There are many interesting things to learn about James Dean. Although he was moody, he was an amazing actor who remains a legend today. He achieved worldwide fame, but who was this star? I will share with you what I have learned about him.
James Byron Dean was born on February 8, 1931 in Marion, Indiana to Winton and Mildred Dean. Winton Dean was a dental technician. Soon after James Dean’s birth, they moved to Winton’s hometown, Fairmont. In Fairmont and in Marion, over the next five years, the Deans lived at a wide range of different addresses. They moved to Santa Monica, California in 1936. On a tragic day in September of 1939, an operation made known that Mrs. Dean had uterine cancer. James Dean was eight. He watched throughout the next year while his mother grew weaker and weaker. On July 14, 1940 Mildred Dean died. James Dean would write, as a high school senior, that he’d never reached an understanding of his mother’s death and that it haunted him still. Winton’s sister, Ortense Winslow and her husband, Marcus Winslow, asked Winton to send James back to Fairmont for them to raise him. It is unknown why Winton Dean said yes to them, but their offer was accepted and James Dean went back to live in Indiana; a place “where things are real and simple.” according to his mother. His life in Indiana was a “farm boy’s” life. On his aunt and uncle’s farm there were almost unlimited opportunities for recreation. The barn was great for doing trapeze stunts in. While attempting to do one stunt that his uncle had shown him, Dean lost his two front teeth. He would need to wear false teeth from then on. This country boy seemed a far fetch from a legendary actor, but he did have talent.
Jimmy, as most people called him, loved attention and was used to getting his own way. He had the wonderful ability to make you love him, but people considered him a weird boy whom they couldn’t understand. From an early age he had the desire to be in the spotlight. This desire, of course, was fulfilled because Jimmy seldom gave up. He got involved in making speeches and performing in school plays. As a high school graduate, Dean decided he’d go to California. While attending college there, he became part of an acting workshop and was encouraged to go to New York. He did so, ambitiously, with hopes of finding a good acting career. After appearing in a couple Broadway plays, Dean was picked to do the part of Cal Trask in East of Eden. Most likely a result of his stubbornness, he was a success! His career went soaring when East of Eden was released. It was the start of a legend and Jimmy, along with his ever-increasing fans, knew it.
James Dean had a style like no other. He wasn’t uptight, but always loose and natural. In many people’s eyes he was handsome, but others thought him grubby and he was usually unshaven. Dean didn’t seem to care much what people thought. Through acting, he was forced to care. Fans wouldn’t like you if you acted like a slob. Still, Jimmy remained much of himself. His movies show his amazing talent and in each of them the real James Dean is reflected throughout the film, back to the audience. The way he could capture the essence and confusion of being young with his acting is non-understandable. How did he do it? But he did, and the teen-age population raved over him. Rebel Without a Cause is said to be the film that best portrayed the real James Dean. It is the intense story of a boy (Jim Stark played by James Dean) who doesn’t fit in because people don’t understand him. His parents are too protective and, whenever he gets in trouble, they move from home to home, place to place. The boy is, also, insecure because he thinks his father is a coward. In Dean’s first main role as Cal in East of Eden, his moodiness and lack of love is excellently portrayed. Also, in Giant, his last main role, he gives a great performance as a lonely boy who turns into a life-long bachelor because the woman he thinks should be his (played by Elizabeth Taylor) is married to another man (played by Rock Hudson). Perhaps James Dean was able to show these things in his movies because, in some way, he experienced them during his own lifetime. Maybe, though, he was just an amazing actor! As immortal as everyone thought he was, Dean had a tragic and unexpected car wreck in California and died in his recently purchased Porsche 550 Spyder on September 30, 1955. He was only twenty-four. Fans refused to believe he was dead. James Dean was buried in Indiana. Some say he was only made popular through his premature death. Others think it was his good looks or amazing acting ability. Still, others say it was just him.
No one is certain what made James Dean the legend that we know him to be today, but we are certain about what he left behind. His three movies in which he had main roles remain inspirations to us. With his unique acting, he began the start of real-life teen-hood shown in acting and movies. His way of doing things was superb and in sync with the ways of youth. There is no doubt that Dean left behind countless fans. For three years after his death the letters in his fan mail outnumbered the mail of any living actor. James Dean is the icon of a “cool American” and his legendary face can be spotted on posters and photos in just about any mall. His character is here even forty-nine years after his life’s end.
