Editing Cecil B. DeMille (section)

====Losing interest in theater====
DeMille performed on stage with actors he later directed in films: [[Charlotte Walker (actress)|Charlotte Walker]], [[Mary Pickford]], and [[Pedro de Cordoba (actor)|Pedro de Cordoba]]. He also produced and directed plays.<ref>[http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=4709 "Cecil B. DeMille plays"]. ''Internet Broadway Database''. Retrieved: December 8, 2011.</ref> His 1905 performance in ''The Prince Chap'' as the Earl of Huntington was well received by audiences.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=24}}

DeMille wrote a few of his own plays in between stage performances, but his playwriting was less successful.{{sfn|Ringgold|Bodeen|1969|p=2}} His first play was ''The Pretender-A Play in a Prologue and 4 Acts'' set in 17th-century Russia.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=24}} Another unperformed play he wrote was ''Son of the Winds'', a mythological Native American story.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=26}} Life was difficult for DeMille and his wife as traveling actors, but travel allowed him to experience parts of the United States he had not yet seen.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=27}} DeMille sometimes worked with the director [[E. H. Sothern]], who influenced DeMille's later perfectionism.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=27}} In 1907, due to a scandal with one of Beatrice's students, [[Evelyn Nesbit]], the Henry de Mille School lost students. The school closed, and Beatrice filed for bankruptcy.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=29}} DeMille wrote another play originally called ''Sergeant Devil May Care'' and renamed ''The Royal Mounted''. He also toured with the Standard Opera Company, but there are few records of his singing ability.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=31}}

On November 5, 1908, Constance and DeMille had a daughter, Cecilia, their only biological child.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=31}} In the 1910s, DeMille began directing and producing other writers' plays.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=38}}

DeMille was poor and struggled to find work. Consequently, his mother hired him for her agency, The DeMille Play Company, and taught him how to be an agent and a playwright. He became the agency's manager and later a junior partner with his mother.<ref>{{harvnb|Ringgold|Bodeen|1969|p=1}}; {{harvnb|Presley|Vieira|2014|pp=20–21}}</ref> In 1911, DeMille became acquainted with vaudeville producer Jesse Lasky when Lasky was searching for a writer for his new musical. He initially sought out William deMille. William had been a successful playwright, but DeMille was suffering from the failure of his plays ''The Royal Mounted'' and ''The Genius''.

Beatrice introduced Lasky to Cecil DeMille instead.<ref>{{harvnb|Louvish|2007|p=45}};{{harvnb|Presley|Vieira|2014|p=21}}</ref> The collaboration of DeMille and Lasky produced a successful musical, ''California'', which opened in New York in January 1912.<ref>{{harvnb|Louvish|2007|pp=46–47}}; {{harvnb|Dick|2001|p=7}}</ref> Another DeMille-Lasky production that opened in January 1912 was ''The Antique Girl''.{{sfn|Louvish|2007|p=47}} In the spring of 1913, DeMille found success producing ''Reckless Age'' by Lee Wilson, a play about a high-society girl wrongly accused of manslaughter, starring [[Frederick Burton (actor)|Frederick Burton]] and [[Sydney Shields]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2010/New%20York%20NY%20Dramatic%20Mirror/New%20York%20NY%20Dramatic%20Mirror%201913%20Mar-Apr%201914%20Grayscale/New%20York%20NY%20Dramatic%20Mirror%201913%20Mar-Apr%201914%20Grayscale%20-%200391.pdf |title= News of Other Cities, Atlantic City| work= [[New York Dramatic Mirror]]| date= May 14, 1913| via= fultonhistory.com| access-date= }}</ref>{{sfn|Birchard|2004|p=2}} But changes in the theater rendered DeMille's [[melodrama]]s obsolete before they were produced, and true theatrical success eluded him. He produced many flops.{{sfn|Presley|Vieira|2014|p=22}} Having become uninterested in working in theater, DeMille became ignited by passion for film when he watched the 1912 French film ''[[Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth]]''.{{sfn|Dick|2001|p=7}}