Adepoju Paul OlusegunJames Dean, Rebel without a Cause
February 12th 2007 12:45
James Byron Dean (Feb 8, 1931 – Sep 30, 1955) was an American film actor. He was the symbol of idealistic and restless American youth. Dean's mainstream status as a cultural icon is best embodied in the title of his most cited role in Rebel Without a Cause. His enduring fame and popularity rests on only three films - East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, and Giant - his entire starring output. He was the first person to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains the only person to have two such nominations posthumously.
James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana to Winton and Mildred Wilson Dean. His family moved to Santa Monica, California, six years after his father had left farming to become a dental technician. Dean was enrolled in Brentwood Public School until his mother died of cancer in 1940. At age nine, Dean was sent by his father to live with his aunt Ortense and uncle Marcus Winslow on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana. In high school, Dean played on the basketball team and studied forensics and drama. After graduating from Fairmount High School in 1949, Dean moved back to California with his beagle, Maxx, to live with his father and stepmother.
He enrolled in Santa Monica College, pledged to the Sigma Nu fraternity and majored in pre-law. Dean transferred to UCLA and changed his major to drama, which resulted in estrangement from his father. While at UCLA, he beat out 350 actors to land the role of Malcolm in Macbeth.
Marlon Brando was a great influence on James Dean. He began his professional acting career with a Pepsi-Cola television commercial, followed by a stint as a stunt tester for the Beat the Clock game show. He quit college to focus on his budding career, but struggled to get jobs in Hollywood and paid his bills only by working as a parking lot attendant at CBS Studios. He actually had very small parts in several films before achieving stardom. The first film in which he spoke was Sailor Beware, where he played a boxing trainer. The Paramount comedy starred Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
Following friends' advice, Dean moved to New York City to pursue live stage acting, where he was accepted to study under Lee Strasberg in the storied Actors Studio. His career picked up and he did several episodes on early-1950s TV shows. One early role, for the CBS series, Omnibus, (Glory in the Flower) saw Dean portraying the same type of disaffected youth he would later immortalize in Rebel Without a Cause Positive reviews for his role in André Gide's The Immoralist led to calls from Hollywood and paved the way to film success.
Dean died in a car accident. He was driving west on U.S. Highway 466 (later California State Route 46) when a 1950 Ford Tudor, driven from the opposite direction by 23-year-old student Donald Turnupseed, attempted to take the fork onto California State Route 41 and crossed into Dean's lane without seeing him. The two cars hit almost head on. Dean was taken to Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His last known words, uttered right before impact, are said to have been "That guy's got to stop... He'll see us."
James Dean is buried in Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Indiana. In 1977, a Dean memorial was built in Cholame, California. The stylized sculpture was made in Japan and transported to Cholame, accompanied by the project's benefactor, Seita Ohnishi. Ohnishi chose the site after examining the location of the accident. In September, 2005, the intersection of Highways 41 and 46 in Cholame was dedicated as the James Dean Memorial Highway as part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his death. The dates and hours of Dean's birth and death are etched into the sculpture, along with a handwritten description by Dean's close friend, William Bast, of one of Dean's favorite lines from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince - "What is essential is invisible to the eye."
James Dean was the first to have been posthumously nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for their first feature role and the only one so nominated twice. His estate still earns about $5,000,000 per year, according to Forbes Magazine. It'sb een said in some of his biographies that James Dean has received more fan mail posthumously than any other person.
His charismatic screen presence and very brief career combined with the publicity surrounding his death at a young age transformed Dean into a cult figure. His name is mentioned in numerous movies, songs, and is a pop icon of apparently timeless fascination.
James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana to Winton and Mildred Wilson Dean. His family moved to Santa Monica, California, six years after his father had left farming to become a dental technician. Dean was enrolled in Brentwood Public School until his mother died of cancer in 1940. At age nine, Dean was sent by his father to live with his aunt Ortense and uncle Marcus Winslow on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana. In high school, Dean played on the basketball team and studied forensics and drama. After graduating from Fairmount High School in 1949, Dean moved back to California with his beagle, Maxx, to live with his father and stepmother.
He enrolled in Santa Monica College, pledged to the Sigma Nu fraternity and majored in pre-law. Dean transferred to UCLA and changed his major to drama, which resulted in estrangement from his father. While at UCLA, he beat out 350 actors to land the role of Malcolm in Macbeth.
Marlon Brando was a great influence on James Dean. He began his professional acting career with a Pepsi-Cola television commercial, followed by a stint as a stunt tester for the Beat the Clock game show. He quit college to focus on his budding career, but struggled to get jobs in Hollywood and paid his bills only by working as a parking lot attendant at CBS Studios. He actually had very small parts in several films before achieving stardom. The first film in which he spoke was Sailor Beware, where he played a boxing trainer. The Paramount comedy starred Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
Following friends' advice, Dean moved to New York City to pursue live stage acting, where he was accepted to study under Lee Strasberg in the storied Actors Studio. His career picked up and he did several episodes on early-1950s TV shows. One early role, for the CBS series, Omnibus, (Glory in the Flower) saw Dean portraying the same type of disaffected youth he would later immortalize in Rebel Without a Cause Positive reviews for his role in André Gide's The Immoralist led to calls from Hollywood and paved the way to film success.
Dean died in a car accident. He was driving west on U.S. Highway 466 (later California State Route 46) when a 1950 Ford Tudor, driven from the opposite direction by 23-year-old student Donald Turnupseed, attempted to take the fork onto California State Route 41 and crossed into Dean's lane without seeing him. The two cars hit almost head on. Dean was taken to Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His last known words, uttered right before impact, are said to have been "That guy's got to stop... He'll see us."
James Dean is buried in Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Indiana. In 1977, a Dean memorial was built in Cholame, California. The stylized sculpture was made in Japan and transported to Cholame, accompanied by the project's benefactor, Seita Ohnishi. Ohnishi chose the site after examining the location of the accident. In September, 2005, the intersection of Highways 41 and 46 in Cholame was dedicated as the James Dean Memorial Highway as part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his death. The dates and hours of Dean's birth and death are etched into the sculpture, along with a handwritten description by Dean's close friend, William Bast, of one of Dean's favorite lines from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince - "What is essential is invisible to the eye."
James Dean was the first to have been posthumously nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for their first feature role and the only one so nominated twice. His estate still earns about $5,000,000 per year, according to Forbes Magazine. It'sb een said in some of his biographies that James Dean has received more fan mail posthumously than any other person.
His charismatic screen presence and very brief career combined with the publicity surrounding his death at a young age transformed Dean into a cult figure. His name is mentioned in numerous movies, songs, and is a pop icon of apparently timeless fascination.
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Comment by Wendi
Comment by Tel
Btw, last Sunday, I watched on TV Lassie's "Coming Home" starring the once child star Liz Taylor. Endearing. I didn't intend to watch but switched on. I always recognize that voice of Liz Taylor! I just love Hollywood's golden years and beyond.
Great to hear from you W.
T
Comment by Wendi
Mmm mmmm.
*SMILES*
Comment by Tel
Can't you see I'm trying to contain my chuckles?
You're hilarious mon ami. ;>
T