"Every Monday night from June 1, 1936 until January 22, 1945,
DeMille was the director and host of Lux Radio Theater a popular
weekly show what under his aegis dramatized successful films,
cast with the original stars whenever possible. The show attracted
an audience of over 40,000,000 listeners and made Cecil's voice
immediately recognizable and DeMille a household name. In terms
of personal publicity and money (he received a $100,000 yearly
salary), Lux Radio Theater was a great boon to him. However,
California's November 1944 general election ballot carried a
proposition (number twelve) to abolish the closed shop in the
state and give every Californian, union and non union, the right
to obtain a hold on any job. The American Federation of Radio
Artists assessed each of its members one dollar to fight Proposition
Twelve. A payment was required and refusal meant automatic suspension.
Cecil was for (and ultimately voted for) this proposition, and
not only refused to pay the token assessed amount, but would
not permit his sponsor, Lever Brothers, to pay the dollar for
him. Lever Brothers had no alternative but to cancel his contract.
Cecil never regretted his stand, but the last radio adaptation
under his direction, Tender Comrade (a few years later, ironically,
to become a picture labeled "red" by Joseph McCarthy's probe
into Communism in Hollywood), starring Olivia de Havilland, June
Deprez, and Dennis O'Keef, was a sad parting. Lux Radio Theater
managed to survive another decade under a series of directors,
its audience diminishing yearly. But it was generally associated
with Cecil's name, the aura of his personality hovering over
until its demise."
| Quote from: The DeMilles An American
Family by Anne Edwards, 1988 Harry N. Abrams,
Inc., Publishers, New York |
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