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Ode to James Dean

A tribute to the one and only James Dean by Marissa.




Joe Hyams, in the James Dean biography Little Boy Lost, sums up his career:

"..There is no simple explanation for why he has come to mean so much to so many people today. Perhaps it is because, in his acting, he had the intuitive talent for expressing the hopes and fears that are a part of all young people... In some movie magic way, he managed to dramatize brilliantly the questions every young person in every generation must resolve."

If you have ever talked to me you will know that I have an unhealthy obsession with James Dean. I can't help it, he is the greatest thing to ever walk the face of the earth. It seems like everything I do has some kind of reference to him. My room is covered with pictures of him, I think I counted 32 references to him in there which is quite a bit since my room is small, 11 ft. by 11 1/2 ft. I am not really sure how this obsession started, I know I was in the sixth grade when I first decided to read up on him. The only thing I knew about him was that he was gay. By the way, I have done a TON of research about him now and I can assure you that he was more attracted to girls than he was to any guy. I guess you could say that he was bi-sexual. That doesn't really matter though. I know that you are just dying to learn more about this wonderful guy and how can you become as obsessed with him like I am, so here are some of the things every James Dean fanatic needs to know:

  • name: James Byron Dean
  • birthday: Feb. 8th 1931
  • parents: Winton and Mildred Dean
  • birthplace: Marion, Indiana
  • April 14th 1940 James Deans's mother dies
  • May 16th 1949 Jimmy graduates from high school
  • June 15th 1949 Jimmy heads to California on bus
  • Dec. 13th 1950 Jimmy has his first paying acting job, in a Pepsi commercial (everyone drink Pepsi from now on!)
  • Oct. 1952, he gets his first leading role on Broadway (it closed three days after it opened)
  • 1954-1955 James Dean "hits it big" when East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause are released.
  • films Giant
  • September 30th 1955 (I think it was at 4:50 P.M. or it was 5:50 P.M.) James Dean is killed in a car accident.
  • James Dean is nominated for two Ocars one for his work in East of Eden and another for his work in Giant.

    So now you know enough about James Dean to be able to have an intelligent conversation with someone about him. If you are in doubt about any information you have ever heard about him, check out one of his websites: www.jamesdean.com