James Dean Intro

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 September 30, 1955) was an American actor.[1]
He is a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment, as expressed in the title of
his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as t
roubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were lo
ner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (19
56). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rest on his performances in only these
three films, all leading roles.
Dean's premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status.[2] He becam
e the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Acto
r, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations.[3]
In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star on
their AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.[4]
Dean was born at the Seven Gables apartment house at the corner of 4th Street an
d McClure Street in Marion, Indiana,[5] the son of Winton Dean (January 17, 1907
February 21, 1995) and Mildred Wilson (September 15, 1910 July 14, 1940). Six y
ears after his father had left farming to become a dental technician, Dean and h
is family moved to Santa Monica, California. He was enrolled at Brentwood Public
School in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, but transferred soon after
ward to the McKinley Elementary school.[6] The family spent several years there,
and by all accounts, young Dean was very close to his mother. According to Mich
ael DeAngelis, she was "the only person capable of understanding him".[7] In 193
8, she was suddenly struck with acute stomach pains and began to lose weight qui
ckly. She died of uterine cancer when Dean was nine years old.[6]
Unable to care for his son, Dean's father sent him to live with his sister Orten
se and her husband Marcus Winslow on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana,[8] where he w
as raised in a Quaker household.[9] Winton served in World War II and later rema
rried. In his adolescence, Dean sought the counsel and friendship of a local Met
hodist pastor, the Rev. James DeWeerd. DeWeerd seemed to have had a formative in
fluence upon Dean, especially upon his future interests in bullfighting, car rac
ing, and theater.[10] According to Billy J. Harbin, Dean had "an intimate relati
onship with his pastor, which began in his senior year of high school and endure
d for many years".[11][12] Their alleged sexual relationship was earlier suggest
ed in the 1994 book Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Legend of J
ames Dean by Paul Alexander.[13] In 2011, it was reported that he once confided
in Elizabeth Taylor that he was sexually abused by a minister approximately two
years after his mother's death.[14] Other reports on Dean's life also suggest th
at he was either sexually abused by DeWeerd as a child or had a sexual relations
hip with him as a late teenager.[12][13]
In high school, Dean's overall performance was mediocre. However, he was conside
red to be a popular student, having played on the baseball and varsity basketbal
l teams, studied drama, and competed in public speaking through the Indiana High
School Forensic Association. After graduating from Fairmount High School in May
1949,[15] Dean moved back to California with his dog, Max, to live with his fat
her and stepmother. He enrolled in Santa Monica College (SMC) and majored in pre
-law. He transferred to UCLA for one semester,[16] and changed his major to dram
a,[17] which resulted in estrangement from his father. He pledged the Sigma Nu f
raternity but was never initiated.[18] While at UCLA, Dean was picked from a gro
up of 350 actors to portray Malcolm in Macbeth.[19] At that time, he also began
acting in James Whitmore's workshop. In January 1951, he dropped out of UCLA to
pursue a full-time career as an actor.[20]
Dean's first television appearance was in a Pepsi Cola television commercial.[21
] He quit college to act full-time and was cast as John the Beloved Disciple in
Hill Number One, an Easter television special, and three walk-on roles in movies
, a soldier in Fixed Bayonets!, Sailor Beware, and a youth in Has Anybody Seen M
y Gal?[22] His first speaking part was as a boxing trainer in Sailor Beware, a P
aramount comedy starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.[23] While struggling to ge
t jobs in Hollywood, Dean also worked as a parking lot attendant at CBS Studios,
during which time he met Rogers Brackett,[24] a radio director for an advertisi
ng agency, who offered him professional help and guidance in his chosen career,
as well as a place to stay.[25][26]
In October 1951, following the encouragement of actor James Whitmore's and his m
entor Rogers Brackett's advice, Dean moved to New York City. There he worked as
a stunt tester for the game show Beat the Clock. He also appeared in episodes of
several CBS television series, The Web, Studio One, and Lux Video Theatre, befo
re gaining admission to the legendary Actors Studio to study method acting under
Lee Strasberg.[27] Proud of this accomplishment, Dean referred to the Studio in
a 1952 letter to his family as "The greatest school of the theater. It houses g
reat people like Marlon Brando, Julie Harris, Arthur Kennedy, Mildred Dunnock. .
.. Very few get into it ... It is the best thing that can happen to an actor. I
am one of the youngest to belong."[25]
Dean's career picked up and he performed in further episodes of such early 1950s
television shows as Kraft Television Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents, Dange
r, and General Electric Theater. One early role, for the CBS series Omnibus in t
he episode "Glory in the Flower", saw Dean portraying the type of disaffected yo
uth he would later immortalize in Rebel Without a Cause. (This summer 1953 progr
am was also notable for featuring the song "Crazy Man, Crazy", one of the first
dramatic TV programs to feature rock and roll.) Positive reviews for Dean's 1954
theatrical role as "Bachir", a pandering North African houseboy, in an adaptati
on of André Gide's book The Immoralist, led to calls from Hollywood.[28]