{"id":30911,"date":"2014-03-19T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T07:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=30911"},"modified":"2014-03-16T21:43:59","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T04:43:59","slug":"day-history-march-19th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/day-history-march-19th\/","title":{"rendered":"This Day in History: March 19th"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today in History: March 19, 1953<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Cecil_B_DeMille\"<\/a>On March 19, 1953, after almost 40 years of making movies, pioneering director Cecil B. DeMille was finally awarded an Oscar: \u201cBest Picture\u201d for his movie The Greatest Show on Earth<\/em>, starring Charlton Heston and Betty Hutton.<\/p>\n

DeMille was one of the visionaries behind the creation of the motion picture. Along with Jesse Lasky and Samuel Goldwyn, he formed Paramount pictures in 1913, and the following year released Hollywood\u2019s first feature length film, The Squaw Man<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In 1914, DeMille began his wildly successful writing collaboration with Jeanie Macpherson that lasted until her death in 1946. He helped launch the career of silent screen superstar Gloria Swanson with such clever romantic farces as Don\u2019t Change Your Husband<\/em> in 1919 (although he downplayed his part by saying \u201cThe public, not I, made Gloria Swanson a star.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Swanson was not the only fledgling talent DeMille sniffed out during Hollywood\u2019s early years. The roster of DeMille prot\u00e9g\u00e9es included such Hollywood luminaries as Wallace Reid, Bebe Daniels, Geraldine Farrar, Paulette Goddard, Charlton Heston and Gary Cooper, to name but a few.<\/p>\n

Cecil B. DeMille did everything in a big way. No matter what the subject – and he ran the gamut from drama to comedy, biblical epics to historical spectaculars – his films throughout his long career were always colorful (even the silents!), elaborate and sexy. DeMille was a master at balancing realism and escapism.<\/p>\n

The actors he worked with were also caught under his spell. When Gloria Swanson published her autobiography Swanson on Swanson<\/a><\/em> in 1980, her tone when referring to the man who called her \u201cYoung Fellow\u201d was always reverent and worshipful. He had numerous touching reunions through the years with thankful stars who owed him a debt of gratitude for their success.<\/p>\n

DeMille\u2019s biblical epic King of Kings<\/em> (1927) was immensely popular, and sensing he\u2019d found a winning formula, De Mille released a series of big-budget biblical and historical spectacles throughout the next two decades. By the end of his career, he had around 70 films to his credit.<\/p>\n

His films were rarely a big hit with the critics, but in the end what really matters is what the ticket-holders think, and they came out in droves for Demille\u2019s pictures since the days of silent movies until the 1950s.<\/p>\n

Cecil B. DeMille\u2019s genius and invaluable contribution to Hollywood\u2019s ascent was acknowledged in 1950 when a special Honarary Academy Award was presented to him for \u201c37 years of brilliant showmanship.\u201d The Golden Globes unveiled the Cecil B. DeMille Award for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment in 1952. The first recipient was, fittingly, Cecil B. DeMille. In 1953, the year DeMille won his lone Oscar, he was also awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n

He died in 1959.<\/p>\n

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