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. 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. [7] His brother, William C. DeMille, was born on July 25, 1878. Here is all you want to know, and more! [136] During pre-production of Union Pacific, DeMille was dealing with his first serious health issue. Cause of death. Right here at FameChain. However, Sam Goldwyn realized that if they called it "Rembrandt" lighting, the audience would pay double the price. [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. DeMille's mother sent him to Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University) in Chester, Pennsylvania, at age 15. 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. They took time off weekly from film production to practice military drills. [18] DeMille and William collaborated on The Genius, The Royal Mounted, and After Five. [130] From 1936 to 1945, he produced, hosted, and directed all shows with the occasional exception of a guest director. 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.' . With this year's Oscar nominations soon to be announced, we take a look back at his cinematic extraganzas. [10], Cecil B. DeMille's mother, Beatrice, a literary agent and scriptwriter, was the daughter of German Jews. Constance was born the daughter of Judge Frederic Adams, New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, and Ella Adams, Frederics first wife. Work period (start) 1899; Work period (end) 1959; Country of citizenship: DeMille served as executive producer but could not improve Quinn's style of direction. Cecil B DeMille Bio Details. [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. DeMille told the actor that he was "one hundred percent yellow". Hot! Produced in eight weeks without exceeding budget, the film was financially successful. [84] Throughout his career, DeMille would frequently remake his own films. He would speak to the entire set, sometimes enormous with countless numbers of crew members and extras, via a microphone to maintain control of the set. September 17, 1914. [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. "Give me any two pages of the Bible, and I'll give you a picture." -Cecil B. DeMille. [315] He was further nominated in the Best Picture category for The Ten Commandments at the 1957 Academy Awards. The Ten Commandments, filmed here at the Guadeloupe sand dunes, 150 miles from Hollywood. However, the idea failed due to lack of funding and commitment. . 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. Unlike the other children the DeMille's adopted, John was never told about his birth parents. [215][216][217] He also cast established stars such as Gary Cooper, Robert Preston, Paulette Goddard and Fredric March in multiple pictures. DeMille's first film, The Squaw Man (1914), was also the first full-length feature film shot in Hollywood. [184] While working in theatre, DeMille used real fruit trees in his play California as influenced by Belasco. DeMille liked to sail and dive; he had several boats throughout his lifetime. "[257] The critic Camille Paglia has called The Ten Commandments one of the ten greatest films of all time. However, his earlier films The Captive, Kindling, Carmen, and The Whispering Chorus are more serious films. [42] DeMille would later adapt Belasco's The Girl of the Golden West, Rose of the Rancho, and The Warrens of Virginia into films. 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 The second star is located at 1725 Vine Street. To provide for her family, she opened the Henry C. DeMille School for Girls in her home in February 1893. Cause of death: Heart failure: Nationality: American: Occupation: Producer, director, editor, screenwriter, actor: Years active: 1913-1959: Spouse(s) Constance Adams (1902-1959) Partner(s) Jeanie MacPherson Julia Faye: Parent(s) Henry Churchill DeMille Beatrice Samuel: Cecil Blount DeMille (August 12, 1881 - January 21, 1959) was an . Golden Globes 1953 - Best Director and Best . They screened four of his films at Christ Church, where DeMille and his family attended church when they lived there. She had a Southern drawl which she never lost. But he put on pictures that made a fortune. [290][note 16] Donated by the Cecil B. DeMille Foundation in 2004, the moving image collection of Cecil B. DeMille is held at the Academy Film Archive and includes home movies, outtakes, and never-before-seen test footage. Born in 1881, DeMille made his directorial debut with "The Squaw Man" (1914), a story he remade in 1918 and 1931 . He was so eager to produce the film, that he hadn't yet read the novel. [191] DeMille was the first director to connect art to filmmaking; he created the title of "art director" on the film set. 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. [318], Cecil B. DeMille made 70 features. Sitting in an IMAX [185] Similar to Belasco, DeMille's theatre was revolved around entertainment, rather than artistry. 72 pictures of Cecil B. DeMille. 1 reference. [149][150] DeMille signed a contract with Prentice Hall publishers in August 1953 to publish an autobiography. However, his final films maintained that DeMille was still respected by his audiences. [28] On Henry DeMille's deathbed, he told his wife that he did not want his sons to become playwrights. Birthplace: Ashfield, MA Location of death: Hollywood, CA Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: Bu. [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. [204] As DeMille's career progressed, he increasingly relied on artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck's concept, costume, and storyboard art. [168] Despite a cast led by Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, the 1958 film The Buccaneer was a disappointment. In 1923, DeMille released a modern melodrama The Ten Commandments which was a significant change from his previous stint of irreligious films. [121], In 1932, DeMille returned to Paramount at the request of Lasky, bringing with him his own production unit. [116], When "talking pictures" were invented in 1928, Cecil B. DeMille made a successful transition, offering his own innovations to the painful process; he devised a microphone boom and a soundproof camera blimp. [243] In relation to his own interests and sexual preferences, sadomasochism was a minor theme present in some of his films. He directed 70 feature films, beginning in the silent era . "[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. Cecil B DeMille announced that his next production would be his biggest and most ambitious to date. She was born in Canada to a Scottish schoolteacher, Edward Gabriel Lester, and his Italian-Swiss wife, Cecile Bianca Bertha (Colani) Lester. Farnum chose $250 per week. 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. Find out about Cecil B DeMille's family tree, family history, ancestry, ancestors, genealogy, relationships and affairs! [142] Jeanie MacPherson would work as a scriptwriter for many of DeMille's films. DeMille's return was approved by Zukor under the condition that DeMille not exceed his production budget of $650,000 for The Sign of the Cross. [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". Broadway Actor. . This was, according to DeMille, the lowest point of his career. DeMille did not believe a large movie set was the place to discuss minor character or line issues. [101], After five years and thirty hit films, DeMille became the American film industry's most successful director. He consistently was criticized for producing shallow films without talent or artistic care. I'm ready for my close-up." [47] DeMille sometimes worked with the director E.H. Sothern, who influenced DeMille's later perfectionism in his work. cause of death. Cecil B. DeMille Born: 1881-08-12, Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA Education: NY Academy of Dramatic Arts Ethnicity: Caucasian Death Date:-0001-11-30 . [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. 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. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. [62] They offered Farnum a choice to have a quarter stock in the company (similar to William deMille) or $250 per week as salary. For More Information . [165] This film would be his last. 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. [111], The immense popularity of DeMille's silent films enabled him to branch out into other areas. [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. [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. Further illustrated by his home life, DeMille required formality and politeness at home. He stated that The Ten Commandments was the final culmination of DeMille's style. [83], DeMille's most successful film was The Cheat; DeMille's direction in the film was acclaimed. 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. 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. . [263] Joseph Henabery recalled that DeMille looked like "a king on a throne surrounded by his court" while directing films on a camera platform. 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 . [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. Ben Gabbe/Getty. DeMille filming the "big Indian raid" of Call of the North. [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. Robert Birchard wrote that one could argue auteurship of DeMille on the basis that DeMille's thematic and visual style remained consistent throughout his career. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. Let's take a look back at 20 of his greatest movies, ranked worst to best. The first, for radio contributions, is located at 6240 Hollywood Blvd. [181] Henry was heavily influenced by the work of Charles Kingsley whose ideas trickled down to DeMille. [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. [84] While on a European vacation in 1921, DeMille contracted rheumatic fever in Paris. [49] In the 1910s, DeMille began directing and producing other writer's plays. Stills. This prohibited denying anyone the right to work if they refuse to pay a political assessment, however, the law did not apply retroactively. Adams was 29 years old at the time of their marriage, eight years older than DeMille. His first biblical epic, The Ten Commandments (1923), was both a critical and commercial success; it held the Paramount revenue record for twenty-five years. Occupations. is the 10th plague, in which the Angel of Death is imagined as a thick . 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. Cecil Blount DeMille (August 12, 1881 - January 21, 1959) was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. [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. He was confined to bed and unable to eat. Frequent actors and actresses on the show included Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert, Loretta Young, Don Ameche, and Fred MacMurray. The Ten Commandments (Documentary: Making Miracles) (Six-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo) Cecil B. DeMille / Paramount. [30] DeMille attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (tuition-free due to his father's service to the Academy). She later became the second female play broker on Broadway. [53] Another DeMille-Lasky production that opened in January 1912 was The Antique Girl. A censorship board called the Hays Code was established. Media in category "Cecil B. DeMille" The following 53 files are in this category, out of 53 total. DeMille: The Master of the American Biblical Epic . Date of Death: January 21, 1959. Cecil was 77 years old at the time of death. [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. Pioneering film director. Radford, Bill. [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. "A dreadful showoff. View Bio. [44], DeMille performed on stage with actors whom he would later direct in films: Charlotte Walker, Mary Pickford, and Pedro de Cordoba. 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". [102] Many of his films featured scenes in two-color Technicolor. [278] As one of the establishing members of Paramount Pictures and co-founder of Hollywood, DeMille had a role in the development of the film industry. [321]:2123. [279][280] DeMille received more than a dozen awards from Christian and Jewish religious and cultural groups, including B'nai B'rith. "[265] Said fellow director William Wellman: "Directorially, I think his pictures were the most horrible things I've ever seen in my life. DeMille was accused of antisemitism after the release of The King of Kings,[282] and director John Ford despised DeMille for what he saw as "hollow" biblical epics meant to promote DeMille's reputation during the politically turbulent 1950s. Chromium is a mineral that is found in a number of foods, such as meat, vegetables, grains, fruits and nuts. If you have diabetes and take insulin or other oral medications aimed to reduce blood sugar, taking chromium may increase the risk of . [160] Production of The Ten Commandments began in October 1954. Constance Adams DeMille (April 27, 1873 - July 17, 1960) was an American actress and wife of filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille. [188][189] DeMille recalled that one of the most influential plays he saw was Hamlet, directed by Sothern. [134] William Keighley was his replacement. [269] He often appeared in his coming-attraction trailers and narrated many of his later films,[270] even stepping on screen to introduce The Ten Commandments. [172] DeMille's funeral was held on January 23 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. Noisy and bright, it was not well-liked by critics, but was a favorite among audiences. [203], DeMille often edited in a manner that favored psychological space rather than physical space through his cuts. A lasting memory for DeMille was a lunch with his father and actor Edwin Booth. Consequently, he formed the DeMille Foundation for Political Freedom in order to campaign for the right to work. [5] DeMille was named after his grandmothers Cecelia Wolff and Margarete Blount. 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. Robin Williams, 2005. [132] DeMille would never again work on radio. [281] However, not everyone received DeMille's religious films favorably. These films represent those which DeMille produced or assisted in directing, credited or uncredited. 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. [61] Moreover, when he was busy directing other films, he would co-author other Lasky Company scripts as well as create screen adaptations that others directed. [114] He was additionally vice president of the Commercial National Trust and Savings Bank in Los Angeles where he approved loans for other filmmakers. [272] DeMille's reputation had a renaissance in the 2010s. imported from Wikimedia project. Self - The Real FBI Story (2017) . [252], Despite his box-office success, awards, and artistic achievements, DeMille has been dismissed and ignored by critics both during his life and posthumously. Adopted son of Cecil B. DeMille and Constance DeMille. [41] However, none of these were very successful; William deMille was most successful when he worked alone. Cecil Blount DeMille (/ssl dml/; August 12, 1881 January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Name Constance DeMille Cause of death pneumonia: Born April 27, 1874 . Memoir of DeMille titled 'The Autobiography of Cecil B. DeMille' was published in 1959. It opened on December 13, 1985, and features some of DeMille's personal artifacts. Then, he would help writers construct a script. Additionally, DeMille's epics such as The Crusades influenced Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky. [259] He cultivated the image of the omnipotent director,[260] complete with megaphone, riding crop, and jodhpurs. 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. [61], The Squaw Man was a success, which led to the eventual founding of Paramount Pictures and Hollywood becoming the "film capital of the world". [146][note 10] DeMille's subsequent film Unconquered (1947) had the longest running time (146 minutes), longest filming schedule (102 days) and largest budget of $5million. Despite his loss, DeMille continued to lobby for the TaftHartley Act, which passed. [231] Cecil B. DeMille has influenced the work of several well-known directors. He initially sought out William deMille. [21] DeMille's sister Agnes was born on April 23, 1891; his mother nearly did not survive the birth. His wife did not like Paradise, so DeMille often brought his mistresses there with him including actress Julia Faye. Cleopatra (1934) was his first film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Eddie Murphy is going to the Golden Globes. The wedding party was small. [86] A large collection of DeMille's materials including scripts, storyboards, and films resides at Brigham Young University in L. Tom Perry Special Collections. [170] DeMille's autobiography was mostly completed by the time DeMille died and was published in November 1959. The picture of her husband was taken in 1916, the year they bought the house, when he was 35 and an increasingly active and . [292], In summer 2019, The Friends of the Pompton Lakes Library hosted a Cecil B DeMille film festival to celebrate DeMille's achievements and connection to Pompton Lakes. Cecil B. DeMille's trademark films were Biblical and historical dramas, usually told in sweeping, big-budget scale, emblematic of overwrought Hollywood hugeness. [202] DeMille was unique in using this technique. Cecil B. Demille papers (English) type of reference. Learning of the Eagles' work and keen to promote his film with their cause the director encouraged the group to donate carved stone tablets . 77. [212] Paulette Goddard's refusal to risk personal injury in a scene involving fire in Unconquered cost her DeMille's favor and a role in The Greatest Show on Earth. He was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974. [22] Agnes would die on February 11, 1894, at the age of three from spinal meningitis. [50], DeMille was poor and struggled to find work. Cecil Blount DeMille. [124] DeMille followed this epic uncharacteristically with two dramas released in 1933 and 1934. In that respect, he was better than any of us. DeMille, Cecil B. DeMille's primary criticism was of closed shops, but later included criticism of communism and unions in general. [103] It held the Paramount record for twenty-five years until DeMille broke the record again himself. [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. [227], Cecil B. DeMille's film production career evolved from critically significant silent films to financially significant sound films. [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. He also toured with the Standard Opera Company, but there are few records to indicate DeMille's singing ability. [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). After Henry DeMille's death at age 40, Cecil's mother, Beatrice, ran a well-known boarding school for girls in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. [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. [112] He was also a real estate speculator,[113] an underwriter of political campaigns, and vice president of Bank of America. De Mille daughter dies. He debuted as an actor on February 21, 1900, in the play Hearts Are Trumps at New York's Garden Theater. Heart Ailment. After reading the screenplay, Daniel A. Lord warned DeMille that Catholics would find the film too irreverent, while non-Catholics would have considered the film Catholic propaganda. [153] Besides filmmaking and finishing his autobiography, DeMille was involved in other projects. finding aid. DeMille directed The King of Kings (1927), a biography of Jesus, which gained approval for its sensitivity and reached more than 800million viewers. [120] After his contract ended at MGM, he left, but no production studios would hire him. MGM distributed the film in 1941 and donated profits to World War II relief charities. Cecil B. DeMille American film director (1881-1959) . [34], They were sexually incompatible; according to DeMille, Adams was too "pure" to "feel such violent and evil passions. [107] Aside from The King of Kings, none of DeMille's films away from Paramount were successful. The King of Kings (1927) The first real film about Jesus Christ, this one also set up the template by which all others would be measured until 1988. By 1930, DeMille had perfected his film style of mass-interest spectacle films with Western, Roman, or Biblical themes. DeMille achieved international recognition for his unique use of lighting and color tint in his film The Cheat. While visually appealing, this made the films appear more old-fashioned. Although less critically revered than D.W. Griffith, DeMille actually played a more important role in . [126] DeMille was a conservative Republican activist, becoming more conservative as he aged. [127] However, according to DeMille himself, he was not anti-union and belonged to a few unions himself. 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 ). Occupations. The Enigmatic Pop Culture Professional. Cemetery Name: Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Between 1914 and 1956, he made seventy feature films; all but seven were profitable. Mrs. DeMille's office and library opened to the music room. He suffered from a post-surgery infection from which he nearly did not recover, citing streptomycin as his saving grace. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12th, in 1881. Additionally, during the war, DeMille volunteered for the Justice Department's Intelligence Office, investigating friends, neighbors, and others he came in contact with in connection with the Famous Players-Lasky. He said he was rather against union leaders such as Walter Reuther and Harry Bridges whom he compared to dictators. [271] DeMille was immortalized in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard when Gloria Swanson spoke the line: "All right, Mr. DeMille. Eventually, the Guard was enlarged to a battalion and recruited soldiers from other film studios. [238] Although he is known for his later "spectacular" films, his early films are held in high regard by critics and film historians. Cecil B. DeMille Net Worth: Cecil B. DeMille was an American film director and producer who had a net worth equal to $50 million at the time of his death after adjusting for . [301][302], Cecil B. DeMille received many awards and honors, especially later in his career.
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