James Byron Dean
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James Dean died in a car crash at age 24 on September 30, 1955, two hours after receiving a speeding ticket. He starred in only three major films: East of Eden 1955, Rebel Without a Cause 1955, and Giant 1956. He is the first actor to receive an Academy Award nomination posthumously.
Names, aliases, and relatives of James Dean — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
James Dean by the numbers — life, work, and family.
James Dean — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
When James Dean was nine, his mother Mildred Marie Wilson died of cancer, and he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana. His father Winton Dean, a dental technician, remained distant. Dean excelled in art and developed a love for acting in high school. After graduating, he moved to New York to pursue acting, sleeping in his car when he could not afford rent.
Dean’s first screen appearance was a Pepsi-Cola commercial in 1950. He earned rave reviews for his stage role as an Arab boy in The Immoralist, which led to a Hollywood contract. His breakout came in Elia Kazan’s East of Eden 1955, playing Cal Trask opposite Julie Harris. That same year, he played the brooding teenager Jim Stark in Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause. His final role, the oil-rich cowhand Jett Rink in George Stevens’s Giant 1956, was released after his death.
Dean was in love with Italian actress Pier Angeli, but her mother blocked their marriage because Dean was not Catholic; Angeli later married Vic Damone. He had a relationship with Liz Sheridan. He wore thick eyeglasses off-camera due to severe nearsightedness. He loved animals and kept a Siamese kitten named Marcus, a gift from Elizabeth Taylor.
James Dean became a cult icon after his sudden death. He is the only actor to receive posthumous Oscar nominations for his first and last film—East of Eden 1955 and Giant 1956. He inspired Elvis Presley, who idolized him and pursued acting because of Dean. Leonardo DiCaprio cited Dean’s performance in East of Eden as a factor in his own career choice. The crash site on California State Route 46 still draws fans. Dean was ranked #33 on Empire‘s 1997 list of the Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time.
The complete filmography of James Dean — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by James Dean — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from James Dean — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Only the Gentle Are Ever Really Strong.
Gratification Comes in the Doing, Not in the Results.
Dream as If You’ll Live Forever. Live as If You’ll Die Today.
An Actor Must Interpret Life And, in Order to Do So, Must Be Willing to Accept All the Experiences Life Has to Offer. in Fact, He Must Seek Out More of Life Than Life Puts at His Feet. in the Short Span of His Lifetime, an Actor Must Learn All There Is to Know, Experience All There Is to Experience, or Approach That State as Closely as Possible. He Must Be Superhuman in His Efforts to Store Away in the Core of His Subconscious Everything That He Might Be Called Upon to Use in the Expression of His Art.
It Was an Accident, Although I’ve Been Involved in Some Kind of Theatrical Function or Other Since I Was a Child: in School, Music, Athletics. to Me, Acting Is the Most Logical Way for People’s Neuroses to Manifest Themselves, in This Great Need We All Have to Express Ourselves. to My Way of Thinking, an Actor’s Course Is Set Even Before He’s Out of the Cradle.
To Grasp the Full Significance of Life Is the Actor’s Duty; to Interpret It His Problem and to Express It His Dedication. Being an Actor Is the Loneliest Thing in the World. You Are All Alone with Your Concentration and Imagination, and That’s All You Have. Being a Good Actor Isn’t Easy. Being a Man Is Even Harder. I Want to Be Both Before I’m Done.
Studying Cows, Pigs and Chickens Can Help an Actor Develop His Character. There Are a Lot of Things I Learned from Animals. One Was That They Couldn’t Hiss or Boo Me. I Also Became Close to Nature and Am Now Able to Appreciate the Beauty with Which This World Is Endowed.
When an Actor Plays a Scene Exactly the Way a Director Orders, It Isn’t Acting. It’s Following Instructions. Anyone with the Physical Qualifications Can Do That. so the Director’s Task Is Just That to Direct, to Point the Way. Then the Actor Takes Over. and He Must Be Allowed the Space, the Freedom to Express Himself in the Role. Without That Space, an Actor Is No More Than an Unthinking Robot with a Chest Full of Push Buttons.
If a Man Can Bridge the Gap Between Life and Death… I Mean, If He Can Live on After His Death, Then Maybe He Was a Great Man.
I Think I Am Going to Make It Because on One Hand I Am Like Clift Saying Help Me and of the Other Hand I Am Brando Saying, Screw You!, and Somewhere in Between Is James Dean.
I Think the Prime Reason for Existence, for Living in This World, Is Discovery.
Being an Actor Is the Loneliest Thing in the World. You Are All Alone with Your Concentration and Imagination, and That’s All You Have.
My Purpose in Life Does Not Include a Hankering to Charm Society.
The Cinema Is a Very Truthful Medium Because the Camera Doesn’t Let You Get Away with Anything. on Stage You Can Even Loaf a Little, If You’re so Inclined.
To Me, Acting Is the Most Logical Way for People’s Neuroses to Manifest Themselves.
The Only Greatness for Man Is Immortality.
There Is No Way to Be Truly Great in This World. We Are All Impaled on the Crook of Conditioning.
You Can’t Show Some Far off Idyllic Conception of Behavior If You Want the Kids to Come and See the Picture. You’ve Got to Show What It’s Really Like, and Try to Reach Them on Their Own Grounds.
Being a Good Actor Isn’t Easy. Being a Man Is Even Harder. I Want to Be Both Before I’m Done.
Little-known facts about James Dean — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Rolf Weütherich, the German auto mechanic riding with Dean in the passenger seat during the fatal crash, was thrown from the car and suffered multiple injuries. He later made several suicide attempts and died in a similar auto accident in West Germany in 1981.
Dean was nearsighted and wore thick eyeglasses when not on camera.
He is the only actor in history to receive more than one Oscar nomination posthumously.
On the night Dean was killed, four of his co-stars—Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood, Nick Adams, and Richard Davalos—were having dinner together in New York and speculated that his speeding would cause an accident.
He was issued a speeding ticket only two hours and fifteen minutes before his fatal accident.
He met Alec Guinness outside Villa Capri Restaurant on September 23, 1955. Guinness, after seeing Dean’s new Porsche, warned him: Get rid of that car, or you’ll be dead in a week! Dean laughed it off.
Dean loved animals, having been raised around cows, pigs, and chickens. Elizabeth Taylor gave him a Siamese kitten named Marcus.
He was in love with Pier Angeli and planned to marry her, but her mother opposed the union because Dean was not Catholic. Before her suicide, Angeli wrote that Dean was the only man she ever loved.
The Failure Analysis Associates reconstructed the accident and concluded Dean was traveling at 55-56 mph, proving he had not been speeding as rumored.
His headstone was stolen twice but recovered.
He is one of six actors to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for their first screen appearance, alongside Orson Welles, Lawrence Tibbett, Alan Arkin, Paul Muni, and Montgomery Clift.
Dean repeatedly said he did not expect to live past 30.
He was a skilled painter and excelled in art class.
He suffered from erratic mood swings, possibly due to undiagnosed bipolar disorder.
He worked as a stunt tester on the game show Beat the Clock, testing stunts for safety. He was released because he completed them too quickly.
Elvis Presley emulated and idolized Dean, talking for hours about his reverence and getting into acting because of him.
In a promotional interview for Rebel Without a Cause in July 1955, Dean said he used to take unnecessary chances on the highway but was now extra cautious. The interview was never aired after his death.
During the filming of Giant, Dean and Rock Hudson did not get along, but Hudson cried upon learning of Dean’s death.
Marlon Brando avoided Dean’s calls because Dean copied his lifestyle and acting techniques. Brando told Dean he had emotional problems needing psychiatric attention.
Dean originally majored in pre-Law but switched to Drama, angering his father.
Before his acting career took off, he often slept in his car when he couldn’t afford rent.
He was Elvis Presley’s biggest idol.
After Dean’s death, Paul Newman took over the roles Dean had signed for: Somebody Up There Likes Me and The Left Handed Gun.
Empire magazine ranked him #33 on their 1997 list of The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time.
His performance as Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause is ranked #43 on Premiere’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time 2006.
The crash site on California State Route 46 has a roadside monument, though the actual site is now in an unmarked open field.
He is the subject of songs by the Eagles and Hilary Duff, and is mentioned in lyrics by Madonna, Don McLean, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and others.
Dean’s first filmed appearance was a Pepsi-Cola commercial in 1950.
He was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination, for East of Eden.
He was nominated for Oscars in two-thirds of his films.
Before his death, his agent negotiated a nine-picture deal with Warner Bros. worth $900,000. His next roles were replaced by Paul Newman.
His tastes in music included African tribal, Afro-Cuban, classical Bartók, Stravinsky, jazz/blues Billie Holiday, and pop Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra. His favorite song was When Your Lover Has Gone and favorite album Sinatra’s Songs for Young Lovers.
He was a mentor and friend of Dennis Hopper.
East of Eden was the only one of his three major films released while he was alive.
He received posthumous Oscar nominations for his first and last screen performances: East of Eden and Giant.
President Ronald Reagan referred to Dean as America’s Rebel.
Leonardo DiCaprio admired Dean and credited his performance in East of Eden with influencing his decision to become an actor.
Dean was originally set to star in King Creole; after his death, the film was retooled for Elvis Presley.
He did not leave a will, so his estate went to his father, with whom he had a distant relationship.
He was good friends with Martin Landau.
His estate was valued at $96,438.44 after taxes, with the bulk from his life insurance and a $6,750 insurance claim for his Porsche.
Dean had purchased the 1955 Porsche Spyder to race in Salinas on October 1, 1955, the day after his death.
Dennis Hopper believed Dean would have gone into directing because he was tired of working with directors he disliked.
Most of his alleged affairs were fabricated by Warner Bros. publicity; he loved Pier Angeli and Liz Sheridan.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about James Dean.
Celebrities similar to James Dean — same craft, ranked by reach.
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