Considered one of the founders of Hollywood, film producer and director Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) earned a place in moviemaking history with such religious epic films as The Ten Commandments and King of Kings.

Although he is one of the most commercially successful film directors of all time, Cecil B. DeMille has for a long time been considered at best a director of mediocre quality. Still his place in the history of Hollywood movie making is central; in fact, more than anyone else, he deserves to be called the man who founded Hollywood. As Lewis Jacobs has said--as quoted in World Film Directors: "If in the artistic perspective of American Film History, Cecil B. DeMille is valueless; in the social history of films, it is impossible to ignore him."

Religious and Theatrical Background

DeMille's father was split between wanting to be an actor and wanting to be an...