Cecil B. DeMille - Legacy and Honors

Legacy and Honors

A majority of the DeMille motion picture library now resides with EMKA, Ltd., through the television division of NBC Universal, due to Paramount Pictures' losing the rights to the DeMille films in 1958 to EMKA, so technically it is Universal Pictures that now oversees a vast part of DeMille's motion picture career as well as its related archival material. Samson and Delilah, although pre-1950, has been retained by Paramount, as are all the DeMille/Paramount silent films produced before 1928, and all sound films produced after 1950—television distribution for those films is handled by Trifecta Entertainment & Media. One pre-1950 film, Madam Satan, produced by MGM, is now owned by Warner Bros. Pictures (through Turner Entertainment).

In the mid-1950s, DeMille oversaw the development of a family of distinctive uniforms designed for use by the cadets at the new Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colarado. For this, he received the Defense Department's Exceptional Service Award.

In 1955 and 1957, DeMille was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.

The former film building at Chapman University in Orange, California is named in honor of DeMille. The Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts now resides in Marion Knotts Studios.

The Golden Globe's annual Cecil B. DeMille Award recognizes lifetime achievement in the film industry.

Two schools are named after him, Cecil B. DeMille Middle school, in Long Beach, California, and Cecil B. DeMille elementary school in Midway City, California.

With DeMille renowned for his flamboyance and showmanship, Queen frontman Freddie Mercury famously said of his band, "We're the Cecil B. DeMille of rock and roll, always wanting to do things bigger and better".

The name of Ciby 2000, the French film production and distribution company founded in 1990, is a play on words on DeMille's name, since "2000" in French is "Deux Milles".