His parents Henry C. DeMille and Beatrice DeMille wrote plays. Henry died when he was 12 and his mother supported the family by opening a school for girls and a theatrical company. Too young to enlist in the Spanish-American War he followed his brother William to the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts, making his stage debut in 1900. For twelve years he was actor/manager of his mother's company. In 1913 he, Jesse L. Lasky and Sam Goldwyn formed the Lasky (Paramount) film company and, the next ...[Read Story]