James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He became one of the most influential figures inHollywood in the 1950s, despite a career that lasted only five years. His impact on cinema and popular culture was profound, even though he appeared in just three major films.Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he portrayed a disillusioned and rebellious teenager,East of Eden (1955), which showcased his intense emotional range, andGiant (1956), a sprawling drama, have been preserved in theUnited States National Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress for their "cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance". He was killed ina car accident at the age of 24 in 1955, leaving him a lasting symbol of rebellion, youthful defiance, and the restless spirit.
Dean was the first actor to receive a posthumousAcademy Award nomination forBest Actor for his role inEast of Eden.[nb 1] The following year, he earned a second nomination for his performance inGiant, making him the only actor to receive two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, he was honored by theAmerican Film Institute, being ranked as the 18th greatest male film star fromGolden Age Hollywood on their "AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars" list.Time magazine recognized Dean as one of the "All-Time Most Influential Fashion Icons."
Dean's film roles and style had a strong impact on Hollywood, capturing the spirit of 1950s youth and creating an enduring legacy that shaped American pop culture and defined rebellious,countercultural attitudes for generations.
Early life and education
Dean was born on February 8, 1931, inMarion, Indiana,[4] the only child of Mildred Marie Wilson and Winton Dean. He claimed that his mother was partly Native American and that his father belonged to a "line of original settlers that could be traced back to theMayflower".[5] Six years after his father had left farming to become a dental technician, Dean moved with his family toSanta Monica, California. He was enrolled at Brentwood Public School in theBrentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles but transferred soon afterward to the McKinley Elementary School.[6] The family spent several years there, and by all accounts, Dean was very close to his mother. According to Michael DeAngelis, she was "the only person capable of understanding him".[7] In 1938, Dean's mother was suddenly struck with acute stomach pain and quickly began to lose weight. She died ofuterine cancer when Dean was nine years old.[6] Unable to care for his son, Dean's father sent him to live with his aunt and uncle, Ortense and Marcus Winslow, on their farm inFairmount, Indiana,[8] where he was raised in theirQuaker household.[9] Dean's father served inWorld War II and later remarried.[10]
In his adolescence, Dean sought the counsel and friendship of a localMethodist pastor, the Rev. James DeWeerd, who seems to have had a formative influence upon Dean, especially upon his future interests inbullfighting, car racing, and theater.[11] According to Billy J. Harbin, Dean had "an intimate relationship with his pastor, which began in his senior year of high school and endured for many years".[12][13] An alleged sexual relationship was suggested in Paul Alexander's 1994 bookBoulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Legend of James Dean.[14] In 2011, it was reported that Dean once confided inElizabeth Taylor that he was sexually abused by a minister approximately two years after his mother's death.[15] Other reports on Dean's life also suggest that he was sexually abused by DeWeerd either as a child or as a late teenager.[13][14]
Dean's overall performance in school was exceptional, and he was a popular student. He played on the baseball and varsity basketball teams, studied drama, and competed in public speaking through the Indiana High School Forensic Association.[16] After graduating from Fairmount High School in May 1949,[17] he moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother, Ethel Case Dean.[10] Dean enrolled inSanta Monica College and majored in pre-law. He transferred toUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for one semester[18] and changed his major to drama.[19] His attempt to reconcile with his father ended with an impasse of "uncommunicative antagonism" caused by Winton's efforts to direct him into a more traditional career.[20] He pledged to theSigma Nu fraternity but was never initiated.[21] While at UCLA, Dean was picked from a group of 350 actors to portray Malcolm inMacbeth.[22] At that time, he also began acting inJames Whitmore's workshop. In January 1951, he dropped out of UCLA to pursue a full-time acting career.[23][24] Of his pursuance of an acting career, Dean later said, "The decision to act was never prompted. My whole life has been spent in a dramatic display of expression."[25]
Acting career
Early career
Dean in 1953 (aged 22)
In 1950, Dean made his television debut in aPepsi commercial.[26][27] He quit college to act full-time and was cast in his first speaking part, asJohn the Apostle inHill Number One, an Easter television special dramatizing theResurrection of Jesus.[28] Dean worked at the widely filmedIverson Movie Ranch in theChatsworth area of Los Angeles during the production of the program, for which a replica of the tomb of Jesus was built on location at the ranch. Dean subsequently obtained threewalk-on roles in movies: as a soldier inFixed Bayonets! (1951), a boxing cornerman inSailor Beware (1952),[29] and a youth inHas Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952).[30] While struggling to gain roles inHollywood, Dean also worked as a parking lot attendant atCBS Studios. During that time, he met Rogers Brackett,[31] a radio director for an advertising agency, who offered him professional help and guidance in his chosen career, as well as a place to stay.[32][33] Brackett opened doors for Dean and helped him land his first starring role on Broadway inSee the Jaguar.[34]
In July 1951, Dean appeared onAlias Jane Doe, which was produced by Brackett.[35][33] In October 1951, following the encouragement of actorJames Whitmore and the advice of his mentor Rogers Brackett, Dean moved to New York City. There, he worked as a stunt tester for the game showBeat the Clock, but was subsequently fired for allegedly performing the tasks too quickly.[36] He also appeared in episodes of several CBS television series,The Web,Studio One, andLux Video Theatre, before gaining admission to theActors Studio to studymethod acting underLee Strasberg.[37] In 1952, he had a nonspeaking bit part as a pressman in the movieDeadline – U.S.A., starringHumphrey Bogart.[38]
Proud of these accomplishments, Dean referred to the Actors Studio in a 1952 letter to his family as "the greatest school of the theater. It houses great people likeMarlon Brando,Julie Harris,Arthur Kennedy,Mildred Dunnock,Eli Wallach... Very few get into it ... It is the best thing that can happen to an actor. I am one of the youngest to belong."[32] There, he was classmates and close friends withCarroll Baker, alongside whom he later starred inGiant (1956). Dean's career picked up, and he performed in further episodes of such early 1950s television shows asKraft Television Theatre,Robert Montgomery Presents,The United States Steel Hour,Danger, andGeneral Electric Theater. One early role, for the CBS seriesOmnibus in the episode "Glory in the Flower," saw Dean portraying the type of disaffected youth he later portrayed inRebel Without a Cause (1955). This summer 1953 program featured the song "Crazy Man, Crazy," one of the first dramatic TV programs to featurerock and roll.
Positive reviews for Dean's 1954 theatrical role as Bachir, a pandering homosexual North African houseboy, in an adaptation ofAndré Gide's bookThe Immoralist (1902), led to calls from Hollywood.[39] During the production ofThe Immoralist, Dean had an affair with actressGeraldine Page.[40]Angelica Page said of their relationship,
"According to my mother, their affair went on for three-and-a-half months. In many ways, my mother never really got over Jimmy. It was not unusual for me to go to her dressing room through the years, obviously many years after Dean was gone, and find pictures of him taped up on her mirror. My mother never forgot about Jimmy—never. I believe they were artistic soul mates."[40]
Page remained friends with Dean until his death and kept a number of personal mementos from the play—including several drawings by him.[41]
In 1953, directorElia Kazan was looking for a substantive actor to play the emotionally complex role of Cal Trask for screenwriterPaul Osborn's adaptation ofJohn Steinbeck's 1952 novelEast of Eden. This book deals with the story of the Trask and Hamilton families over the course of three generations, focusing especially on the lives of the latter two generations inSalinas Valley, California, from the mid-19th century through the 1910s. In contrast to the book, the film script focused on the last portion of the story, predominantly with the character of Cal. Though he initially seems more aloof and emotionally troubled than his twin brother Aron, Cal is soon seen to be more worldly, business savvy, and sensible compared to their pious and constantly disapproving father (played byRaymond Massey), who seeks to invent a vegetable refrigeration process. Cal is bothered by the mystery of their supposedly dead mother and discovers she is still alive and a brothel-keeping 'madam'; the part was played by actressJo Van Fleet.[42]
Before casting Cal, Elia Kazan said he wanted "a Brando type" for the role, and Osborn suggested Dean, a relatively unknown young actor. Dean met with Steinbeck, who did not like the moody, complex young man personally but thought him to be perfect for the part. Dean was cast in the role and, on April 8, 1954, left New York City and headed for Los Angeles to begin shooting.[43][44][45]
Much of Dean's performance in the film was unscripted,[46] including his dance in the bean field and his fetal-like posturing while riding on top of a train boxcar (after searching out his mother in nearbyMonterey). The best-known improvised sequence of the film occurs when Cal's father rejects his gift of $5,000, money Cal earned by speculating in beans before the US became involved in World War I. Instead of running away from his father as the script called for, Dean instinctively turned to Massey and, in a gesture of extreme emotion, lunged forward and grabbed him in a full embrace, crying. Kazan kept this and Massey's shocked reaction in the film. Dean's performance in the film foreshadowed his role as Jim Stark inRebel Without A Cause. Both characters are angst-ridden protagonists and misunderstood outcasts, desperately craving approval from their fathers.[47]
Even before the film's release Dean's performance was attracting attention and discussion in Hollywood circles, with film critics, producers and directors flocking to see the film in screenings before its theatrical release. Upon the film's release in March 1955, gossip columnistHedda Hopper wrote: "I can't remember when any screen newcomer generated as much excitement in Hollywood as did James Dean in his first picture,East of Eden."[48]
In recognition of his performance inEast of Eden, Dean was nominated posthumously for the 1956 Academy Awards as Best Actor in a Leading Role of 1955, the first official posthumous acting nomination in Academy Awards history.[49] (Jeanne Eagels was nominated for Best Actress in 1929,[50] when the rules for selection of the winner were different.)East of Eden was the only film starring Dean released in his lifetime.[51][52]
Dean quickly followed up his role inEden with a starring role as Jim Stark inRebel Without a Cause (1955), a film that would prove to be hugely popular among teenagers. The film has been cited as an accurate representation ofteenage angst.[53][54] FollowingEast of Eden andRebel Without a Cause, Dean wanted to avoid beingtypecast as a rebellious teenager like Cal Trask or Jim Stark, and hence took on the role of Jett Rink, a Texan ranch hand who strikes oil and becomes wealthy, inGiant, a posthumously released 1956 film. The movie portrays a number of decades in the lives of Bick Benedict, a Texas rancher, played byRock Hudson; his wife, Leslie, played byElizabeth Taylor; and Rink.[55] To portray an older version of his character in the film's later scenes, Dean dyed his hair gray and shaved some of it off to give himself a receding hairline.
Giant would prove to be Dean's last film. At the end of the film, Dean is supposed to make a drunken speech at a banquet; this is nicknamed the 'Last Supper' because it was the last scene before his sudden death. Due to his desire to make the scene more realistic by actually being inebriated for the take, Dean mumbled so much that directorGeorge Stevens decided the scene had to be overdubbed byNick Adams, who had a small role in the film because Dean had died before the film was edited. Dean received his second posthumous Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his role inGiant at the29th Academy Awards in 1957 for films released in 1956.[3] Having finishedGiant, Dean was set to star asRocky Graziano in a drama film,Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), and, according toNicholas Ray himself, he was going to do a story calledHeroic Love with the director.[56]
Personal life
ScreenwriterWilliam Bast was one of Dean's closest friends, a fact acknowledged by Dean's family.[57] According to Bast, he was Dean's roommate atUCLA and later in New York, and knew Dean throughout the last five years of his life.[58] While at UCLA, Dean datedBeverly Wills, an actress with CBS, and Jeanette Lewis, a classmate. Bast and Dean often double-dated with them. Wills began dating Dean alone, later telling Bast, "Bill, there's something we have to tell you. It's Jimmy and me. I mean, we're in love."[59]: 71 They broke up after Dean "exploded" when another man asked her to dance while they were at a function.[59]: 74 Bast, who was also Dean's first biographer,[60] would not confirm whether he and Dean had a sexual relationship until 2006.[58][61][62] In his bookSurviving James Dean, Bast was more open about the nature of his relationship with Dean, writing that they had been lovers one night while staying at a hotel inBorrego Springs.[63]
In 1996, actressLiz Sheridan detailed her relationship with Dean in New York in 1952, saying it was "just kind of magical".[64] "It was the first love for both of us."[65] While living in New York, Dean was introduced to actress Barbara Glenn by their mutual friendMartin Landau.[66] They dated for two years, often breaking up and getting back together.[66] In 2011, their love letters were sold at auction for $36,000.[67]
Early in Dean's career, after Dean signed his contract withWarner Brothers, the studio's public relations department began generating stories about Dean's liaisons with a variety of young actresses who were mostly drawn from the clientele of Dean's Hollywood agent,Dick Clayton. Studio press releases also grouped Dean together with two other actors,Rock Hudson andTab Hunter, identifying each of the men as an 'eligible bachelor' who had not yet found the time to commit to a single woman: "They say their film rehearsals are in conflict with their marriage rehearsals."[68]
Dean's best-remembered relationship was with Italian actressPier Angeli. He met Angeli while she was shootingThe Silver Chalice (1954)[69] on an adjoining Warner lot, and they exchanged items of jewelry as love tokens.[70] Angeli, during an interview 14 years after their relationship ended, described their times together:
We used to go together to the California coast and stay there secretly in a cottage on a beach far away from prying eyes. We'd spend much of our time on the beach, sitting there or fooling around, just like college kids. We would talk about ourselves and our problems, about the movies and acting, about life and life after death. We had a complete understanding of each other. We were likeRomeo and Juliet, together and inseparable. Sometimes on the beach we loved each other so much we just wanted to walk together into the sea holding hands because we knew then that we would always be together.[59]: 196
Dean was quoted saying about Angeli, "Everything about Pier is beautiful, especially her soul. She doesn't have to be all gussied up. She doesn't have to do or say anything. She's just wonderful as she is. She has a rare insight into life."[71]
Dean in 1955
Those who believed Dean and Angeli were deeply in love claimed that a number of forces led them apart. Angeli's mother disapproved of the fact that he was not a Catholic, and of his casual dress, saying that his behavior was not acceptable in Italy. In addition, Warner Bros., where he worked, tried to talk him out of marrying and he himself told Angeli that he did not want to get married.[59]: 197 Richard Davalos, Dean'sEast of Eden co-star, claimed that Dean in fact wanted to marry Angeli and was willing to allow their children to be brought up Catholic.[72] An Order for the Solemnization of Marriage pamphlet with the name "Pier" lightly penciled in every place the bride's name is left blank was found among Dean's personal effects after his death.[73]
Some commentators, such as William Bast and Paul Alexander, believe the relationship was a mere publicity stunt.[74][75] In his autobiography,Elia Kazan, the director ofEast of Eden, dismissed the notion that Dean could possibly have had any success with women, although he remembered hearing Dean and Angeli loudly making love in Dean's dressing room.[76] Kazan was quoted by author Paul Donnelley as saying about Dean, "He always had uncertain relations with girlfriends."[77] Pier Angeli talked only once about the relationship in her later life in an interview, giving vivid descriptions of romantic meetings at the beach. Dean biographer John Howlett said these read like wishful fantasies,[78] as Bast claims them to be.[32]
After finishing his role forEast of Eden, Dean took a brief trip to New York in October 1954.[59]: 197 While he was away, Angeli unexpectedly announced her engagement to Italian-American singerVic Damone. The press was shocked and Dean expressed his irritation.[79] Angeli married Damone the following month. Gossip columnists reported that Dean watched the wedding from across the road on his motorcycle, even gunning the engine during the ceremony. However, Dean later denied doing anything so "dumb".[59] Angeli, who later divorced Damone and then her second husband, the Italian film composerArmando Trovajoli, was said by friends in the last years of her life to claim that Dean was the love of her life. She died from an overdose of barbiturates in 1971 at the age of 39.[80] Dean also dated Swiss actressUrsula Andress.[81] "She was seen riding around Hollywood on the back of James's motorcycle," writes biographer Darwin Porter. She was also seen with Dean in his sports cars and was with him on the day he bought the car he died in.[82]
Dean in 1955
In 1974, a documentary titledJames Dean Remembered highlighted significant moments from Dean's career in film and television and featured interviews with notable figures such asSammy Davis Jr.,Natalie Wood,Sal Mineo, andLeonard Rosenman. In the documentary, Rosenman contended that fans often admired Dean for traits he actually despised in himself, such as his rebellious and eccentric image. He emphasized that, rather than embracing this persona, Dean had a profound desire for "peace and intellectual growth". While he felt compelled to adopt a rebellious identity reminiscent ofMarlon Brando's character inThe Wild One, he ultimately sought to distance himself from that image, which prompted him to pursue therapy later in life.[83]Natalie Wood also offered insights into Dean's behavior, suggesting it stemmed from an emotional need for connection rather than mere rebellion. She noted that he sought love and attention, expressing a desire for others to listen to him instead of rejecting him. Though often perceived as a nonconformist and eccentric, Wood pointed out that many of Dean's actions—like avoiding suits and social functions—are less uncommon today. She characterized him in an interview byPeter Lawford: "But I think he was not into drugs or anything very spooky or weird. I think he was a very healthy young man... Very moody and poetic. But not freaked out or drugged out or anything like that."[84]
Dean and his Porsche Super Speedster 23F at Palm Springs Races March 1955
In 1954, Dean became interested in developing a career inmotorsport. He purchased various vehicles after filming forEast of Eden had concluded, including aTriumph Tiger T110 and aPorsche 356.[85][86] Just before filming began onRebel Without a Cause, he competed in his first professional event at the Palm Springs Road Races, which was held inPalm Springs, California, on March 26–27, 1955. Dean achieved first place in the novice class and second place at the main event. His racing continued inBakersfield a month later, where he finished first in his class and third overall.[87] Dean hoped to compete in theIndianapolis 500, but his busy schedule made it impossible.[88]
Dean's final race occurred inSanta Barbara on Memorial Day, May 30, 1955. He was unable to finish the competition due to a blownpiston.[87][89] His brief career was put on hold when Warner Brothers barred him from all racing during the production ofGiant.[90] Dean had finished shooting his scenes, and the movie was in post-production when he decided to race again.
Accident and aftermath
The intersection of State Route 46 and State Route 41 was renamed "James Dean Memorial Junction". However, the actual accident location is approximately 100 feet (0.019 mi) to the south due to road realignment.
Longing to return to the "liberating prospects" of motor racing, Dean traded in his Speedster for a new, more powerful, and faster 1955Porsche 550 Spyder and entered the upcoming Salinas Road Race event scheduled for October 1–2, 1955.[91] Accompanying the actor on his way to the track on September 30 were stunt coordinatorBill Hickman,Collier's photographerSanford Roth, andRolf Wütherich, the German mechanic from the Porsche factory who maintained Dean's Spyder, "Little Bastard" car.[92][93] Wütherich, who had encouraged Dean to drive the car from Los Angeles to Salinas to break it in, accompanied Dean in the Porsche. At 3:30 pm, Dean was ticketed for speeding, as was Hickman, who was following behind in another car.[94]
On September 30,[95] as the group was driving westbound onU.S. Route 466[96] (currentlySR 46) nearCholame, California, at approximately 5:45 pm,[97] a1950 Ford Tudor, driven by 23-year-oldCalifornia Polytechnic State University student Donald Turnupseed, was travelling east. Turnupseed made a left turn onto Highway 41 headed north, toward Fresno[98] ahead of the oncoming Porsche.[92][99][100] Dean, unable to stop in time, slammed into the passenger side of the Ford, resulting in Dean's car bouncing across the pavement onto the side of the highway. Dean's passenger, Wütherich, was thrown from the Porsche, while Dean was trapped in the car and sustained numerous fatal injuries, including a broken neck.[101] Turnupseed had only minor injuries.[102]
The accident was witnessed by a number of passersby who stopped to help. Dean's biographer, George Perry, wrote that a woman with nursing experience attended to Dean and detected a weak pulse. Still, he also contrarily wrote that "death appeared to have been instantaneous".[101] Dean was pronounceddead on arrival shortly after he arrived by ambulance at the Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital at 6:20 pm.[103]
Though initially slow to reach newspapers in the Eastern United States, details of Dean's death rapidly spread via radio and television. By October 2, his death had received significant coverage from domestic and foreign media outlets.[104][105] Dean's funeral was held on October 8, 1955, at the Fairmount Friends Church inFairmount, Indiana. The coffin remained closed to conceal his severe injuries. An estimated 600 mourners were in attendance, while another 2,400 fans gathered outside the building during the procession.[104] He is buried at Park Cemetery in Fairmount.[106]
James Dean monument at Cholame, half a mile from the site of the fatal accident
An inquest placed fault for the accident entirely with Dean.[107] There is a James Dean monument, financed by a Japanese businessman, in front of the former Cholame post office (which closed in 1994) and a restaurant (until its closure in 2022), one half-mile from the site of the accident.[108][109][110]
Legacy
Cinema and television
In 1960, Dean received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.[111] In 1999, theAmerican Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star ofGolden Age Hollywood in theAFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.[112] All three of Dean's films have been preserved in the United StatesNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress.[113] American teenagers of the mid-1950s, when Dean's major films were first released, identified with Dean and the roles he played, especially that of Jim Stark inRebel Without a Cause. The film depicts the dilemma of a typical teenager of the time, who feels that no one, not even his peers, can understand him.Humphrey Bogart commented after Dean's death about his public image and legacy: "Dean died at just the right time. He left behind a legend. If he had lived, he'd never have been able to live up to his publicity."[114]
Joe Hyams says that Dean was "one of the rare stars, likeRock Hudson andMontgomery Clift, whom both men and women find sexy."[115] According toMarjorie Garber, this quality is "the undefinable extra something that makes a star".[116] Dean's appeal has been attributed to the public's need for someone to stand up for the disenfranchised young of the era,[117] and to the air ofandrogyny that he projected onscreen.[118]
Dean has been a touchstone of many television shows, films, books, and plays. The filmSeptember 30, 1955 (1977) depicts how various characters in a small Southern town in the US react to Dean's death.[119] The playCome Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, written by Ed Graczyk, depicts a reunion of Dean fans on the 20th anniversary of his death. It was staged by the directorRobert Altman in 1982 but was poorly received and closed after only 52 performances. While the play was still running on Broadway, Altman shot afilm adaptation that was released byCinecom Pictures in November 1982.[120]
On April 20, 2010, a long "lost" live episode of theGeneral Electric Theater called "The Dark, Dark Hours" featuring Dean in a performance withRonald Reagan was uncovered by NBC writerWayne Federman while working on a Ronald Reagan television retrospective.[121] The episode, originally broadcast December 12, 1954,[122] drew international attention and highlights were featured on numerous national media outlets including:CBS Evening News,NBC Nightly News, andGood Morning America. It was later revealed that some footage from the episode was first featured in the 2005 documentary,James Dean: Forever Young.[123]
James Dean's estate still earns about $5,000,000 per year, according toForbes magazine.[124] On November 6, 2019, it was announced that Dean's likeness would be used, viaCGI, for aVietnam War film calledFinding Jack, based on the Gareth Crocker novel. Prior to being shelved,[125] the movie was to have been directed byAnton Ernst and Tati Golykh and another actor would voice Dean's part.[126] Although the directors obtained the rights to use Dean's image from his family, the announcement was met with derision by people in the industry.[126][127]
Martin Sheen has been vocal throughout his career about being influenced by James Dean.[128] Speaking of the impact Dean had on him, Sheen stated, "All of his movies had a profound effect on my life, in my work and all of my generation. He transcended cinema acting. It was no longer acting; it was human behavior."[129] ForTerrence Malick's debut filmBadlands, Sheen based his characterization of Kit Carruthers, aspree killer loosely inspired byCharles Starkweather, on Dean.[130]
Johnny Depp credited Dean as the catalyst for his wanting to become an actor.[131]Nicolas Cage also said he wanted to go into acting because of Dean.[132] "I started acting because I wanted to be James Dean. I saw him inRebel Without a Cause,East of Eden. Nothing affected me – no rock song, no classical music – the way Dean affected me inEden. It blew my mind. I was like, 'That's what I want to do,'" Cage said.[133]Robert De Niro cited Dean as one of his acting inspirations in an interview.[134]Leonardo DiCaprio also cited Dean as one of his favorite and most influential actors.[135] When asked about which performances stayed with him the most in an interview, DiCaprio responded, "I remember being incredibly moved by Jimmy Dean, inEast of Eden. There was something so raw and powerful about that performance. His vulnerability ... his confusion about his entire history, his identity, his desperation to be loved. That performance just broke my heart."[136]Salman Shah, commonly regarded as one of the most popular and influential figures in Bangladesh's film history,[137] is often compared to James Dean, due to the similarities in their lives and careers. Shah had an ephemeral but prolific impact as an actor, was a major enthusiast of fashion and automobiles, died when he was 24, the exact same age as Dean, and has an enduring legacy.[138]
Youth culture and music
Numerous commentators have asserted that Dean had a singular influence on the development ofrock and roll music. According to David R. Shumway, a researcher in American culture and cultural theory atCarnegie Mellon University, Dean was the first notable figure of youthful rebellion and "a harbinger of youth-identity politics". The persona Dean projected in his movies, especiallyRebel Without a Cause, influencedElvis Presley[139] and many other musicians who followed,[140] including the American rockersEddie Cochran andGene Vincent.
In their book,Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause, Lawrence Frascella andAl Weisel wrote, "Ironically, thoughRebel had no rock music on its soundtrack, the film's sensibility—and especially the defiant attitude and effortless cool of James Dean—would have a great impact on rock. The music media would often see Dean and rock as inextricably linked [...] The industry trade magazineMusic Connection even went so far as to call Dean 'the first rock star.'"[141]
Bronze bust of Dean created by sculptor Kenneth Kendall at theGriffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California[142]
As rock and roll became a revolutionary force that affected the culture of countries around the world,[143] Dean acquired a mythic status that cemented his place as a rock and roll icon.[144] Dean himself listened to music ranging from African tribal music[145] to the modern classical music ofStravinsky[146] andBartók,[147] as well as to contemporary singers such asFrank Sinatra.[146] While the magnetism and charisma manifested by Dean onscreen appealed to people of all ages and sexuality,[148] his persona of youthful rebellion provided a template for succeeding generations of youth to model themselves on.[149][150]
In his book,The Origins of Cool in Postwar America, Joel Dinerstein describes how Dean and Marlon Brando eroticized the rebel archetype in film,[151] and how Elvis Presley, following their lead, did the same in music. Dinerstein details the dynamics of this eroticization and its effect on teenage girls with few sexual outlets.[152] Presley said in a 1956 interview withLloyd Shearer forParade magazine, "I've made a study of Marlon Brando. And I've made a study of poor Jimmy Dean. I've made a study of myself, and I know why girls, at least the young 'uns, go for us. We're sullen, we're broodin', we're something of a menace. I don't understand it exactly, but that's what the girls like in men. I don't know anything about Hollywood, but I know you can't be sexy if you smile. You can't be a rebel if you grin."[153]
Dean and Presley have often been represented in academic literature and in journalism as embodying the frustration felt by young white Americans with the values of their parents,[154][155] and depicted as avatars of the youthful unrest endemic to rock and roll style and attitude. The rock historianGreil Marcus characterized them as symbols of tribal teenage identity, which provided an image that young people in the 1950s could relate to and imitate.[156][157] In the bookLonely Places, Dangerous Ground: Nicholas Ray in American Cinema, Paul Anthony Johnson wrote that Dean's acting inRebel Without a Cause provided a "performance model for Presley,Buddy Holly, andBob Dylan, all of whom borrowed elements of Dean's performance in their own carefully constructed star personas".[158] Frascella and Weisel wrote, "As rock music became the defining expression of youth in the 1960s, the influence ofRebel was conveyed to a new generation."[141]
Rock musicians as diverse as Buddy Holly,[159] Bob Dylan, andDavid Bowie regarded Dean as a formative influence.[160] The playwright and actorSam Shepard interviewed Dylan in 1986 and wrote a play based on their conversation, in which Dylan discusses the early influence of Dean on him personally.[161] A young Bob Dylan, still in hisfolk music period, consciously evoked Dean visually on the cover of his album,The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963),[162] and later onHighway 61 Revisited (1965),[163] cultivating an image that his biographerBob Spitz called "James Dean with a guitar".[164] Dean has long been invoked in the lyrics of rock songs, famously in songs such as "A Young Man Is Gone" by theBeach Boys (1963),[165] "James Dean" by theEagles (1974),[166] and "James Dean" by theGoo Goo Dolls (1989).[167] He has also been referenced in some pop songs of the 2010s, such as "Blue Jeans" byLana Del Rey (2012), "Style" byTaylor Swift (2014),[168] "Ghost Town" byAdam Lambert (2015), and "Ordinary Life" byThe Weeknd (2016).
Sexuality
Dean is often considered a sexual icon because of his perceived experimental take on life, which included his ambivalent sexuality. TheGay Times Readers' Awards cited him as the greatest male gay icon of all time.[169] When questioned about hissexual orientation, Dean is reported to have said, "No, I am not a homosexual. But I'm also not going to go through life with one hand tied behind my back."[170]
JournalistJoe Hyams suggests that Dean was willing to have sex with men who could advance his career. He moved in with Rogers Brackett, an advertising executive who had connections in the entertainment industry and supposedly arranged meetings with them on Dean's behalf, leading to speculation that Dean was having sex "for trade".[171]William Bast referred to Dean as Rogers Brackett's "kept boy" and once found a grotesque depiction of a lizard with the head of Brackett in a sketchbook belonging to Dean.[172] Brackett was quoted saying about their relationship, "My primary interest in Jimmy was as an actor—his talent was so obvious. Secondarily, I loved him, and Jimmy loved me. If it was a father-son relationship, it was also somewhat incestuous."[173] James Bellah, the son ofAmerican Western authorJames Warner Bellah, was a friend of Dean's at UCLA, and later stated, "Dean was a user. I don't think he was homosexual. But if he could get something by performing an act ... Once ... at an agent's office, Dean told me that he had spent the summer as a 'professional house guest' onFire Island."[174]Mark Rydell also stated, "I don't think he was essentially homosexual. I think that he had very big appetites, and I think he exercised them."[175]
However, the "trade only" notion is contradicted by several Dean biographers.[176] Aside from Bast's account of his own relationship with Dean, Dean's fellow motorcyclist and "Night Watch" member,John Gilmore, claimed that he and Dean "experimented" with gay sex on multiple occasions in New York, describing their sexual encounters as "Bad boys playing bad boys while opening up thebisexual sides of ourselves."[177] Gilmore later stated that he believed Dean was more gay than bisexual.[178]
On the subject of Dean's sexuality,Rebel directorNicholas Ray is on record saying, "James Dean was not straight, he was not gay, he was bisexual. That seems to confuse people, or they just ignore the facts. Some—most—will say he was heterosexual, and there's some proof for that, apart from the usual dating of actresses his age. Others will say no, he was gay, and there's some proof for that, too, keeping in mind that it's always tougher to get that kind of proof. But Jimmy himself said more than once that he swung both ways, so why all the mystery or confusion?"[179][180]Martin Landau, a good friend of Dean's whom he met at theActors Studio, stated, "A lot of people say Jimmy was hell-bent on killing himself. Not true. A lot of gay guys make him out to be gay. Not true. When Jimmy and I were together, we'd talk about girls. Actors and girls. We were kids in our early 20s. That was what we aspired to."[181]Elizabeth Taylor, whom Dean had become friends with while working together onGiant, referred to Dean as gay during a speech at theGLAAD Media Awards in 2000.[182] When questioned about Dean's sexuality by the openly gay journalistKevin Sessums forPOZ magazine, Taylor responded, "He hadn't made up his mind. He was only 24 when he died. But he was certainly fascinated by women. He flirted around. He and I ... twinkled."[183]
Fashion
James Dean's signature style, consisting of jeans, a white T-shirt, and amotorcycle jacket,[184] left a lasting mark on youth culture and influenced broader fashion trends. In modern times, his casual look has become a universal wardrobe staple, with his style continuing to influence men's fashion, as seen in the clothes worn by celebrities and actors.[185][186]
James Dean has been recognized byTIME as one of the "ALL TIME 100 Fashion Icons", highlighting his lasting impact on style and pop culture.[187]Montblanc honored Dean as part of its"Great Characters" collection which celebrates influential figures from various fields who have had a lasting impact on culture and society.[188]Harper's Bazaar ranked James Dean as the top choice in their 2024 list of "The 50 Hottest Men of All Time."[189]
James Dean Remembered (1974), a television film, highlights significant moments from Dean's career in film and television and features interviews withSammy Davis Jr.,Natalie Wood,Sal Mineo, andLeonard Rosenman.
Forever James Dean (1988), Warner Home Video (1995).
James Dean: The Final Day (1991) features interviews withWilliam Bast,Liz Sheridan, andMaila Nurmi. Dean's bisexuality is openly discussed. Episode ofNaked Hollywood television miniseries produced by The Oxford Film Company in association with theBBC, aired in the United States on theA&E Network.
James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997), starringCasper Van Dien as Dean.
James Dean – Outside the Lines (2002), episode ofBiography, an American television documentary includes interviews withRod Steiger,William Bast, andMartin Landau.
Living Famously: James Dean (2003, 2006), an Australian television biography, includes interviews withMartin Landau,Betsy Palmer,William Bast, and Bob Hinkle.
James Dean – Kleiner Prinz, Little Bastard akaJames Dean – Little Prince, Little Bastard (2005), German television biography, includes interviews withWilliam Bast, Marcus Winslow Jr., andRobert Heller.
James Dean: Forever Young (2005), narrated byMartin Sheen.
^Jeanne Eagles was nominated posthumously forBest Actress for her role inThe Letter at the2nd Academy Awards in 1930, though hers, like all the nominations at the 2nd Academy Awards, was unofficial, being among several actresses "under consideration" by a board of judges.[1] This makes Dean the first actor in the history of the Academy Awards to be nominated posthumously.[2][3]
^abSee also Joe and Jay Hyams, James Dean: Little Boy Lost (1992), p. 20, who present an account alleging Dean's molestation as a teenager by his early mentor DeWeerd and describe it as Dean's first homosexual encounter (although DeWeerd himself largely portrayed his relationship with Dean as a completely conventional one).
^abPaul Alexander,Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Legend of James Dean, Viking, 1994, p. 44.
^In his 1992 biography,James Dean: Little Boy Lost, Hollywood gossip columnistJoe Hyams, who claims to have known Dean personally, devotes an entire chapter to Dean's relationship with Angeli.
^Middlecamp, David (September 30, 2005)."Photos From the Vault".SanLuisObispo.com. Archived fromthe original on October 6, 2013. RetrievedOctober 6, 2013.
^Goodman, Ezra (September 24, 1956). "Delirium over dead star".Life. Vol. 41, no. 13. pp. 75–88.
^"Movie Star James Dean Dies in Auto Crash".San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune. October 1, 1955. p. 1.
^Wilson, Scott.Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 11495-11496). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
^Marjorie B. Garber,Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life (2000), p. 140. See also "Bisexuality and Celebrity." In Rhiel and Suchoff,The Seductions of Biography, p. 18.
^Perry, G.,James Dean, p. 204, New York, DK Publishing, Inc., 2005
^Burton W. Peretti (February 1, 1998).Jazz in American Culture. Ivan R. Dee. p. 128.ISBN978-1-4617-1304-3.One of them, Elvis Presley, brilliantly blended black blues and gospel with the white actor James Dean's movie persona.
^David R. Shumway (January 19, 2015)."Rock Stars as Icons". In Andy Bennett; Steve Waksman (eds.).The SAGE Handbook of Popular Music. SAGE Publications. p. 304.ISBN978-1-4739-1099-7.
^Yuwu Song (March 26, 2015)."James Dean (1931–1955)". In Gina Misiroglu (ed.).American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History. Routledge. p. 200.ISBN978-1-317-47729-7.
^Doug Owram (June 1997).Born at the Right Time: A History of the Baby-boom Generation. University of Toronto Press. p. 196.ISBN978-0-8020-8086-8.The sense of alienation from society and distrust of authority that was inherent in the leather jacket of James Dean or the blue jeans of Elvis Presley was incorporated into the modern sensibility of youth
^Howes, Keith (2005)."James Dean". In Aldrich, Robert; Wotherspoon, Garry (eds.).Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History Vol.2: From World War II to the Present Day. Routledge. p. 268.ISBN978-1-134-58313-3.
^Donald Spoto,Rebel: The Life and Legend of James Dean (HarperCollins, 1996), pp. 150–151. See also Val Holley,James Dean: The Biography, pp. 6, 7, 8, 78, 80, 85, 94, 153.
Beath, Warren:Death of James Dean. Grove Press, 1986.ISBN0-394-55758-1
Beath, Warren, with Wheeldon, Paula; James Dean in Death: A Popular Encyclopedia of a Celebrity Phenomenon, McFarland & Co., Inc., 2005.ISBN0-7864-2000-6
Colavito, Jason:Jimmy: The Secret Life of James Dean. Rowman & Littlefield, 2024.ISBN978-1-4930-8565-1
Dalton, David:James Dean-The Mutant King: A Biography. Chicago Review Press, 2001.ISBN1-55652-398-X
Frascella, Lawrence and Weisel, Al:Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause. Touchstone, 2005.ISBN0-7432-6082-1
Gilmore, John :Live Fast-Die Young: Remembering the Short Life of James Dean. Thunder's Mouth Press, 1998.ISBN1-56025-169-7
Gilmore, John:The Real James Dean. Pyramid Books, 1975.ISBN0-515-03814-8
Heinrichs, Steve; Marinello, Marco; Perrin, Jim; Raskin, Lee; Stoddard, Charles A; Zigg, Donald; Porsche Speedster TYP540: Quintessential Sports Car, 2004, Big Lake Media, Inc.ISBN0-9746468-0-6
Holley, Val:James Dean: The Biography. St. Martin's Griffin, 1996.ISBN0-312-15156-X
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