The legendary Cecil B. DeMille was both an American film director and an Academy Award winning film producer.
He brought us such great films as Cleopatra, Samson and Delilah and his last, and most successful film, The Ten Commandments. One of my personal favorites of his was The Greatest Show on Earth, which one the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1952.
DeMille began his career on Broadway and moved to film in 1913. He directed dozens of silent films before the “talkies” came along.
DeMille suffered a heart attack during the filming of The Ten Commandments, but he returned to the set against his doctors orders. He died from heart failure on January 21, 1959. He was 75.