. [5] DeMille was named after his grandmothers Cecelia Wolff and Margarete Blount. I'm ready for my close-up." However, others interpreted DeMille's work as visually impressive, thrilling, and nostalgic. DeMille wanted to film in Canada; however, due to budget constraints, the film was instead shot in Oregon and Hollywood. The Roaring Twenties were the boom years and DeMille took full advantage, opening the Mercury Aviation Company, one of America's first commercial airlines. DeMille recalled that this church was the place where he visualized the story of his 1923 version of The Ten Commandments.[25]. 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. vigilantes and fulminating fanatics suffering flock shock and who wanted to shut down 1920s Hollywood because of the cause clbre scandals . [227], Cecil B. DeMille's film production career evolved from critically significant silent films to financially significant sound films. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 and died on January 21, 1959. [251] Director Ridley Scott has been called "the Cecil B. DeMille of the digital era" due to his classical and medieval epics. [172], DeMille received two Academy Awards: an Honorary Award for "37 years of brilliant showmanship" in 1950[313] and a Best Picture award in 1953 for The Greatest Show on Earth. Produced in eight weeks without exceeding budget, the film was financially successful. 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. [281] However, not everyone received DeMille's religious films favorably. Robin Williams won the Cecil B. DeMille Awards in 2005. He was eventually introduced to Oscar Apfel, a stage director who had been a director with the Edison Company. [304] Additionally, in 1958, he received an honorary Doctorate of Law degree from Temple University. The actor had 10 Globes nominations and five wins, including a special award for his vocal work on . 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. Lasky and DeMille convinced film pioneer Siegmund Lubin of the Lubin Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia to have his experienced technicians reperforate the film [74] This was also the first American feature film; however, only by release date, as D. W. Griffith's Judith of Bethulia was filmed earlier than The Squaw Man, but released later. Between 1914 and 1956, he made seventy feature films; all but seven were profitable. She had a Southern drawl which she never lost. 1. [160] A unique practice at the time, DeMille offered ten percent of his profit to the crew. More Facts. "[132] Consequently, he had to resign from the radio show. DeMille's Ten Commandments premiered in 1956. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history. Along the same lines, critics of DeMille often qualify him by his later spectacles and fail to consider several decades of ingenuity and energy that defined him during his generation. [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. [34], They were sexually incompatible; according to DeMille, Adams was too "pure" to "feel such violent and evil passions. The Squaw Man (1914), co-directed by Oscar Apfel, was a sensation and it established the Lasky Company. [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. However, Sam Goldwyn realized that if they called it "Rembrandt" lighting, the audience would pay double the price. Read More Having emerged as a potent force during the birth of Hollywood, director Cecil B. DeMille was a crucial figure in the early development of the classic Hollywood narrative filmmaking style. [128] He supported Herbert Hoover and in 1928 made his largest campaign donation to Hoover. Further illustrated by his home life, DeMille required formality and politeness at home. This prohibited denying anyone the right to work if they refuse to pay a political assessment, however, the law did not apply retroactively. Many of these displays were thought to be staged, however, as an exercise in discipline. [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. [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. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies. September 17, 1914. His father, Henry Churchill de Mille (1853-1893), was a North Carolina-born dramatist and lay reader in the Episcopal Church, who had earlier . Here, he parts the Red Sea. 10 June 2021. [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. ", "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. [47] DeMille sometimes worked with the director E.H. Sothern, who influenced DeMille's later perfectionism in his work. His first several films were westerns and he produced a chain of westerns during the sound era. [44], DeMille performed on stage with actors whom he would later direct in films: Charlotte Walker, Mary Pickford, and Pedro de Cordoba. "A dreadful showoff. Cecil B. DeMille | Biography, Movies, & Facts | Britannica [243] In relation to his own interests and sexual preferences, sadomasochism was a minor theme present in some of his films. However, this version is actually a 1918 re-release. 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 [202] DeMille was unique in using this technique. Consequently, his mother hired him for her agency The DeMille Play Company and taught him how to be an agent and a playwright. Cecil B. DeMille's Glorious & Glamorous Estate - 2000 De Mille Drive [255] Consequently, the name "DeMille" has become synonymous with filmmaking. [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 related a story that he maintained his self-control when Gloria Swanson sat on his lap, refusing to touch her. [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.
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