Q 01/05

In which Massachusetts town was Cecil B. DeMille born in 1881, while his parents were on summer vacation?

A) Ashfield

B) Amherst

C) Northampton

D) Great Barrington

Answer · why

A) Ashfield

The family was back in its New York flat within three weeks, and he was raised in New York City.

Q 02/05

How many feature films did DeMille create between 1914 and 1958?

A) 70

B) 30

C) 120

D) 50

Answer · why

A) 70

He is called the most commercially successful producer-director in film history, often with three or four films dominating the box office at once.

Q 03/05

Why did DeMille adopt the spelling 'DeMille' rather than the family's 'de Mille'?

A) A studio typist misspelled it

B) He thought it would look better on a marquee

C) To distance himself from his brother

D) A numerologist advised it

Answer · why

B) He thought it would look better on a marquee

His grandfather had already added the 'le' to the original 'de Mil' for 'visual symmetry'; his children and niece Agnes kept 'de Mille'.

Q 04/05

DeMille's father Henry, a playwright, frequently collaborated with which legendary Broadway impresario?

A) Charles Frohman

B) Florenz Ziegfeld

C) David Belasco

D) George M. Cohan

Answer · why

C) David Belasco

Belasco's realistic staging and dramatic lighting shaped DeMille's showmanship, though Belasco later plagiarized one of DeMille's ideas.

Q 05/05

Which famous sharpshooter neighbor practiced by shooting mud balls young Cecil threw in the air?

A) Calamity Jane

B) Buffalo Bill

C) Annie Oakley

D) Wild Bill Hickok

Answer · why

C) Annie Oakley

John Philip Sousa was also a family friend at the estate called 'Pamlico'.