Cecil B. DeMille
Director

Cecil B. DeMille

48 movies as actor · 78 as director
Born Aug 12, 1881 – Jan 21, 1959 (aged 77)From Ashfield, Massachusetts, USAAlso known as Cecil Blount de Mille, Cecil Blount DeMille

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 …

Known for

Movies directed by Cecil B. DeMille

The Ten Commandments poster
The Ten Commandments
1956
The Greatest Show on Earth poster
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952
Samson and Delilah poster
Samson and Delilah
1949
Unconquered poster
Unconquered
1947
The Story of Dr. Wassell poster
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944
Reap the Wild Wind poster
Reap the Wild Wind
1942
North West Mounted Police poster
North West Mounted Police
1940
Union Pacific poster
Union Pacific
1939
The Buccaneer poster
The Buccaneer
1938
The Plainsman poster
The Plainsman
1936
The Crusades poster
The Crusades
1935
Cleopatra poster
Cleopatra
1934
Four Frightened People poster
Four Frightened People
1934
This Day and Age poster
This Day and Age
1933
The Sign of the Cross poster
The Sign of the Cross
1932
The Squaw Man poster
The Squaw Man
1931
Madam Satan poster
Madam Satan
1930
Dynamite poster
Dynamite
1929
The Godless Girl poster
The Godless Girl
1928
The King of Kings poster
The King of Kings
1927
The Volga Boatman poster
The Volga Boatman
1926
The Road to Yesterday poster
The Road to Yesterday
1925
The Golden Bed poster
The Golden Bed
1925
Feet of Clay poster
Feet of Clay
1924
Triumph poster
Triumph
1924
The Ten Commandments poster
The Ten Commandments
1923
Adam's Rib poster
Adam's Rib
1923
Manslaughter poster
Manslaughter
1922
Saturday Night poster
Saturday Night
1922
Fool's Paradise poster
Fool's Paradise
1921
The Affairs of Anatol poster
The Affairs of Anatol
1921
Forbidden Fruit poster
Forbidden Fruit
1921
The Affairs of Anatol - Promo Reel
The Affairs of Anatol - Promo Reel
1921
Something to Think About poster
Something to Think About
1920
Why Change Your Wife? poster
Why Change Your Wife?
1920
Male and Female poster
Male and Female
1919
For Better, for Worse poster
For Better, for Worse
1919
Don't Change Your Husband poster
Don't Change Your Husband
1919
The Squaw Man poster
The Squaw Man
1918
Till I Come Back to You poster
Till I Come Back to You
1918
We Can't Have Everything poster
We Can't Have Everything
1918
Old Wives for New poster
Old Wives for New
1918
The Whispering Chorus poster
The Whispering Chorus
1918
The Devil Stone poster
The Devil Stone
1917
Nan of Music Mountain poster
Nan of Music Mountain
1917
The Woman God Forgot poster
The Woman God Forgot
1917
The Little American poster
The Little American
1917
A Romance of the Redwoods poster
A Romance of the Redwoods
1917
Joan the Woman poster
Joan the Woman
1916
The Dream Girl poster
The Dream Girl
1916
Maria Rosa poster
Maria Rosa
1916
The Heart of Nora Flynn poster
The Heart of Nora Flynn
1916
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine poster
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
1916
The Golden Chance poster
The Golden Chance
1915
Temptation poster
Temptation
1915
The Cheat poster
The Cheat
1915
Chimmie Fadden Out West poster
Chimmie Fadden Out West
1915
Carmen poster
Carmen
1915
Kindling
Kindling
1915
Chimmie Fadden poster
Chimmie Fadden
1915
The Arab poster
The Arab
1915
The Wild Goose Chase poster
The Wild Goose Chase
1915
The Captive poster
The Captive
1915
The Unafraid poster
The Unafraid
1915
The Warrens of Virginia poster
The Warrens of Virginia
1915
After Five poster
After Five
1915
The Girl of the Golden West poster
The Girl of the Golden West
1915
The Ghost Breaker poster
The Ghost Breaker
1914
The Rose of the Rancho poster
The Rose of the Rancho
1914
The Man From Home poster
The Man From Home
1914
What's His Name poster
What's His Name
1914
The Virginian poster
The Virginian
1914
The Call of the North poster
The Call of the North
1914
The Man on the Box
The Man on the Box
1914
The Only Son poster
The Only Son
1914
The Master Mind poster
The Master Mind
1914
Brewster's Millions poster
Brewster's Millions
1914
The Squaw Man poster
The Squaw Man
1914

Cecil B. DeMille as actor

Indiana Jones: The Search for the Lost Golden Age poster
Indiana Jones: The Search for the Lost Golden Age
2021 · Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent poster
Yul Brynner, the Magnificent
2020 · Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle II poster
Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle II
2020 · Self
Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle poster
Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle
2020 · Self (archive footage)
Hail Satan? poster
Hail Satan?
2019 · Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic poster
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
2019 · Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille poster
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille
2016 · Self
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe poster
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012 · Self (archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema poster
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007 · Self (archive footage)
The Making of The Ten Commandments poster
The Making of The Ten Commandments
2003 · Self
The Casting Couch poster
The Casting Couch
1995
All-Time Movie Greats
All-Time Movie Greats
1988 · Self (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s poster
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984 · Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage poster
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Showbiz Ballyhoo poster
Showbiz Ballyhoo
1982 · Self (archive footage)
Hooray for Hollywood poster
Hooray for Hollywood
1976 · Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? poster
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975 · Self (archive footage)
The Buccaneer poster
The Buccaneer
1958 · Presenter of Prologue
The Buster Keaton Story poster
The Buster Keaton Story
1957 · Cecil B. DeMille (uncredited)
The Ten Commandments poster
The Ten Commandments
1956 · Narrator (uncredited)
Son of Paleface poster
Son of Paleface
1952 · Photographer (uncredited)
The Greatest Show on Earth poster
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952 · Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
The Fallbrook Story poster
The Fallbrook Story
1952 · Self, Introduction
Sunset Boulevard poster
Sunset Boulevard
1950 · Cecil B. DeMille
Samson and Delilah poster
Samson and Delilah
1949 · Narrator (uncredited)
Unconquered poster
Unconquered
1947 · Self - Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Variety Girl poster
Variety Girl
1947 · Cecil B. DeMille
Jens Mons in America poster
Jens Mons in America
1947 · Self (uncredited)
Screen Snapshots (Series 25, No. 1): 25th Anniversary poster
Screen Snapshots (Series 25, No. 1): 25th Anniversary
1945 · Self
The Story of Dr. Wassell poster
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944 · Voice of Narrator (uncredited)
Reap the Wild Wind poster
Reap the Wild Wind
1942 · Prologue Speaker (voice) (uncredited)
Star Spangled Rhythm poster
Star Spangled Rhythm
1942 · Cecil B. DeMille
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) poster
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942 · Self
North West Mounted Police poster
North West Mounted Police
1940 · Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
The Movies March On poster
The Movies March On
1939 · Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Extra Girl poster
Hollywood Extra Girl
1935 · Cecil B. DeMille
The Hollywood You Never See
The Hollywood You Never See
1934 · Self
Hollywood on Parade No. B-5 poster
Hollywood on Parade No. B-5
1933 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Madam Satan poster
Madam Satan
1930 · Radio Newscaster (voice) (uncredited)
Estrellados poster
Estrellados
1930 · Self (Guest Appearance)
Free and Easy poster
Free and Easy
1930 · Director Cecil B. DeMille (uncredited)
The Circus: Premiere poster
The Circus: Premiere
1928 · Self
Life in Hollywood No. 1 poster
Life in Hollywood No. 1
1927 · Self
Life in Hollywood poster
Life in Hollywood
1927 · Self
Hollywood poster
Hollywood
1923 · Cecil B. DeMille
A Trip to Paramountown poster
A Trip to Paramountown
1922 · Self
The Affairs of Anatol - Promo Reel
The Affairs of Anatol - Promo Reel
1921 · As himself
The Squaw Man poster
The Squaw Man
1914 · Faro Dealer

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