cecil b demille cause of death

The actor had 10 Globes nominations and five wins, including a special award for his vocal work on . [232] In the early age of cinema, DeMille differentiated the Lasky Company from other production companies due to the use of dramatic, low-key lighting they called "Lasky lighting" and marketed as "Rembrandt lighting" to appeal to the public. [16] He gained his love of theater while watching his father and Belasco rehearse their plays. [268] DeMille appeared as himself in numerous films, including the MGM comedy Free and Easy. Henry, a . vigilantes and fulminating fanatics suffering flock shock and who wanted to shut down 1920s Hollywood because of the cause clbre scandals . He debuted as an actor on February 21, 1900, in the play Hearts Are Trumps at New York's Garden Theater. [187] E.H. Sothern's early influence on DeMille's work can be seen in DeMille's perfectionism. [82] Additionally, because of DeMille's cordiality after the Peter Grimm incident, DeMille was able to rekindle his partnership with Belasco. [298][299], DeMille's legacy is maintained by his granddaughter Cecilia DeMille Presley who serves as the president of the Cecil B. DeMille Foundation, which strives to support higher education, child welfare, and film in Southern California. [21] DeMille's sister Agnes was born on April 23, 1891; his mother nearly did not survive the birth. After more than thirty years in film production, DeMille reached a pinnacle in his career with Samson and Delilah (1949), a biblical epic which became the highest-grossing film of 1950. 1956 theater brochure [75] Additionally, this was the only film in which DeMille shared director's credit with Oscar C. Cecil B DeMille Bio Details. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. [261][262] He was known for his unique, working wardrobe which included riding boots, riding pants, and soft, open necked shirts. Peters claimed that he encouraged the cast to attend the funeral with him anyway since DeMille would not be able to shoot the film without him. DeMille achieved international recognition for his unique use of lighting and color tint in his film The Cheat. [101], After five years and thirty hit films, DeMille became the American film industry's most successful director. Beatrice became a play broker and author's agent, influencing DeMille's early life and career. [269] He often appeared in his coming-attraction trailers and narrated many of his later films,[270] even stepping on screen to introduce The Ten Commandments. After the death of William deMille, DeMille revealed to Richard DeMille that William was his father and he had been born to William and a mistress. [32] At the age of twenty-one, Cecil B. DeMille married Constance Adams on August 16, 1902, at Adams's father's home in East Orange, New Jersey. [259] He cultivated the image of the omnipotent director,[260] complete with megaphone, riding crop, and jodhpurs. [175][176] His personal will drew a line between Cecilia and his three adopted children, with Cecilia receiving a majority of DeMille's inheritance and estate. They also learned that other filmmakers were successfully shooting in Los Angeles, even in winter. DeMille developed a plan with his doctor to allow him to continue directing while reducing his physical stress. [191] DeMille was the first director to connect art to filmmaking; he created the title of "art director" on the film set. [190], DeMille's filmmaking process always began with extensive research. [109] Considered at the time to be the most successful Christian film of the silent era, DeMille calculated that it had been viewed over 800 million times around the world. However, Sam Goldwyn realized that if they called it "Rembrandt" lighting, the audience would pay double the price. [111], The immense popularity of DeMille's silent films enabled him to branch out into other areas. [18] DeMille and William collaborated on The Genius, The Royal Mounted, and After Five. [26] The aim of the school was to teach young women to properly understand and fulfill the women's duty to herself, her home, and her country. Cecil B. Demille papers (English) type of reference. Friday 12 Aug 1881. Cecil B. DeMille Birthday and Date of Death. While visually appealing, this made the films appear more old-fashioned. [107] Aside from The King of Kings, none of DeMille's films away from Paramount were successful. To diseased proportions. [5] On September 1, 1881, the family returned with the newborn DeMille to their flat in New York. DeMille's designs, most notably his design of the distinctive cadet parade uniform, won praise from Air Force and Academy leadership, were ultimately adopted, and are still worn by cadets. [283] In response to the claims, DeMille donated some of the profits from The King of Kings to charity. [241] Religion was a theme that DeMille returned to throughout his career. Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA. His overriding spirit . He donated. The sets and effects were so realistic that 30 extras needed to be hospitalized due to a scene with fireballs and flaming arrows. Alfred Hitchcock cited DeMille's 1921 film Forbidden Fruit as an influence of his work and one of his top ten favorite films. [180] His playwright father introduced him to the theater at a young age. Adopted son of Cecil B. DeMille and Constance DeMille. . He was an active Freemason and member of Prince of Orange Lodge #16 in New York City.[1]. [187] DeMille's films Male and Female, Why Change Your Wife?, and The Affairs of Anatol can be retrospectively described as high camp and are categorized as "early DeMille films" due to their particular style of production and costume and set design. Cecil Blount Demille, known as Cecil B. DeMille, was a pioneering film director - in both silent and sound movies.Starting in 1913, he became a dominant force in the Hollywood film industry for 40 years. The wedding party was small. Of his seventy films, five revolved around stories of the Bible and the New Testament; however many others, while not direct retellings of Biblical stories, had themes of faith and religious fanaticism in films such as The Crusades and The Road to Yesterday. Martin Scorsese recalled that DeMille had the skill to maintain control of not only the lead actors in a frame but the many extras in the frame as well. Story - The Left's Kavanaugh Hate-Fest (2018) . . Henry was a tall, red-headed student. [13] She had emigrated from England with her parents in 1871 when she was 18; the newly arrived family settled in Brooklyn, New York, where they maintained a middle-class, English-speaking household. DeMille also produced and directed plays. DeMille's early silent comedies influenced the comedies of Ernst Lubitsch and Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris. Cleopatra (1934) was his first film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. DeMille recalled that this church was the place where he visualized the story of his 1923 version of The Ten Commandments.[25]. Date of death: 21 Jan 1959. [228] DeMille was often criticized for making his spectacles too colorful and for being too occupied with entertaining the audience rather than accessing the artistic and auteur possibilities that film could provide. Barbara Stanwyck. Further illustrated by his home life, DeMille required formality and politeness at home. However, Beatrice introduced Lasky to DeMille instead. [106] His first film in the new production company, DeMille Pictures Corporation, was The Road to Yesterday in 1925. De Mille daughter dies. Cause of death. The Captive (1915) $500 /week. Robin Williams won the Cecil B. DeMille Awards in 2005. DeMille served as executive producer, overseeing producer Henry Wilcoxon. [245], Known as the father of the Hollywood motion picture industry, Cecil B. DeMille made 70 films including several box-office hits. Unlike the other children the DeMille's adopted, John was never told about his birth parents. [125], Cecil B. DeMille was outspoken about his strong Episcopalian integrity but his private life included mistresses and adultery. DeMille adored the art of Groesbeck, even hanging it above his fireplace, but film staff found it difficult to convert his art into three-dimensional sets. [73] Furthermore, DeMille influenced about half of Spielberg's films, including War of the Worlds. [227], Cecil B. DeMille's film production career evolved from critically significant silent films to financially significant sound films. Along with biblical and historical narratives, he also directed films oriented toward "neo-naturalism", which tried to portray the laws of man fighting the forces of nature. [304] Additionally, in 1958, he received an honorary Doctorate of Law degree from Temple University. [151] DeMille would reminisce into a voice recorder, the recording would be transcribed, and the information would be organized in the biography based on the topic. Despite his loss, DeMille continued to lobby for the TaftHartley Act, which passed. In addition to winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field, Sidney also received a BAFTA award for The Defiant Ones, a Golden Globe for Lilies of the Field, and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, among other awards and nominations. DeMille liked to sail and dive; he had several boats throughout his lifetime. [297] The title of the 2000 John Waters film Cecil B. Demented alludes to DeMille. He is from USA. In the audience was Charles Frohman who would cast DeMille in his play Hearts are Trumps, DeMille's Broadway debut. Cecil Blount DeMille (/ssl dml/; August 12, 1881 January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. DeMille plays himself in the film. MGM distributed the film in 1941 and donated profits to World War II relief charities. The original story Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is about two teenagers, Romeo and Juliet, who fall in love and their families' feud ends with death of Romeo and Juliet. [61] Sometimes, he directed scenes for other directors at the Feature Play Company in order to release films on time. Profile of the Hollywood directing legend who became known for his "spectaculars." Learn how DeMille helped establish Hollywood as the movie-making capital o. [211] He despised actors who were unwilling to take physical risks, especially when he had first demonstrated that the required stunt would not harm them. Birth place. Eventually, he became manager of the agency and later, a junior partner with his mother. [116], When "talking pictures" were invented in 1928, Cecil B. DeMille made a successful transition, offering his own innovations to the painful process; he devised a microphone boom and a soundproof camera blimp. "[35] DeMille had more violent sexual preferences and fetishes than his wife. Biography. Cause of Death. [44], DeMille performed on stage with actors whom he would later direct in films: Charlotte Walker, Mary Pickford, and Pedro de Cordoba. [57] Having become disinterested in working in theatre, DeMille's passion for film was ignited when he watched the 1912 French film Les Amours de la reine lisabeth. William deMille reluctantly became a story editor. He appeared in eleven of the fifteen plays presented that season, although all were minor roles. [273], As a filmmaker, DeMille was the aesthetic inspiration of many directors and films due to his early influence during the crucial development of the film industry. [293] Two schools have been named after him: Cecil B. DeMille Middle School, in Long Beach, California, which was closed and demolished in 2010 to make way for a new high school;[294] and Cecil B. DeMille Elementary School in Midway City, California. [33] They had met in a theater in Washington D.C. while they were both acting in Hearts Are Trumps. The legendary producer-director Cecil B. DeMille was a master of the American biblical epic who shaped the public's perceptions of Judeo-Christianity in his role as Hollywood's Sunday school teacher. [213] DeMille did receive help in his films, notably from Alvin Wyckoff who shot forty-three of DeMille's films;[80] brother William deMille who would occasionally serve as his screenwriter;[82] and Jeanie Macpherson, who served as DeMille's exclusive screenwriter for fifteen years;[214] and Eddie Salven, DeMille's favorite assistant director. [136] During pre-production of Union Pacific, DeMille was dealing with his first serious health issue. View the most popular Cecil B. DeMille pix. His tentative plan was to shoot a film in Arizona, but he felt that Arizona did not typify the Western look they were searching for. [145] After working on Reap the Wild Wind, in 1944, he was the master of ceremonies at the massive rally organized by David O. Selznick in the Los Angeles Coliseum in support of the DeweyBricker ticket as well as Governor Earl Warren of California. These films represent those which DeMille produced or assisted in directing, credited or uncredited. Mini Bio (1) Julia Faye's career is inextricably linked to director Cecil B. DeMille. Heart Ailment. d. 21 st January 1959, Hollywood, California, USA. Adams was 29 years old at the time of their marriage, eight years older than DeMille. [252], Despite his box-office success, awards, and artistic achievements, DeMille has been dismissed and ignored by critics both during his life and posthumously. [113][295] The former film building at Chapman University in Orange, California, is named in honor of DeMille. In other "Talk Shop" columns, DeMille explained that "no stone was left unturned to make the picture absolutely true to the life portrayed" and that he had brought in "eighteen big Tiger Tribe Indians . [127] However, according to DeMille himself, he was not anti-union and belonged to a few unions himself. [168] In the months before his death, DeMille was researching a film biography of Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement. [10] He worked as a playwright, administrator, and faculty member during the early years of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, established in New York City in 1884. Early life [ edit ] Born in Orange, New Jersey , [1] DeMille was the daughter of Judge Fredrick Adams, [2] New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, [1] and Ella Adams, his first wife. The gathering drew 93,000, with short speeches by, While the film was a huge success, DeMille regretted that he could not share the success with his wife who had developed, The estate cycled through several different homeowners for the next 30 years until it was bought by American actress. Lasky and DeMille maintained the widow Fleming on the payroll; however, according to leading actor House Peters Sr. DeMille refused to stop production for the funeral of Fleming. [43] DeMille was credited with creating the premise of Belasco's The Return of Peter Grimm. [159] The Ten Commandments, released in 1956, was DeMille's final film. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 and died in 2000 De Mille Drive, Hollywood, California due to Heart failure due to a series of heart attacks on January 21, 1959. . Hijo del dramaturgo Henry Churchill DeMille, en cuyas obras particip durante su infancia y primera adolescencia, curs . Cecil Blount DeMille[note 1] was born on August 12, 1881, in a boarding house on Main Street in Ashfield, Massachusetts, where his parents had been vacationing for the summer. Birthplace: Ashfield, MA Location of death: Hollywood, CA Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: Bu. [319] The Ten Commandments is broadcast every Saturday at Passover in the United States on the ABC Television Network. [147], DeMille's next film, Samson and Delilah in 1949, became Paramount's highest-grossing film up to that time. Actor, The F.B.I. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Cecil B. DeMille. Cemetery Name: Hollywood Forever Cemetery. "A dreadful showoff. [250] Five of DeMille's film were the highest-grossing films at the year of their release, with only Spielberg topping him with six of his films as the highest-grossing films of the year. The school closed, and Beatrice filed for bankruptcy. [119] These three films, Dynamite, Madame Satan, and his 1931 remake of The Squaw Man were both critically and financially unsuccessful. [11] Henry deMille frequently collaborated with David Belasco in playwriting;[12] their best-known collaborations included "The Wife", "Lord Chumley", "The Charity Ball", and "Men and Women". Cecil Blount deMille, 12 th August 1881, Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA. Cecil was 77 years old at the time of death. Ben Gabbe/Getty. Recent images. He volunteered for the Intelligence Office during World War II as well. Cecil B. DeMille: Film director from the United States (1881 - 1959), Actor, Writer, Film producer, Film director, Film editor, Screenwriter, Playwright, Stage actor . His art was even shown at Paramount meetings when pitching new films. Eddie Murphy is going to the Golden Globes. The members rejected his proposal, even though his last two films, Samson and Delilah and The Greatest Show on Earth, had been record-breaking hits. He worked with visual technicians, editors, art directors, costume designers, cinematographers, and set carpenters in order to perfect the visual aspects of his films. [306] DeMille received a Golden Globe Award for Best Director[314] and was additionally nominated for the Best Director category at the 1953 Academy Awards for the same film. [249] Similarly, scholar David Blanke, argued that DeMille had lost the respect of his colleagues and film critics by his late film career. 1902-08-16 Filmmaker Cecil B DeMille (21) weds actress . Adams allowed DeMille to have several long term mistresses during their marriage as an outlet, while maintaining an outward appearance of a faithful marriage. The Enigmatic Pop Culture Professional. Recommended For You. [281] However, not everyone received DeMille's religious films favorably. [46] Life was difficult for DeMille and his wife as traveling actors; however, traveling allowed him to experience part of the United States he had not yet seen. For More Information . [168] Despite a cast led by Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, the 1958 film The Buccaneer was a disappointment. [58], Desiring a change of scene, Cecil B. DeMille, Jesse Lasky, Sam Goldfish (later Samuel Goldwyn), and a group of East Coast businessmen created the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company in 1913 over which DeMille became director-general. However, the films of his silent era were often thematically different from the films of his sound era. [108] The King of Kings established DeMille as "master of the grandiose and of biblical sagas". finding aid. [305] From the film industry, DeMille received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the Academy Awards in 1953,[306] and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America Award the same year. Biographer Scott Eyman suggested that this may have been a result of Adams's recent miscarriage. [238] Although he is known for his later "spectacular" films, his early films are held in high regard by critics and film historians. With his editor, Anne Bauchens, DeMille used editing techniques to allow the visual images to bring the plot to climax rather than dialogue. [202] Another important aspect of DeMille's editing technique was to put the film away for a week or two after an initial edit in order to re-edit the picture with a fresh mind. Hot! [142] Jeanie MacPherson would work as a scriptwriter for many of DeMille's films. Furthermore, DeMille's film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Academy Award for Best Story. DeMille instructed the guilty man to leave town and would never reveal his name. Date of Death: January 21, 1959. [84] While on a European vacation in 1921, DeMille contracted rheumatic fever in Paris. DeMille left a physical legacy in 1923 when, on completing The Ten Commandments, he buried the Egyptian sets in the sand dunes of Guadalupe. [207] Costume designer Dorothy Jeakins, who worked with DeMille on The Ten Commandments (1956), said that he was skilled in humiliating people. Large gallery of Cecil B. DeMille pics. Cause of death: Heart failure: Nationality: American: Occupation: Producer, director, editor, screenwriter, actor: Years active: 1913-1959: Spouse(s) Constance Adams . [note 4], While filming The Captive in 1915, an extra, Bob Fleming, died on set when another extra failed to heed to DeMille's orders to unload all guns for rehearsal. During the French New Wave, critics began to categorize certain filmmakers as auteurs such as Howard Hawks, John Ford, and Raoul Walsh. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. Consequently, he focused his efforts on his films' visuals. It was produced with a large budget and contained many special effects including an electronically operated giant squid. His silent era films often included the "battle of the sexes" theme due to the era of women's suffrage and the enlarging role of women in society. According to Simon Louvish, these films reflected DeMille's inner thoughts and opinions about marriage and human sexuality. [85][86] In addition to his Paradise, DeMille purchased a yacht in 1921 which he called The Seaward. In that respect, he was better than any of us. DeMille purchased the home in 1916 for $27,893 (Yes, five digits) and lived there with his family until his death in 1959. Name in native language: Cecil Blount DeMille: Date of birth: 12 August 1881 Ashfield: Date of death: 21 January 1959 Hollywood: Cause of death: heart failure; Place of burial: Hollywood Forever Cemetery; Pseudonym: C.B. She later became the second female play broker on Broadway. On January 8, 1893, at age 40, Henry de Mille died suddenly from typhoid fever, leaving Beatrice with three children. She was born in Canada to a Scottish schoolteacher, Edward Gabriel Lester, and his Italian-Swiss wife, Cecile Bianca Bertha (Colani) Lester. [202] DeMille was unique in using this technique. The director Cecil B. died at the age of 77. [187] It is difficult to typify DeMille's films into one specific genre. However, he did take a few months to set up a movie theater for the French front. [228] In order to attract a high-class audience, DeMille based many of his early films on stage melodramas, novels, and short stories. [292], In summer 2019, The Friends of the Pompton Lakes Library hosted a Cecil B DeMille film festival to celebrate DeMille's achievements and connection to Pompton Lakes. Notably, DeMille had cinematographer John P. Fulton create the parting of the Red Sea scene in his 1956 film The Ten Commandments, which was one of the most expensive special effects in film history, and has been called by Steven Spielberg "the greatest special effect in film history". [218][219] DeMille cast some of his performers repeatedly, including: Henry Wilcoxon,[220] Julia Faye, Joseph Schildkraut,[221] Ian Keith,[222] Charles Bickford,[223] Theodore Roberts, Akim Tamiroff[224] and William Boyd. DeMille is one of the more commercially successful film directors in history[246] with his films before the release of The Ten Commandments estimated to have grossed $650million worldwide. that DeMille found his greatest inspiration. DeMille's Ten Commandments premiered in 1956. [71] Apfel filmed most of The Squaw Man due to DeMille's inexperience; however, DeMille learned quickly and was particularly adept at impromptu screenwriting as necessary. He stands as one among the famous individuals for he was a creative filmmaker. Beatrice was intelligent, educated, forthright, and strong-willed. He adapted several of Belasco's screenplays into film. [112] He was also a real estate speculator,[113] an underwriter of political campaigns, and vice president of Bank of America. Now he wants to make the life of Moses. . [155], We have just lived through a war where our people were systematically executed. [109] Western and frontier American were also themes that DeMille returned to throughout his career. [86] A large collection of DeMille's materials including scripts, storyboards, and films resides at Brigham Young University in L. Tom Perry Special Collections. [69] DeMille rented a barn to function as their film studio. [117] He also popularized the camera crane. Still, the members unanimously approved it. However, his earlier films The Captive, Kindling, Carmen, and The Whispering Chorus are more serious films. Cecil DeMille's famous niece was named for her. [240] Moreover, before his religious-themed films, many of his silent era films revolved around "husband-and-wife-divorce-and-remarry satires", considerably more adult-themed. [14], DeMille's parents met as members of a music and literary society in New York. [301][302], Cecil B. DeMille received many awards and honors, especially later in his career. Famous Players-Lasky donated the films. I'm ready for my close-up." [132] [note 7], In 1939, DeMille's Union Pacific was successful through DeMille's collaboration with the Union Pacific Railroad. Though the film was not high-grossing, it was well-received and DeMille was asked to shorten its running time to allow for more showings per day. *mother - Ashkenazi Jewish. [177] Cecilia lived in the house for many years until her death in 1984,[178] but the house was auctioned by his granddaughter Cecilia DeMille Presley who also lived there in the late 1980s. Between 1914 and 1956, he made seventy feature films; all but seven were profitable. [78] In December 1914, Constance Adams brought home John DeMille, a fifteen-month-old, whom the couple legally adopted three years later. Belasco was known for adding realistic elements in his plays such as real flowers, food, and aromas that could transport his audiences into the scenes. "[257] The critic Camille Paglia has called The Ten Commandments one of the ten greatest films of all time. Married Life. [141], In 1942, DeMille worked with Jeanie MacPherson and brother William deMille in order to produce a film called Queen of Queens which was intended to be about Mary, mother of Jesus. However, one word is especially appropriate. [337], Charles Frohman, Constance Adams, and David Belasco, Scandalous dramas, Biblical epics, and departure from Paramount, There are several variants of DeMille's surname. imported from Wikimedia project. However, his final films maintained that DeMille was still respected by his audiences. DeMille's return was approved by Zukor under the condition that DeMille not exceed his production budget of $650,000 for The Sign of the Cross. [187] DeMille produced the majority of his films before the 1930s, and by the time sound films were invented, film critics saw DeMille as antiquated, with his best filmmaking years behind him. [129] DeMille also liked Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, finding him charismatic, tenacious, and intelligent and agreeing with Roosevelt's abhorrence of Prohibition. He was entombed at the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery (now known as Hollywood Forever). [242] Another common theme in DeMille's films is the reversal of fortune and the portrayal of the rich and the poor, including the war of the classes and man versus society conflicts such as in The Golden Chance and The Cheat. [174] DeMille left his multi-million dollar estate in Los Feliz, Los Angeles in Laughlin Park to his daughter Cecilia because his wife had dementia and was unable to care for an estate. Derided then . Self - Actor, The F.B.I. [225][226] DeMille was credited by actor Edward G. Robinson with saving his career following his eclipse in the Hollywood blacklist. After the film was shown, viewers complained that the shadows and lighting prevented the audience from seeing the actors' full faces, complaining that they would only pay half price. [188][189] DeMille recalled that one of the most influential plays he saw was Hamlet, directed by Sothern. Cecil Blount DeMille (August 12, 1881 - January 21, 1959) was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. [233] DeMille's 1956 version of The Ten Commandments, according to director Martin Scorsese, is renowned for its level of production and the care and detail that went into creating the film. [34], They were sexually incompatible; according to DeMille, Adams was too "pure" to "feel such violent and evil passions. Cecil B. DeMille was born on August 12, 1881 in Ashfield, Massachusetts, U.S., United States, is Film Director, Producer. Heart Ailment. [15] The two were married on July 1, 1876, despite Beatrice's parents' objections because of the young couple's differing religions; Beatrice converted to Episcopalianism. Cecil Blount DeMille. The film was produced on a large budget of $600,000, the most expensive production at Paramount. The play was successful, and DeMille was distraught that his childhood idol had plagiarized his work. Sitting in an IMAX Just two years before his death, and shortly after the release of his last film, The Ten Commandments, he delivered a commencement address at Brigham Young University. Let's take a look back at 20 of his greatest movies, ranked worst to best. Martin Scorsese cited Unconquered, Samson and Delilah, and The Greatest Show on Earth as DeMille films that have imparted lasting memories on him. Moreover, DeMille was audited by the Internal Revenue Service due to issues with his production company. Any problems on the set were often fixed by writers in the office rather than on the set. Consequently, his mother hired him for her agency The DeMille Play Company and taught him how to be an agent and a playwright. [206] Bernstein recalled that DeMille would scream, yell, or flatter, whatever it took to achieve the perfection he required in his films. He initially sought out William deMille. He said he was rather against union leaders such as Walter Reuther and Harry Bridges whom he compared to dictators. DeMille was omitted from the list, thought to be too unsophisticated and antiquated to be considered an auteur. [90], During World War I, the Famous Players-Lasky organized a military company underneath the National Guard called the Home Guard made up of film studio employees with DeMille as captain. Cecil B. DeMille passed away January 21, 1959, from a heart condition.