Cecil B. DeMille
Directing
Born: August 12, 1881 · Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA
Died: January 21, 1959 (aged 77)
Highest Rated
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 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.
Known for
Sunset Boulevard
1950
The Ten Commandments
1956
The War of the Worlds
1953
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952
Samson and Delilah
1949
Hail Satan?
2019
Cleopatra
1934
The Ten Commandments
1923
Union Pacific
1939
The Cheat
1915
The King of Kings
1927
Unconquered
1947
Photos (7)
Movies (18)
Sunset Boulevard
Cecil B. DeMille
The Ten Commandments
Narrator (uncredited)
Samson and Delilah
Narrator (uncredited)
The Greatest Show on Earth
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
The Story of Dr. Wassell
Voice of Narrator (uncredited)
The Buccaneer
Presenter of Prologue
Son of Paleface
Photographer (uncredited)
Reap the Wild Wind
Prologue Speaker (voice) (uncredited)
Madam Satan
Radio Newscaster (voice) (uncredited)
North West Mounted Police
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Variety Girl
Cecil B. DeMille
The Buster Keaton Story
Cecil B. DeMille (uncredited)
Star Spangled Rhythm
Cecil B. DeMille
Free and Easy
Director Cecil B. DeMille (uncredited)
Hollywood
Cecil B. DeMille
The Casting Couch
1995
Hollywood Extra Girl
Cecil B. DeMille
The Squaw Man
Faro Dealer
Self / Appearances (34)
What's My Line?
Self · 1 eps
Spécial cinéma
Self (archive footage) · 1 eps
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · 1 eps
Cinépanorama
Self · 1 eps
This Is Your Life
Self · 1 eps
The U.S. and the Holocaust
Self (archive footage) · 1 eps
Hollywood
Self (archive footage, uncredited) · 1 eps
Unconquered
Self - Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Hollywood on Parade No. B-5
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hooray for Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
Hail Satan?
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Indiana Jones: The Search for the Lost Golden Age
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille
Self
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Self (archive footage)
The Making of The Ten Commandments
Self
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
Self
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jens Mons in America
Self (uncredited)
A Trip to Paramountown
Self
Screen Snapshots (Series 25, No. 1): 25th Anniversary
Self
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Self (archive footage)
Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle II
Self
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Self (archive footage)
Life in Hollywood
Self
Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle
Self (archive footage)
Life in Hollywood No. 1
Self
Estrellados
Self (Guest Appearance)
The Movies March On
Self (archive footage)
The Circus: Premiere
Self
Showbiz Ballyhoo
Self (archive footage)
The Fallbrook Story
Self, Introduction
Directing (75)
The Ten Commandments
Director
Samson and Delilah
Director
The Plainsman
Director
Union Pacific
Director
The King of Kings
Director
The Greatest Show on Earth
Director
The Sign of the Cross
Director
Unconquered
Director
The Story of Dr. Wassell
Director
Reap the Wild Wind
Director
The Volga Boatman
Director
Madam Satan
Director
North West Mounted Police
Director
The Buccaneer
Director
Cleopatra
Director
The Crusades
Director
The Ten Commandments
Director
The Affairs of Anatol
Director
Don't Change Your Husband
Director
Male and Female
Director
Old Wives for New
Director
The Squaw Man
Director
The Warrens of Virginia
Director
Dynamite
Director
Why Change Your Wife?
Director
For Better, for Worse
Director
The Godless Girl
Director
Something to Think About
Director
This Day and Age
Director
The Whispering Chorus
Director
The Wild Goose Chase
Director
Adam's Rib
Director
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Director
The Rose of the Rancho
Director
Till I Come Back to You
Director
We Can't Have Everything
Director
Forbidden Fruit
Director
A Romance of the Redwoods
Director
The Girl of the Golden West
Director
Joan the Woman
Director
Carmen
Director
The Only Son
Director
The Woman God Forgot
Director
Fool's Paradise
Director
The Cheat
Director
The Squaw Man
Director
The Squaw Man
Director
The Heart of Nora Flynn
Director
What's His Name
Director
The Devil Stone
Director
The Man From Home
Director
Chimmie Fadden Out West
Director
The Road to Yesterday
Director
Manslaughter
Director
The Call of the North
Director
Four Frightened People
Director
Saturday Night
Director
The Golden Chance
Director
Nan of Music Mountain
Director
Triumph
Director
Temptation
Director
The Captive
Director
The Little American
Director
The Dream Girl
Director
Chimmie Fadden
Director
The Arab
Director
Feet of Clay
Director
The Ghost Breaker
Director
The Master Mind
Director
The Unafraid
Director
The Virginian
Director
The Golden Bed
Director
After Five
Director
Maria Rosa
Director
Brewster's Millions
Director
Writing (19)
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Story
The Rose of the Rancho
Writer
Forbidden Fruit
Story
A Romance of the Redwoods
Writer
The Girl of the Golden West
Writer
The Squaw Man
Writer
Ready Money
Writer
What's His Name
Writer
The Man From Home
Writer
Chimmie Fadden Out West
Writer
The Golden Chance
Story
The Captive
Writer
The Little American
Writer
Chimmie Fadden
Writer
The Arab
Writer
The Ghost Breaker
Writer
The Unafraid
Story
The Love Mask
Writer
The Circus Man
Writer
Producing (62)
The Ten Commandments
Producer
Samson and Delilah
Producer
The War of the Worlds
Executive Producer
The Plainsman
Producer
Union Pacific
Producer
The King of Kings
Producer
The Greatest Show on Earth
Producer
The Sign of the Cross
Producer
Unconquered
Producer
The Story of Dr. Wassell
Producer
The Buccaneer
Executive Producer
The Buccaneer
Producer
Reap the Wild Wind
Producer
The Volga Boatman
Producer
Madam Satan
Producer
North West Mounted Police
Producer
The Buccaneer
Producer
Cleopatra
Producer
The Ten Commandments
Producer
Male and Female
Producer
Old Wives for New
Producer
Whispering Smith
Producer
The Warrens of Virginia
Producer
Why Change Your Wife?
Producer
The Godless Girl
Producer
Something to Think About
Producer
This Day and Age
Producer
Betty to the Rescue
General Manager
The Angel of Broadway
Producer
Vanity
Producer
Adam's Rib
Producer
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Producer
Forbidden Fruit
Producer
A Romance of the Redwoods
Producer
The Girl of the Golden West
Producer
Joan the Woman
Producer
Carmen
Producer
The Cruise of the Jasper B
Producer
The Woman God Forgot
Producer
White Gold
Producer
The Cheat
Producer
The Squaw Man
Producer
The Wedding Song
Producer
What's His Name
Producer
The Man From Home
Producer
Chimmie Fadden Out West
Producer
The Fighting Eagle
Producer
Four Frightened People
Producer
Let 'Er Go Gallegher
Executive Producer
Saturday Night
Producer
The Dressmaker from Paris
Supervising Producer
The Golden Chance
Producer
Triumph
Producer
The Captive
Producer
The Little American
Producer
Chimmie Fadden
Producer
The Arab
Producer
Feet of Clay
Producer
The Ghost Breaker
Producer
Silence
Producer
Lost and Won
Producer
Brewster's Millions
Producer
Other Crew (20)
Red Dice
Presenter
Old Wives for New
Editor
The Rose of the Rancho
Editor
We Can't Have Everything
Editor
A Romance of the Redwoods
Editor
The Girl of the Golden West
Editor
Joan the Woman
Editor
Carmen
Editor
The Woman God Forgot
Editor
The Cheat
Editor
Land of Liberty
Editor
What's His Name
Editor
The Man From Home
Editor
Chimmie Fadden Out West
Editor
The Golden Chance
Editor
Temptation
Editor
The Captive
Editor
The Little American
Editor
Chimmie Fadden
Editor
The Virginian
Editor