James Dean
American actor (1931–1955) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American movie actor. He was one of the most important people in Hollywood in the 1950s. His career was only 5 years long. He was also only in 3 major movies. However, he had a very big impact on cinema and popular culture. He was best known for his part in a movie called Rebel Without a Cause (1955). In this movie, he played a rebellious teenager. He was also in two other movies. He was in East of Eden (1955). He was also in Giant (1956). All of these movies are in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. He was killed in a car accident in 1955. He was 24.
He got an Academy Award (Oscar) nomination after his death for Best Actor for his role in East of Eden. He was the first person to get this nomination posthumously (after he died).[nb 1] After his first nomination, he was given a 2nd nomination for his role in Giant. This makes him the only actor that has been given 2 acting nominations after his death. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him as the 18th best male movie star from Golden Age Hollywood on their "AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars" list. Time magazine said Dean was one of the "All-Time Most Influential Fashion Icons."
Remove ads
Early life
James Dean was born in 1931 in Marion, Indiana, United States. His parents were called Winton Dean and Mildred Wilson. Six years later, the family moved to California, and James went to school in Los Angeles. He was very close to his mother.[4] She died of cancer when he was nine, and James went to live with his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana. In high school, he became interested in drama and car racing. After he graduated, he moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother. He attended Santa Monica College and UCLA,[5] but left college in 1951 to become a professional actor.
In an interview, Elizabeth Taylor told something which James Dean had said to her during their filming. After his mother’s death, when he was 11 years old, he was sexually harassed by a Protestant minister. This experience tortured him during all his whole childhood.[6]
Remove ads
Death
Racing hobby
In 1954, Dean started doing motorsports. He bought many automobiles after he was done acting for East of Eden. He bought a Triumph Tiger T110 and a Porsche 356.[7][8] On March 26–27 1955, he was in his first professional race at the Palm Springs Road Races in Palm Springs, California. Dean was 1st place in the novice class. He was 2nd place at the main event. He raced in Bakersfield a month later. He was 1st in his class. He was 3rd overall.[9] Dean said he wanted to race in the Indianapolis 500. However, he had a very busy acting schedule. This meant that this was not possible.[10]
Dean's last race was in Santa Barbara on May 30, 1955. He was not able to finish the competition. This was because he had a blown piston (his piston was damaged).[9][11] He was not able to race after that because Warner Brothers said he could not race while acting for Giant.[12] Once he was done acting for that movie, however, he wanted to race again.
Accident
Dean loved motor racing. After acting for Giant, he bought a new 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder. He entered into the upcoming Salinas Road Race. This would be on October 1–2, 1955.[13] Dean went to the race track. 3 other people went with him. The first person was the stunt coordinator Bill Hickman. The second person was Collier's photographer Sanford Roth. The 3rd person was Rolf Wütherich. He was the German mechanic from the who maintained Dean's Spyder car.[14][15]
On September 30,[16] the group went west on U.S. Route 466[17] (now SR 46) near Cholame, California. At the same time, a 23-year-old California Polytechnic State University student Donald Turnupseed, was driving east. He was in a 1950 Ford Tudor. At 5:45 p.m.,[18] Turnupseed turned left onto Highway 41. He would be going north toward Fresno.[19] This turn was in front of Dean's Porsche.[20][21][22] Dean was not able to stop his car in time. His car went into the Ford. Dean's car went into the pavement on the highway. Dean had many fatal injuries from this accident.[23] Turnupseed had only minor injuries.[24]
Dean was buried in Fairmount, Indiana.
Remove ads
Stage
Broadway
- See the Jaguar (1952)[25]
- The Immoralist (1954) – based on the book by André Gide[25]
Off-Broadway
- The Metamorphosis (1952) – based on the short story by Franz Kafka[25]
- The Scarecrow (1954)[25]
- Women of Trachis (1954) – translation by Ezra Pound[25]
Filmography
Movies
Television
Remove ads
Awards and nominations
Remove ads
Notes
- Jeanne Eagles was nominated for Best Actress for her role in The Letter at the 2nd Academy Awards after her death in 1930. However, all nominations at the 2nd Academy Awards were unofficial.[1] This makes Dean the first actor in the Academy Awards to be nominated after his death.[2][3]
References
Further reading
Other websites
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads