James Dean, Star of Giant, Rebel Without a Cause
Also Starred in East of Eden, Paved Way for Independent Film
Dec 22, 2008
Dean was born in 1931 in Indiana and moved to Los Angeles with his parents when he was six. Just several years later his mother died and Dean's father, unable to care for his son, sent Dean to live with relatives in Indiana. Dean would attend and graduate high school before moving back to California to rejoin his father.
He got some small parts in TV, but moved to New York in 1951 to study acting with Lee Strasberg at the famous Actor's Studio. He found more television work there, and a theatrical role in Andre Gide's The Immoralist led to his first film role, in East of Eden.
East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause
Directed by Elia Kazan, the film is a re-telling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Dean's performance was raw and much of it was unscripted. He received an Oscar nomination for his part.
In Dean's next project, Rebel Without a Cause, he played troubled teenager Jim Stark. The film also featured a young Sal Mineo and Natalie Woods as Dean's love interest. Actor Dennis Hopper also had a small role as a gang member (he would have a larger part in Giant) and Jim Backus played the part of Dean's father. In 1990 the film was added to the National Film Registry for its significance.
The film, directed by Nicholas Ray, examined the problems that contemporary youth had to face in 1950s America. Dean's work in the film brought him instant acclaim and made him an icon of the youth culture.
Giant
James Dean's third and last film was Giant. Also starring Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, Giant features Dean as a handyman who discovers oil on his property. The film studies the change in America with the advent of big oil companies. Dean was also nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Giant.
Dean died in a car accident in 1955 in Central California. He was driving a Porsche that he planned on racing in Salinas (he was an amateur driver) later that day when his car was struck head on by another driver. There was a rumor that Dean had been up for the part of Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me when he died. The part ended up going to Paul Newman.
James Dean is buried in Indiana, with a memorial to him also constructed in California at the site of his fatal accident. The actor is a cultural symbol that has been referenced in pop music, film, TV and newspapers.
