Cecil Blount DeMille
19 min read
Reading time
3,786
Words
Published
49
Film credits
2
Books
4
Awards
Cecil B. DeMille produced and directed 70 films, including the biblical epic The Ten Commandments 1956 and the circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth 1952, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. He co-founded the Lasky Film Company in 1913, which evolved into Paramount Pictures, and hosted Lux Radio Theatre from 1936 to 1945. DeMille was a co-founder of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the namesake of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Cecil B. DeMille — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Cecil B. DeMille by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Cecil B. DeMille — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
When Cecil B. DeMille was 12, his father Henry C. DeMille, a playwright, died. His mother Beatrice supported the family by opening a school for girls and running a theatrical company. Following his brother William C. de Mille, Cecil attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and made his stage debut in 1900.
For twelve years he worked as an actor and manager of his mother’s theatrical company, developing his showmanship before moving to film.
In 1913, DeMille joined Jesse L. Lasky and Samuel Goldwyn to form the Lasky Film Company. The next year, they went west to California and produced The Squaw Man 1914, historically significant as the first feature-length film produced in Hollywood. DeMille championed feature-length films and helped make Hollywood the motion picture capital.
Rather than investing in established stars, he emphasized production values and developed stars like Gloria Swanson. His biblical epics became his signature: The Ten Commandments 1923, Samson and Delilah 1949, and The Ten Commandments 1956. He also directed romantic comedies and historical dramas. From 1936 to 1945, he hosted and directed Lux Radio Theatre, bringing movie stories to radio. He appeared as himself in Sunset Boulevard 1950, alongside his former star Gloria Swanson.
DeMille married Constance Adams in 1902, and they remained married for 56 years until his death. They had three children: Cecilia Hoyt DeMille biological, and adopted children Katherine DeMille and Richard de Mille. Katherine was adopted in 1920 after both her parents died.
Despite his long marriage, DeMille had long-term affairs with screenwriter Jeanie Macpherson and actress Julia Faye, sometimes entertaining both simultaneously on his yacht. His wife was aware of the affairs but chose to live with the children in the family home.
DeMille’s impact on Hollywood endures: he was one of 36 co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences AMPAS. His film The Greatest Show on Earth 1952 won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Golden Globe Awards named their lifetime achievement honor the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and recipients such as Elizabeth Taylor 1985 and Steven Spielberg 2008 have mentioned him in their speeches.
Two of his films — The Cheat 1915 and The Ten Commandments 1956 — have been selected for the National Film Registry. He was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery alongside his brother. DeMille’s spectacular biblical epics defined the genre.
Browse the complete filmography of Cecil B. DeMille — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Could not load more credits.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Cecil B. DeMille — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Cecil B. DeMille's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Cecil B. DeMille — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
The Public Is Always Right
Give Me Any Two Pages of the Bible and I’ll Give You a Picture.
It Was a Theory That Died Very Hard That the Public Would Not Stand for Anyone Dressed in Clothes of Another Period… I Got Around This Objection by Staging What We Call a Vision. the Poor Working Girl Was Dreaming of Love and Reading Tristan and Isolde. the Scene Faded Out, and Scenes Were Depicted on the Screen That the Girl Was Supposed to Be Reading… Thus a Bit of Costume Picture Was Put Over on the Man Who Bought the Picture for His Theater, and There Was No Protest from the Public.
Every Time I Make a Picture the Critics’ Estimate of American Public Taste Goes Down Ten Percent.
A Picture Is Made a Success Not on a Set but Over the Drawing Board.
I Make My Pictures for People, Not for Critics.
I Didn’t Write the Bible and Didn’t Invent Sin.
Most of Us Serve Our Ideals by Fits and Starts. the Person Who Makes a Success of Living Is the One Who Sees His Goal Steadily and Aims for It Unswervingly.
The Critics Were Less Than Kind to My Selection for the Other Feminine Lead, Anne Baxter as Nefretiri. I Think the Critics Went Farther Wrong There Even Than They Usually Do; I Think Anne Baxter’s Performance Was Very Good. Perhaps the Critics Were Too Busy Thinking What Clever Things They Could Write About Our Misspelling of Nefretiri’s Name.
I Am Not One Who Would Rail at the Public If One of My Pictures Failed to Get Across. the Public Knows Art. I Have Never yet Been Connected with a Failure, But, If I Were, I Would Blame Myself, Not My Audience.
The First Star of a Motion Picture Should Be Its Story. If This Star Is Properly Cast with Drama Turning Upon Drama in an Ever Widening, Accelerating Orbit Its Spectacular Production Value Satellites Fall Logically into Place. Once the Course and Character of This First Magnitude Star Have Been Charted, It Should Be Surrounded by a Galaxy of Stars Which Fit Properly into Its Field. If Their Brilliance Adds Lustre to the Main Star, so Much the Better.
Television Is a Powerful and Wonderful Means of Transferring Ideas, and It Is Going to Be Here Long After We Have Gone. but so Are Motion Pictures.
I Am Sometimes Asked Who Is My Favorite Actress, Among Those I Have Directed. I Always Dodge the Question by Explaining That I Have to Continue Living in Hollywood. but If the Tortures of the Inquisition Were Applied and an Answer Extracted from Me, I Would Have to Say That I Have Never Worked with an Actress Who Was More Cooperative, Less Temperamental, and a Better Workman, to Use My Term of Highest Compliment, Than Barbara Stanwyck. I Have Directed, and Enjoyed Working With, Many Fine Actresses, Some of Whom Are Also Good Workmen; but When I Count Over Those of Whom My Memories Are Unmarred by Any Unpleasant Recollection of Friction on the Set or Unwillingness to Do Whatever the Role Required or Squalls of Temperament or Temper, Barbara’s Name Is the First That Comes to Mind, as One on Whom a Director Can Always Count to Do Her Work with All Her Heart.
I Have Found the Greatest Power in the World Is the Power of Prayer. There Is No Shadow of Doubt of That. I Speak from My Own Experience.
Elinor Glyn Deserves More Credit Than I Do for Inventing Sex Appeal.
Little-known facts about Cecil B. DeMille — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Stone plaques of the Ten Commandments were posted at government buildings across the country by DeMille to promote The Ten Commandments 1956. Many remain standing and have become subjects of First Amendment lawsuits.
DeMille is the subject of many Hollywood legends. One famous story involves a battle scene where three of four cameras failed, but the fourth cameraman on a hill had captured it all, saying Ready when you are, C.B.!
Another story tells of DeMille shouting at a female extra who was talking during an important scene. She replied she was wondering when that bald-headed son-of-a-bitch would call lunch, to which DeMille immediately shouted Lunch!
DeMille was one of 36 co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences AMPAS.
At his death, DeMille was working on an epic about the Boy Scouts starring James Stewart, with a script and research material included in his estate papers.
According to Tim Adler’s book, DeMille was threatened by the mob while in the hospital and ordered the gangster out of his room, saying he was not afraid of the Mafia.
During silent film days, DeMille wanted a sunrise over the ocean for a romantic scene. When told the sun sets, not rises, in California, he filmed a sunset and ran it in reverse. The result had waves flowing backward and seagulls flying backward.
Charlton Heston, star of The Greatest Show on Earth 1952 and The Ten Commandments 1956, said in his autobiography that I should have thanked him for my career.
DeMille and Alfred Hitchcock were the only directors whose names appeared on theater marquees for their films.
DeMille was known to throw anyone off the set for speaking during a take. Once his secretary jokingly asked if he had talked during a take when he returned early.
The Golden Globe lifetime achievement award is named after DeMille.
DeMille remade four of his own films.
A conservative Republican, DeMille supported blacklisting and tried to remove Joseph L. Mankiewicz as President of the Directors Guild in 1952 over a loyalty oath. George Stevens and John Ford blocked his efforts.
Beginning in 1940, all of DeMille’s films were in color and narrated by him.
DeMille claimed he fell in love with film after watching The Great Train Robbery 1903 with Jesse L. Lasky, leading to the formation of Paramount Pictures.
Although married for 56 years, DeMille had long-term affairs with Jeanie Macpherson and Julia Faye, sometimes entertaining both on his yacht. His wife knew but preferred to live apart.
DeMille often inserted sequences showing the same stars in historical eras, reflecting his belief in reincarnation, according to Gloria Swanson.
DeMille criticized Victor Mature as 100 percent yellow on the set of Samson and Delilah 1949 for refusing dangerous stunts.
Stuntman Jack Montgomery recalled that DeMille was once shot in the megaphone by an archer who tired of his shouting; DeMille fled but returned and never shouted at stuntmen again.
DeMille hosted Lux Radio Theatre from 1936 to 1944, when a dispute with the American Federation of Radio Artists forced his resignation.
DeMille has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for Motion Pictures at 1725 Vine Street and for Radio at 6240 Vine Street.
After The Ten Commandments 1956, DeMille worked on a Boy Scout project but abandoned it for The Buccaneer 1958. He had planned to cast David Niven as Baden-Powell.
In a swipe at movie censors, DeMille published a satirical article in which he censored Mother Goose rhymes.
DeMille’s father had English, German, Scottish, and Dutch ancestry; his mother was born in Liverpool to a German Jewish family.
DeMille adopted daughter Katherine DeMille in 1920 at age 9 after her parents died; her birth name was Katherine Lester.
A photograph of DeMille on the set of Cleopatra 1934 appears on a 2003 US postage stamp sheet.
Eight of DeMille’s films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography; Cleopatra 1934 won.
Three of his films were nominated for Best Picture: Cleopatra 1934, The Greatest Show on Earth 1952, winner, and The Ten Commandments 1956.
His last three films were all nominated for Best Costume Design; Samson and Delilah 1949 won.
Six of his films were nominated for Best Special Effects; Reap the Wild Wind 1942 and The Ten Commandments 1956 won.
Only eldest daughter Cecilia was biological; Katherine, John, and Richard were adopted.
In December 1942, The Film Daily’s national poll named DeMille one of the year’s Top Five Directors for Reap the Wild Wind 1942, placing third.
Five of his films were nominated for Best Art Direction; Samson and Delilah 1949 won.
DeMille’s favorite among his American history epics was Union Pacific 1939.
Before casting Victor Mature in Samson and Delilah 1949, DeMille considered bodybuilder Steve Reeves after Burt Lancaster declined; Reeves later found fame in Hercules 1958.
DeMille spent much time casting female roles, seeking beauty, talent, and professionalism.
He planned four biblical epics that were never made: The Deluge 1927, Esther 1939, The Queen of Queens 1940, and Thou Art the Man 1945.
Two of his films are in the National Film Registry: The Cheat 1915 and The Ten Commandments 1956. He also appeared in Sunset Boulevard 1950, which is in the registry.
DeMille served as President of DeMille Pictures Corporation, formed in 1925.
At the 1957 Foreign Language Press Film Critics Circle Awards, DeMille won Best Film and Best Director for The Ten Commandments 1956.
He was married to the same woman for over fifty years; she suffered from Alzheimer’s and outlived him despite the illness.
He directed four films based on Bible stories: The Ten Commandments 1923 and 1956, The King of Kings 1927, and Samson and Delilah 1949.
Mary Pickford blamed DeMille for the failure of their silent films, though they were box office hits; DeMille considered her a good trouper.
DeMille had substantial roles in Sunset Boulevard and Star Spangled Banner.
He died the same day as Carl Alfalfa Switzer and is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery alongside his brother William. Pallbearers included Adolph Zukor and Samuel Goldwyn.
DeMille’s niece Agnes de Mille was the choreographer of Oklahoma! 1955.
By 1956, DeMille’s 69 films had earned $630 million and been seen by 3.5 billion people.
In December 1944, Paramount cancelled DeMille’s planned epic about the Mexican Revolution, The Flame, due to high costs.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Cecil B. DeMille.
Celebrities similar to Cecil B. DeMille — same craft, ranked by reach.
🇺🇸 United States
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇸 United States
