James Dean, born on 8 February
1931, in Marion, Indiana, U.S., was an
American film actor who was enshrined as a symbol of the confused,
restless, and idealistic youth of the 1950s. Although he made few films
before his death in a car accident at age 24, his performances, perhaps most
notably in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), have proved enduring.
Dean’s family moved from Indiana to California when he was five.
Following the death of his mother four years later, Dean returned to Indiana
where he was reared on a farm by an aunt and uncle. He moved back to California
after high school to study theatre for two years at the University
of California at Los Angeles. His first professional acting assignment was
for a soft drink commercial, which led to a speaking role as John the
Baptist in the television Easter special Hill Number One (1951).
He played bit parts in three Hollywood films—Fixed Bayonets (1951), Sailor
Beware (1952), and Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)—before
moving to New York City on the advice of actor James Whitmore, with whom
he had briefly studied. After a series of short-term jobs, including a brief
period as a “stunt tester” for the CBS Game Show Beat the Clock, he
was cast in a key role in the Broadway flop See the Jaguar (1952).
More successful was his sly, insinuating performance as a blackmailing
homosexual houseboy in another Broadway production, The Immoralist (1954),
a stage adaptation of André Gide's book.
The Immoralist brought
Dean to the attention of film director Elia Kazan, who cast the
23-year-old actor in the leading role of troubled teenager Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955), the screen adaptation
of John Steinbeck’s novel. On the set, Dean perpetuated his reputation for
constantly changing his character interpretation and line readings and for
deliberately baiting and challenging his fellow actors, including Julie
Harries, Raymond Massey, and Burl Ives. When East of Eden premiered,
however, Dean was seen as a movie star of the first magnitude and was nominated
for an Academy Award; it was the first acting nomination to be granted
posthumously.
Dean’s second starring film appearance, as sensitive high-school misfit
Jim Stark in director Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause (1955), made
him into the embodiment of his generation. His character defiantly rejects the
values of his elders while desperately aching to “belong” and attempting to
find a purpose in life. Dean’s performance spoke eloquently on behalf of
disenchanted, disenfranchised teenagers and gave them a hero they could
respect and admire. The classic drama also featured Natalie Wood, Sal
Mineo, and Dennis Hooper.
Dean was next cast in producer-director George Steven’s Giant (1956),
a drama set on a Texas ranch that also starred Rock Hudson and
Elizabeth Taylor. Shortly after completing the film, the restless Dean drove
off in his silver Porsche to compete in a sports car rally in Salinas,
California. Speeding down the highway, he crashed headlong into a Ford sedan
and was killed instantly. Almost immediately an intensely loyal cult was
established, and within days of his death he became a film icon. Both Rebel
Without a Cause and Giant were released posthumously,
and he received an Oscar nomination for the latter film. The James Dean
mystique continued to flourish into the 21st century.
