Cecil B. DeMille

Cecil B. DeMille

  • Birthday: 1881-08-12
  • Deathday: 1959-01-21
  • Place of birth: Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA

Biography

Cecil Blount DeMille was a founder of the Hollywood motion-picture industry, one of the most commercially successful producer-directors of his time, and one of the most influential filmmakers in history. Between 1914 and 1956, he made seventy feature films; all but seven were profitable. Cecil B. DeMille is synonymous with religious epics: The King of Kings, Samson and Delilah, and The Ten Commandments (1956). He blended spectacle, sex, and spellbinding narrative to convey a message of faith. It was DeMille who created the image of the omnipotent director, megaphone in hand, wearing boots and a visored cap. DeMille gave Hollywood numerous stars: Wallace Reid, Gloria Swanson, William (“Hopalong Cassidy”) Boyd, Claudette Colbert, Robert Preston, Jean Arthur, and Charlton Heston. DeMille created the posts of studio story editor, art director, and concept artist. He was one of the first to use theatrical lighting on a movie set. In the late 1920s, when Hollywood converted to sound films, DeMille defied the sound experts, liberating the camera from a confining booth, and implementing the microphone boom. DeMille’s authority extended beyond the confines of his studio. He was a power in aviation, banking, politics, and real estate. In the 1930s, his fame as a filmmaker was surpassed by his fame as a radio star. He was a founder of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an institution from which he eventually won two awards. In 1953 his film The Greatest Show on Earth won the Award for Best Picture of 1952; and he was presented with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. DeMille’s influence on world culture is incalculable, but there are estimates and milestones. His biography of Jesus Christ, The King of Kings, was a silent film, but because of a unique distribution arrangement, it was eventually seen by 800 million viewers. Samson and Delilah (1949) and The Ten Commandments (1956) are still listed with the top ten all-time box-office champions. They continue to generate revenue and provoke thought.

Filmography

Hollywood Extra Girl

1935

As Cecil B. DeMille

Yul Brynner, the Magnificent

2020

As Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

Jens Mons in America

1947

As Self (uncredited)

The Fallbrook Story

1952

As Self, Introduction

The Movies March On

1939

As Self (archive footage)

Sunset Boulevard

1950

As Cecil B. DeMille

The Casting Couch

1995

As (archive footage)

Hollywood on Parade No. B-5

1933

As Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Indiana Jones: The Search for the Lost Golden Age

2021

As Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

The Buster Keaton Story

1957

As Cecil B. DeMille

The Greatest Show on Earth

1952

As Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Sword-and-Sandal

2019

As Self (archive footage)

Son of Paleface

1952

As Photographer (uncredited)

Free and Easy

1930

As Director Cecil B. DeMille (uncredited)

Estrellados

1930

As Self (Guest Appearance)

The Story of Dr. Wassell

1944

As Voice of Narrator (uncredited)

Madam Satan

1930

As Radio Newscaster (voice) (uncredited)

Hail Satan?

2019

As Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

Hollywood

1923

As Cecil B. DeMille

Going Hollywood: The '30s

1984

As Self (archive footage)

Samson and Delilah

1949

As Narrator (uncredited)

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

1975

As Self (archive footage)

Reap the Wild Wind

1942

As Prologue Speaker (voice) (uncredited)

Star Spangled Rhythm

1942

As Cecil B. DeMille

Unconquered

1947

As Self - Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

1983

As Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

North West Mounted Police

1940

As Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Variety Girl

1947

As Cecil B. DeMille

And the Oscar Goes To...

2014

As Self (archive footage)

The Ten Commandments

1956

As Narrator (uncredited)

Production

Red Dice

1926

As Presenter

The Ten Commandments

1956

As Director

The Ten Commandments

1923

As Director

Joan the Woman

1916

As Director

Samson and Delilah

1949

As Director

Four Frightened People

1934

As Director

Union Pacific

1939

As Director

Cleopatra

1934

As Director

The Plainsman

1936

As Director

The Volga Boatman

1926

As Director

Reap the Wild Wind

1942

As Director

The King of Kings

1927

As Director

The Sign of the Cross

1932

As Director

The Cheat

1915

As Director

Don't Change Your Husband

1919

As Director

Unconquered

1947

As Director

Forbidden Fruit

1921

As Director

Male and Female

1919

As Director

The Affairs of Anatol

1921

As Director

Why Change Your Wife?

1920

As Director

North West Mounted Police

1940

As Director

Madam Satan

1930

As Director

Brewster's Millions

1914

As Director

The Story of Dr. Wassell

1944

As Director

The Golden Bed

1925

As Director

The Godless Girl

1928

As Director

The Crusades

1935

As Director

The Virginian

1914

As Director

Carmen

1915

As Director

This Day and Age

1933

As Director

The Buccaneer

1938

As Director

The Squaw Man

1918

As Director

The Whispering Chorus

1918

As Director

The Woman God Forgot

1917

As Director

Manslaughter

1922

As Director

The Road to Yesterday

1925

As Director

The Squaw Man

1931

As Director

Dynamite

1929

As Director

A Romance of the Redwoods

1917

As Director

Old Wives for New

1918

As Director

The Golden Chance

1915

As Director

Something to Think About

1920

As Director

For Better, for Worse

1919

As Director

The Little American

1917

As Director

Feet of Clay

1924

As Director

Saturday Night

1922

As Director

The Squaw Man

1914

As Director

The Heart of Nora Flynn

1916

As Director

The Warrens of Virginia

1915

As Director

Adam's Rib

1923

As Director

Kindling

1915

As Director

The Captive

1915

As Director

The Rose of the Rancho

1914

As Director

The Man From Home

1914

As Director

Temptation

1915

As Director

Maria Rosa

1916

As Director

The Call of the North

1914

As Director

Triumph

1924

As Director

The Arab

1915

As Director

What's His Name

1914

As Director

Chimmie Fadden

1915

As Director

Chimmie Fadden Out West

1915

As Director

Fool's Paradise

1921

As Director

The Devil Stone

1917

As Director

The Dream Girl

1916

As Director

Till I Come Back to You

1918

As Director

Nan of Music Mountain

1917

As Director

The Ghost Breaker

1914

As Director

We Can't Have Everything

1918

As Director

The Wild Goose Chase

1915

As Director

The Unafraid

1915

As Director

The Cheat

1915

As Editor

The Captive

1915

As Editor

Carmen

1915

As Editor

The Golden Chance

1915

As Editor

The Virginian

1914

As Editor

Old Wives for New

1918

As Editor

The Little American

1917

As Editor

Joan the Woman

1916

As Editor

The Rose of the Rancho

1914

As Editor

The Woman God Forgot

1917

As Editor

The Man From Home

1914

As Editor

Chimmie Fadden

1915

As Editor

What's His Name

1914

As Editor

Temptation

1915

As Editor

Land of Liberty

1939

As Editor

The Buccaneer

1958

As Producer

The Buccaneer

1958

As Executive Producer

The Ten Commandments

1956

As Producer

The Ten Commandments

1923

As Producer

Cleopatra

1934

As Producer

The Volga Boatman

1926

As Producer

The Squaw Man

1914

As Producer

Madam Satan

1930

As Producer

White Gold

1927

As Producer

Vanity

1927

As Producer

The Fighting Eagle

1927

As Producer

The Angel of Broadway

1927

As Producer

The King of Kings

1927

As Producer

Let'er Go Gallegher

1928

As Executive Producer

The Godless Girl

1928

As Producer

Samson and Delilah

1949

As Producer

The Warrens of Virginia

1915

As Producer

Adam's Rib

1923

As Producer

Reap the Wild Wind

1942

As Producer

Carmen

1915

As Producer

The Captive

1915

As Producer

Four Frightened People

1934

As Producer

The Sign of the Cross

1932

As Producer

Forbidden Fruit

1921

As Producer

Why Change Your Wife?

1920

As Producer

The Cheat

1915

As Producer

The Golden Chance

1915

As Producer

Something to Think About

1920

As Producer

Kindling

1915

As Producer

This Day and Age

1933

As Producer

North West Mounted Police

1940

As Producer

Union Pacific

1939

As Producer

A Romance of the Redwoods

1917

As Producer

Old Wives for New

1918

As Producer

The Little American

1917

As Producer

Joan the Woman

1916

As Producer

Silence

1926

As Producer

The Woman God Forgot

1917

As Producer

Lost and Won

1917

As Producer

The Man From Home

1914

As Producer

The Story of Dr. Wassell

1944

As Producer

The Buccaneer

1938

As Producer

The Dressmaker from Paris

1925

As Supervising Producer

Unconquered

1947

As Producer

Chimmie Fadden

1915

As Producer

Chimmie Fadden Out West

1915

As Producer

What's His Name

1914

As Producer

The Arab

1915

As Producer

The War of the Worlds

1953

As Executive Producer

The Ghost Breaker

1914

As Producer

Triumph

1924

As Producer

Whispering Smith

1926

As Producer

The Wedding Song

1925

As Producer

Male and Female

1919

As Producer

The Plainsman

1936

As Producer

Forbidden Fruit

1921

As Story

The Golden Chance

1915

As Story

Kindling

1915

As Writer

The Squaw Man

1914

As Writer

The Captive

1915

As Writer

The Little American

1917

As Writer

The Man From Home

1914

As Writer

The Rose of the Rancho

1914

As Writer

The Arab

1915

As Writer

What's His Name

1914

As Writer

Chimmie Fadden

1915

As Writer

Ready Money

1914

As Writer

The Ghost Breaker

1914

As Writer

Lord Chumley

1914

As Theatre Play

The Love Mask

1916

As Writer

The Unafraid

1915

As Story

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