Cecil B. DeMille
The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur Director, Hollywood Pioneer
The Original Hollywood Leo
Cecil B. DeMille invented the Hollywood blockbuster before the word existed. His epic films — The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, Cleopatra — required thousands of extras, revolutionary sets, and a Leo’s absolute conviction that bigger is always better. He was directing films in 1914 and his last film came out in 1956: a Leo career spanning half a century.
Leo Legacy
- The Ten Commandments: 1956 remake — 98 million US viewers when first shown on TV, still watched
- The Birth of Hollywood: His 1913 The Squaw Man was one of first films made in Hollywood
- Showmanship: Popularized the ‘making of’ featurette, the film premiere, the star system
- Irving G. Thalberg Award: Honorary Oscar in 1950 for distinguished service to the film industry
DeMille’s Leo grandiosity turned cinema into spectacle — every movie since borrows from him.
“The greatest art in the world is the art of storytelling.”