Cecil B. DeMille
Biography
Cecil Blount DeMille (August 12, 1881 – January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker, known as 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 ...
Known For
Top 40 Movies
The Ten Commandments
1956
Sunset Boulevard
1950
Unconquered
1947
Samson and Delilah
1949
Son of Paleface
1952
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952
Indiana Jones: The Search for the Lost Golden Age
2021
Reap the Wild Wind
1942
Variety Girl
1947
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007
North West Mounted Police
1940
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
Madam Satan
1930
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
Hail Satan?
2019
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944
Free and Easy
1930
Star Spangled Rhythm
1942
Hooray for Hollywood
1976
Hollywood
1923
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
2019
The Buster Keaton Story
1957
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942
Estrellados
1930
Hollywood on Parade No. B-5
1933
A Trip to Paramountown
1922
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent
2020
Hollywood Extra Girl
1935
The Circus: Premiere
1928
The Movies March On
1939
The Making of The Ten Commandments
2003
Screen Snapshots (Series 25, No. 1): 25th Anniversary
1945
Showbiz Ballyhoo
1982
The Squaw Man
1914
Life in Hollywood No. 1
1927
Jens Mons in America
1947
The Fallbrook Story
1952
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille
2016