1. James Dean – The legendwill neverend.
Russell Grenning
He famouslysaid, “Dreamasif you’lllive forever.Live asif you’ll die today” andthat is justhow
JamesDeanlivedhisbrief,mercurial life whichendedtragicallysixtyyearsagotodayina horrifying
car crash.He was 24.
It isbeyondextraordinarythatDean’slegendarystatusasa cultural iconof teenage disillusionment
and social estrangementrestsononlythree films,“Eastof Eden”, “Rebel Withouta Cause”and
“Giant”.
The recentmovie “Life” aboutthe lastmonthsof his life hasboughtthe legendof James‘Jimmy’
Deanto a whole newaudience.Itisbasedonthe friendship of Deanand “Life” magazine
photographerDennisStock.StockhadunprecedentedaccesstoDean’sdailylifeinthose final
monthsand manyof hispicturesof Deanhave cementedDeaninthe publicmindasa rebel,asa
lonelymisfitand,above all,asa symbol of youthful angst.Thathe diedyounghasensuredthathe
will be foreveryoung andhishandsome,moodyandoftendefiantlookbothonandoff the screen
was lovedbythe youngandviewedsuspiciouslybyeverybodyelse.
Perhapsone of the most famousof Stock’spicturesshowedDeanwalkingalone inTime Square in
NewYork at nightand inthe rain,hisshouldershunchedandacigarette clenchedbetweenhisteeth.
He wasborn inIndiana,the sonof a farmer.His motherdiedwhenhe wasonlynine and he wasvery
close to herand he was sentto live with hisfather’ssisterandherhusband.
In school he wasa verypopularstudent,playingbaseball andbasketball andstudyingdramaand
publicspeaking.He shiftedtoCaliforniaaftergraduatinghighschool,initiallytostudylaw although
he quicklyswitchedtodrama.AfterbeingpickedtoportrayMalcolminShakespeare’s “Macbeth”,
he droppedoutof universitytopursue afull-time actingcareer.
His firstTV appearance wasin a Pepsi-Colacommercial andslowlybutsurelyhe gotsmall movie
rolesinHollywoodwhile workingasa car-parkattendantat CBS studios.Afterappearinginseveral
CBS TV series,he gainedadmissiontothe famousActorsStudioinNew York.His careerpickedup
and had hadseveral appearancesinpopularTV series.
His bigbreakcame in1953 whenhe waschosento playthe complex role of Cal Trask in “Eastof
Eden” - basedonJohnSteinbeck’sbookof the same name aboutthe storyof the Trask and Hamilton
families –andit concentrates onthe lastportionof the booksetinthe early1900s. The film
concentratedonthe character of Cal whois shownas emotionallytroubled,aloof butalsoworldly
and businesssavvy.
Much of hisperformance wasunscripted –inone famousscene,Dean’scharactertriesto present
$5,000 he has earnedto hisfatherwhorejectsit.Insteadof runningawayfromhisfatheras the
scriptrequired,Deaninstinctivelyturnedtothe actor playinghisfather,lungedtowardshimand
grabbedhimina full embrace,crying. DirectorEliaKazanwiselyincludedthe scene whichincluded
the character’s father’sshockedreaction.

2. His performance –whichwonhima Best Actornomination forthe 1956 Oscars andthe first
posthumousnominationinAcademyAwardshistory –ledquicklytohisstarringrole in “Rebel
Withouta Cause”whichwaswildlypopularwithteenagers.Thenfollowed “Giant”where he played
a supportingrole toElizabethTaylorandRock Hudson.
Playingacharacter whostrikesoil andbecomeswealthy,Deandyedhishairgreyandshavedsome
off to give himself arecedinghairline toplaythe character.In the lastscene he was supposedto
make a drunkenspeechata banquetandto make it evenmore realistic,Deanactuallygotdrunkand
he mumbledsomuchthe directorhadthe scene overdubbedbyanotheractor.Deanwasalready
dead.
He alsoreceivedaposthumousOscarnominationforBestSupportActorforthisrole. “Eastof Eden”
was the onlyfilminthisstellarseriesof three blockbustersthatDeanactuallysaw.
He wasinterestedincarracing and competedsuccessfullyinprofessional races.WarnerBrothers
bannedhimfromracing duringthe productionof “Giant” buthe returnedquicklytoitafterfilming
had ended.
On September30, 1955, while drivinghisPorsche athighspeed,he slammedintoanothervehicle.
His passengerandthe otherdriversurvived –Deanwasdeadwitha brokenneckand otherinjuries.
Much has beenwrittensince hisdeathabouthissexualityand,mostcertainly,he wasatleast
bisexual orevenpossiblygay.He livedandworkedinanerawhenstudiosheldtightcontrol of their
actors’ livesandkeptupa streamof storiesandphotoopportunitiesforyoungactors alleged
relationshipswithprettyyoungstarlets.
Many otheryoung actors of that era – RockHudson,MontgomeryClift,TabHunter,Sal Mineoand
AnthonyPerkins –were laterexposedasgayor bisexual–and,of course,afterDean’sdeathboth
menand women claimedtohave hada relationship,includingasexual relationship,withhim.
But sixtyyearsafterhisdeath,hislegendkeepsgrowing asbotha giant and a rebel.