Cecil B. DeMille - Parte 1: OS PRIMEIROS PASSOS
Cecil B. DeMille was one of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood history. Out of the seventy films he claimed as his personal productions, all but six turned a profit, and he remained a leading director of "A" list features from his first film in 1914 to his last in 1956.
He was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts on August 12. 1881, the second son of Henry Churchill de Mille and Matilda Beatrice Samuel de Mille. His brother, William C. de Mille, was born July 25, 1878 in Washington, North Carolina. Throughout his life, Cecil used the family spelling "de Mille" in his personal life and used the variation "DeMille" as his professional name.
Cecil's father taught at Columbia University and was a lay minister in the Episcopal Church. In 1882, Henry de Mille, who had unfulfilled dreams of becoming an actor, was hired as a play reader with Madison Square Theater in New York He started writing plays and entered into a very successful collaboration with the silver haired "wizard of Broadway," David Belasco.
Henry de Mille died in February, 1893, and his widow turned the family home into a girl's school. Later she established the DeMille Play Company as an agency for plays and playwrights. Cecil attended Pennsylvania Military College and later attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his stage debut as an actor on February 21, 1900 in "HEARTS ARE TRUMPS." During his time as a touring actor, Cecil met actress Constance Adams. They were married on August 16, 1902, and would eventually have four children. Cecilia DeMille was their biological child. Katherine, Richard and John DeMille were adopted.
In addition to his work as an actor, Cecil also helped his mother manage the DeMille Play Company, and he directed or stage managed a number of shows. He also wrote or co-wrote plays, including a one act vaudeville drama called "THE ROYAL MOUNTED," which would later serve as the basis for his 1940 film "NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE." Following in his father's footsteps, he collaborated with David Belasco on "THE RETURN OF PETER GRIMM," and he also wrote several one-act operettas with vaudeville producer Jesse L. Lasky. This association with Lasky led to a lasting friendship.
By 1913, with theatrical prospects bleak, Lasky, DeMille and Lasky's brother-in-law Samuel Goldfish formed the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company to produce feature length motion picture versions of popular plays. Their first film was "THE SQUAW MAN", released in early 1914 to great success. Cecil B. DeMille was named director General of the new company, supervising all production as well as writing and directing his own pictures. Cecil developed a reputation as one of the finest directors in the business with films like "CARMEN" (1915), "THE CHEAT" (1915) and "THE GOLDEN CHANCE" (1916).
Although the Lasky feature Play company had a shaky start, the company's success became assured when it joined with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Films Company and Frank Garbutt's Bosworth, Inc. to distribute films through the newly formed Paramount Pictures Corporation headed by W. W. Hodkinson. In 1916 the three production companies merged to form the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, and then assumed control of Paramount.
Cecil B. DeMille retained his position as Director General with Famous Players, but he gradually gave up his supervisory duties to concentrate on making his own pictures. His first large scale spectacle, "JOAN THE WOMAN" (1916), received critical acclaim, but met with only modest box-office success, and for the next several years Cecil was forced to give up his dream of "painting on a big canvas."
During the late 1910's and early 1920's, Cecil turned out a successful and influential series of domestic social comedies. Films like "OLD WIVES FOR NEW" (1918), "DON'T CHANGE YOUR HUSBAND" (1919) and "WHY CHANGE YOUR WIFE?" (1920) gained great attention by focusing on married life rather than on the usual boy-meets-girl formula, and DeMille was able to satisfy his desire to make spectacles by inserting elaborate historical flashback sequences into several of these films.
In this period, DeMille also began to expand his business interests. In 1919 he established Mercury Aviation, the first commercial airline service to carry passengers on a regular schedule. He also sat on the board of the Bank of Italy (later Bank of America) and helped establish the bank's relationship with the motion picture industry.
He was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts on August 12. 1881, the second son of Henry Churchill de Mille and Matilda Beatrice Samuel de Mille. His brother, William C. de Mille, was born July 25, 1878 in Washington, North Carolina. Throughout his life, Cecil used the family spelling "de Mille" in his personal life and used the variation "DeMille" as his professional name.
Cecil's father taught at Columbia University and was a lay minister in the Episcopal Church. In 1882, Henry de Mille, who had unfulfilled dreams of becoming an actor, was hired as a play reader with Madison Square Theater in New York He started writing plays and entered into a very successful collaboration with the silver haired "wizard of Broadway," David Belasco.
Henry de Mille died in February, 1893, and his widow turned the family home into a girl's school. Later she established the DeMille Play Company as an agency for plays and playwrights. Cecil attended Pennsylvania Military College and later attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his stage debut as an actor on February 21, 1900 in "HEARTS ARE TRUMPS." During his time as a touring actor, Cecil met actress Constance Adams. They were married on August 16, 1902, and would eventually have four children. Cecilia DeMille was their biological child. Katherine, Richard and John DeMille were adopted.
In addition to his work as an actor, Cecil also helped his mother manage the DeMille Play Company, and he directed or stage managed a number of shows. He also wrote or co-wrote plays, including a one act vaudeville drama called "THE ROYAL MOUNTED," which would later serve as the basis for his 1940 film "NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE." Following in his father's footsteps, he collaborated with David Belasco on "THE RETURN OF PETER GRIMM," and he also wrote several one-act operettas with vaudeville producer Jesse L. Lasky. This association with Lasky led to a lasting friendship.
By 1913, with theatrical prospects bleak, Lasky, DeMille and Lasky's brother-in-law Samuel Goldfish formed the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company to produce feature length motion picture versions of popular plays. Their first film was "THE SQUAW MAN", released in early 1914 to great success. Cecil B. DeMille was named director General of the new company, supervising all production as well as writing and directing his own pictures. Cecil developed a reputation as one of the finest directors in the business with films like "CARMEN" (1915), "THE CHEAT" (1915) and "THE GOLDEN CHANCE" (1916).
Although the Lasky feature Play company had a shaky start, the company's success became assured when it joined with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Films Company and Frank Garbutt's Bosworth, Inc. to distribute films through the newly formed Paramount Pictures Corporation headed by W. W. Hodkinson. In 1916 the three production companies merged to form the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, and then assumed control of Paramount.
Cecil B. DeMille retained his position as Director General with Famous Players, but he gradually gave up his supervisory duties to concentrate on making his own pictures. His first large scale spectacle, "JOAN THE WOMAN" (1916), received critical acclaim, but met with only modest box-office success, and for the next several years Cecil was forced to give up his dream of "painting on a big canvas."
During the late 1910's and early 1920's, Cecil turned out a successful and influential series of domestic social comedies. Films like "OLD WIVES FOR NEW" (1918), "DON'T CHANGE YOUR HUSBAND" (1919) and "WHY CHANGE YOUR WIFE?" (1920) gained great attention by focusing on married life rather than on the usual boy-meets-girl formula, and DeMille was able to satisfy his desire to make spectacles by inserting elaborate historical flashback sequences into several of these films.
In this period, DeMille also began to expand his business interests. In 1919 he established Mercury Aviation, the first commercial airline service to carry passengers on a regular schedule. He also sat on the board of the Bank of Italy (later Bank of America) and helped establish the bank's relationship with the motion picture industry.
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