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On September 30, 1955, American actor and cultural icon James Dean was killed in a car crash at the age of 24. From the article:
"James Dean
Early Life
James Byron Dean was born on February 8, 1931, in Marion, Indiana, to Winton Dean and Mildred Wilson. Dean's father left farming to become a dentist and moved the family to Santa Monica, California, where Dean attended Brentwood Public School. Several years later, Dean's mother, whom he was very close to, died of cancer, and Dean's father sent him back to Indiana to live on his aunt and uncle's Quaker farm. During this time, Dean sought counsel from his pastor, the Rev. James DeWeerd, who influenced his later interest in car racing and theater. The two formed an intimate relationship that is rumored to have been sexual.
In 1949, Dean graduated from high school and moved back to California. He attended Santa Monica City College for a time, but eventually transferred to University of California, Los Angeles, and majored in theater.
TV and Stage Success
After appearing as Malcolm in the school's production of Macbeth, Dean dropped out of UCLA. His first television appearance was in a Pepsi Cola commercial, while his first big-screen parts, uncredited, were in 1951's Fixed Bayonets! and 1952's Sailor Beware, a comedy starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. To make ends meet, Dean worked as a parking-lot attendant at CBS Studios, where he met Rogers Brackett, a radio director who became his mentor, with the two also said to have been romantically attached.
(Over the years questions have continually arisen about Dean's sexuality, with varied accounts that he was involved with both men and women, including actresses Pier Angeli and Liz Sheridan. The latter penned a 2000 memoir about her and Dean's relationship.)
In 1951, Dean moved to New York City and was later admitted to the Actors Studio to study under Lee Strasberg, though the two were reputed to not have gotten along. Dean's career began to pick up, and he performed in such 1950s television shows as Kraft Television Theatre, Omnibus and General Electric Theater, with a high school fan club formed after his appearance as a contemporary John the Apostle in 1951's Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration. The fledgling actor was also garnering a reputation for being unstructured in his technique, though the work continued to come.
After a Broadway role in the short-lived 1952 drama See the Jaguar, Dean's success as an Arab boy in 1954's The Immoralist led to interest from Hollywood.
Iconic Films
Over the ensuing months, Dean starred in three major motion pictures, beginning with the 1955 film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden. Director Elia Kazan chose Dean after the actor met with Steinbeck, who thought him perfect for the part. Many of Dean's scenes in the film were unscripted improvisations. He would eventually be nominated for an Academy Award for the role, making him the first actor in history to receive a posthumous Oscar nomination.
In his next film, Dean starred as the agonized teenager Jim Stark in 1955's Rebel Without a Cause, a part that would define his image in American culture. He co-starred in Rebel with Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo, with the film focusing on the emotional alienation of three youngsters and the devastating drama that ensues from adolescent rivalry.
Dean then landed a supporting role to Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in the epic, intergenerational family saga Giant, with Hudson playing a well-off, racially prejudiced ranch owner to Dean's impoverished, racially prejudiced ranch hand. Giant, which was Dean's last film, had a running time of more than three hours and saw the actor portray a character whose fortunes change over the decades. He died before production was complete, with Giant ultimately released in 1956. Dean received an Academy Award nomination for this role as well, making him the only actor in history to receive more than one Oscar nomination posthumously.
Death
When Dean wasn't acting, he was a professional car racer. On Friday, September 30, 1955, Dean and his mechanic, Rolf Wuetherich, drove Dean's new Porsche 550 Spyder to a weekend race in Salinas, California. At 3:30 p.m., they were stopped south of Bakersfield and given a speeding ticket. Later, while driving along Route 466, a 23-year-old Cal Poly student named Donald Turnupseed, after turning at an intersection, collided with Dean's Porsche. The two cars hit each other almost head-on, with the Spyder devastated from the impact. Wuetherich was seriously injured but survived, while Dean was killed almost immediately. He was 24."
"James Dean
Early Life
James Byron Dean was born on February 8, 1931, in Marion, Indiana, to Winton Dean and Mildred Wilson. Dean's father left farming to become a dentist and moved the family to Santa Monica, California, where Dean attended Brentwood Public School. Several years later, Dean's mother, whom he was very close to, died of cancer, and Dean's father sent him back to Indiana to live on his aunt and uncle's Quaker farm. During this time, Dean sought counsel from his pastor, the Rev. James DeWeerd, who influenced his later interest in car racing and theater. The two formed an intimate relationship that is rumored to have been sexual.
In 1949, Dean graduated from high school and moved back to California. He attended Santa Monica City College for a time, but eventually transferred to University of California, Los Angeles, and majored in theater.
TV and Stage Success
After appearing as Malcolm in the school's production of Macbeth, Dean dropped out of UCLA. His first television appearance was in a Pepsi Cola commercial, while his first big-screen parts, uncredited, were in 1951's Fixed Bayonets! and 1952's Sailor Beware, a comedy starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. To make ends meet, Dean worked as a parking-lot attendant at CBS Studios, where he met Rogers Brackett, a radio director who became his mentor, with the two also said to have been romantically attached.
(Over the years questions have continually arisen about Dean's sexuality, with varied accounts that he was involved with both men and women, including actresses Pier Angeli and Liz Sheridan. The latter penned a 2000 memoir about her and Dean's relationship.)
In 1951, Dean moved to New York City and was later admitted to the Actors Studio to study under Lee Strasberg, though the two were reputed to not have gotten along. Dean's career began to pick up, and he performed in such 1950s television shows as Kraft Television Theatre, Omnibus and General Electric Theater, with a high school fan club formed after his appearance as a contemporary John the Apostle in 1951's Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration. The fledgling actor was also garnering a reputation for being unstructured in his technique, though the work continued to come.
After a Broadway role in the short-lived 1952 drama See the Jaguar, Dean's success as an Arab boy in 1954's The Immoralist led to interest from Hollywood.
Iconic Films
Over the ensuing months, Dean starred in three major motion pictures, beginning with the 1955 film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden. Director Elia Kazan chose Dean after the actor met with Steinbeck, who thought him perfect for the part. Many of Dean's scenes in the film were unscripted improvisations. He would eventually be nominated for an Academy Award for the role, making him the first actor in history to receive a posthumous Oscar nomination.
In his next film, Dean starred as the agonized teenager Jim Stark in 1955's Rebel Without a Cause, a part that would define his image in American culture. He co-starred in Rebel with Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo, with the film focusing on the emotional alienation of three youngsters and the devastating drama that ensues from adolescent rivalry.
Dean then landed a supporting role to Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in the epic, intergenerational family saga Giant, with Hudson playing a well-off, racially prejudiced ranch owner to Dean's impoverished, racially prejudiced ranch hand. Giant, which was Dean's last film, had a running time of more than three hours and saw the actor portray a character whose fortunes change over the decades. He died before production was complete, with Giant ultimately released in 1956. Dean received an Academy Award nomination for this role as well, making him the only actor in history to receive more than one Oscar nomination posthumously.
Death
When Dean wasn't acting, he was a professional car racer. On Friday, September 30, 1955, Dean and his mechanic, Rolf Wuetherich, drove Dean's new Porsche 550 Spyder to a weekend race in Salinas, California. At 3:30 p.m., they were stopped south of Bakersfield and given a speeding ticket. Later, while driving along Route 466, a 23-year-old Cal Poly student named Donald Turnupseed, after turning at an intersection, collided with Dean's Porsche. The two cars hit each other almost head-on, with the Spyder devastated from the impact. Wuetherich was seriously injured but survived, while Dean was killed almost immediately. He was 24."
James Dean
Posted from biography.com
World History
American History
Film
Actor/Actress
Classic Cars
Posted 5 y ago
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BBC documentary on James Dean (My Book&App "In Love With James Dean")
In just three films and a career spanning 18 short months, James Dean captured the imagination of a new generation, hungry for a different kind of Hollywood ...
Thank you, my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on September 30, 1955, American actor and cultural icon James Byron Dean was killed in a car crash at the age of 24.
Rest in peace James Byron Dean.
BBC documentary on James Dean (My Book&App "In Love With James Dean")
"In just three films and a career spanning 18 short months, James Dean captured the imagination of a new generation, hungry for a different kind of Hollywood hero - sensitive, spontaneous, unconventional and sexually ambiguous. His sudden, violent death in a car crash, aged just 24, guaranteed him the immortality he craved and fixed his image as the beautiful rebellious youth in the public's mind forever.
One photoshoot, just seven months before his death, managed to capture the essence of the troubled, enigmatic Dean like no other. In February 1955, photographer Dennis Stock was given unique access to the new star, travelling with him to his home town of Indiana, then on to New York and LA. Their intimate collaboration would result in some of the most revealing, enduring and disturbing images of Dean ever taken. This film tells the story of the extraordinary shoot that would become his epitaph."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfJvs3a9-qs
Images:
1. James Dean Life Magazine photo by Dennis Stock.
2. James Byron Dean and Terry Moore.
3. James Dean 'Forever Young'.
4. 1994 32 cent Legends of the West, postage stamp James Dean Scott #3082
Background from .jamesdean.com/biography/
"Auto Biography
I, James Byron Dean, was born February 8, 1931, Marion, Indiana. My parents, Winton Dean and Mildred Dean, formerly Mildred Wilson, and myself existed in the state of Indiana until I was six years of age. Dad’s work with the government caused a change, so Dad as a dental mechanic was transferred to California. There we lived, until the fourth year. Mom became ill and passed out of my life at the age of nine. I never knew the reason for Mom’s death; in fact, it still preys on my mind. I had always lived such a talented life. I studied violin, played in concerts, tap-danced on theatre stages, but most of all, I like art, to mold and create things with my hands. I came back to Indiana to live with my uncle. I lost the dancing and violin, but not the art. I think my life will be devoted to art and dramatics. And there are so many different fields of art it would be hard to foul-up, and if I did, there are so many different things to do–farm, sports, science, geology, coaching, teaching music. I got it, and I know if I better myself that there will be no match. A fellow must have confidence. When living in California my young eyes experienced many things. It was also my luck to make three visiting trips to Indiana, going and coming a different route each time. I have been in almost every state west of Indiana. I remember all. My hobby, or what I do in my spare time, is motorcycle. I know a lot about them mechanically, and I love to ride. I have been in a few races and have done well. I own a small cycle myself. When I’m not doing that, I’m usually engaged in athletics, the heartbeat of every American boy. As one strives to make a goal in a game, there should be a goal in this crazy world for all of us. I hope I know where mine is, anyway. I’m after it. I don’t mind telling you, Mr. Dubois–this is the hardest subject to write about considering the information one knows of himself, I ever attempted.
“My Case Study” to Roland Dubois,
Fairmount High School Principal, 1948
Biography
James Dean was born February 8, 1931, in Marion, Indiana, to Winton and Mildred Dean. His father, a dental technician, moved the family to Los Angeles when Jimmy was five. He returned to the Midwest after his mother passed away and was raised by his aunt and uncle on their Indiana farm. After graduating from high school, he returned to California where he attended Santa Monica Junior College and UCLA. James Dean began acting with James Whitmore’s acting workshop, appeared in occasional television commercials, and played several roles in films and on stage. In the winter of 1951, he took Whitmore’s advice and moved to New York to pursue a serious acting career. He appeared in seven television shows, in addition to earning his living as a busboy in the theater district, before he won a small part in a Broadway play entitled See the Jaguar.
In a letter to his family in Fairmount in 1952, he wrote:
“I have made great strides in my craft. After months of auditioning, I am very proud to announce that I am a member of the Actors Studio. The greatest school of the theater. It houses great people like Marlon Brando, Julie Harris, Arthur Kennedy, Mildred Dunnock…Very few get into it, and it is absolutely free. It is the best thing that can happen to an actor. I am one of the youngest to belong. If I can keep this up and nothing interferes with my progress, one of these days, I might be able to contribute something to the world.” [He worked with Arthur Kennedy in See the Jaguar; he would later star with Julie Harris in East of Eden, and Mildred Dunnock in Padlocks, a 1954 episode of the CBS television program, Danger.] Dean continued his study at the Actors Studio, played short stints in television dramas, and returned to Broadway in The Immoralist (1954). This last appearance resulted in a screen test at Warner Brothers for the part of Cal Trask in the screen adaptation John Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden. He then returned to New York where he appeared in four more television dramas. After winning the role of Jim Stark in 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause, he moved to Hollywood.
In February, he visited his family in Fairmount with photographer Dennis Stock before returning to Los Angeles. In March, Jimmy celebrated his Eden success by purchasing his first Porsche and entered the Palm Springs Road Races. He began shooting Rebel Without a Cause that same month, and Eden opened nationwide in April. In May, he entered the Bakersfield Race and finished shooting Rebel. He entered one more race, in Santa Barbara, before he joined the cast and crew of Giant in Marfa, Texas.
James Dean had one of the most spectacularly brief careers of any screen star. In just more than a year, and in only three films, Dean became a widely admired screen personality, a personification of the restless American youth of the mid-’50s, and an embodiment of the title of one of his films, Rebel Without a Cause. En route to compete in a race in Salinas, James Dean was killed in a highway accident on September 30, 1955. James Dean was nominated for two Academy Awards, for his performances in East of Eden and Giant. Although he only made three films, they were made in just over one year’s time. 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.”
FYI SP5 Jeannie Carle SPC Chris Bayner-Cwik SPC Diana Rodriguez SPC Diana D. SSG Diane R. LTC Hillary Luton Sgt Kelli Mays SFC (Join to see) SSG(P) James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" MSG Andrew White SSG(P) (Join to see) COL Mikel J. Burroughs Col Carl Whicker MAJ Rene De La Rosa TSgt David L.TSgt Joe C. SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark KuzinskiPO1 William "Chip" Nagel
Rest in peace James Byron Dean.
BBC documentary on James Dean (My Book&App "In Love With James Dean")
"In just three films and a career spanning 18 short months, James Dean captured the imagination of a new generation, hungry for a different kind of Hollywood hero - sensitive, spontaneous, unconventional and sexually ambiguous. His sudden, violent death in a car crash, aged just 24, guaranteed him the immortality he craved and fixed his image as the beautiful rebellious youth in the public's mind forever.
One photoshoot, just seven months before his death, managed to capture the essence of the troubled, enigmatic Dean like no other. In February 1955, photographer Dennis Stock was given unique access to the new star, travelling with him to his home town of Indiana, then on to New York and LA. Their intimate collaboration would result in some of the most revealing, enduring and disturbing images of Dean ever taken. This film tells the story of the extraordinary shoot that would become his epitaph."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfJvs3a9-qs
Images:
1. James Dean Life Magazine photo by Dennis Stock.
2. James Byron Dean and Terry Moore.
3. James Dean 'Forever Young'.
4. 1994 32 cent Legends of the West, postage stamp James Dean Scott #3082
Background from .jamesdean.com/biography/
"Auto Biography
I, James Byron Dean, was born February 8, 1931, Marion, Indiana. My parents, Winton Dean and Mildred Dean, formerly Mildred Wilson, and myself existed in the state of Indiana until I was six years of age. Dad’s work with the government caused a change, so Dad as a dental mechanic was transferred to California. There we lived, until the fourth year. Mom became ill and passed out of my life at the age of nine. I never knew the reason for Mom’s death; in fact, it still preys on my mind. I had always lived such a talented life. I studied violin, played in concerts, tap-danced on theatre stages, but most of all, I like art, to mold and create things with my hands. I came back to Indiana to live with my uncle. I lost the dancing and violin, but not the art. I think my life will be devoted to art and dramatics. And there are so many different fields of art it would be hard to foul-up, and if I did, there are so many different things to do–farm, sports, science, geology, coaching, teaching music. I got it, and I know if I better myself that there will be no match. A fellow must have confidence. When living in California my young eyes experienced many things. It was also my luck to make three visiting trips to Indiana, going and coming a different route each time. I have been in almost every state west of Indiana. I remember all. My hobby, or what I do in my spare time, is motorcycle. I know a lot about them mechanically, and I love to ride. I have been in a few races and have done well. I own a small cycle myself. When I’m not doing that, I’m usually engaged in athletics, the heartbeat of every American boy. As one strives to make a goal in a game, there should be a goal in this crazy world for all of us. I hope I know where mine is, anyway. I’m after it. I don’t mind telling you, Mr. Dubois–this is the hardest subject to write about considering the information one knows of himself, I ever attempted.
“My Case Study” to Roland Dubois,
Fairmount High School Principal, 1948
Biography
James Dean was born February 8, 1931, in Marion, Indiana, to Winton and Mildred Dean. His father, a dental technician, moved the family to Los Angeles when Jimmy was five. He returned to the Midwest after his mother passed away and was raised by his aunt and uncle on their Indiana farm. After graduating from high school, he returned to California where he attended Santa Monica Junior College and UCLA. James Dean began acting with James Whitmore’s acting workshop, appeared in occasional television commercials, and played several roles in films and on stage. In the winter of 1951, he took Whitmore’s advice and moved to New York to pursue a serious acting career. He appeared in seven television shows, in addition to earning his living as a busboy in the theater district, before he won a small part in a Broadway play entitled See the Jaguar.
In a letter to his family in Fairmount in 1952, he wrote:
“I have made great strides in my craft. After months of auditioning, I am very proud to announce that I am a member of the Actors Studio. The greatest school of the theater. It houses great people like Marlon Brando, Julie Harris, Arthur Kennedy, Mildred Dunnock…Very few get into it, and it is absolutely free. It is the best thing that can happen to an actor. I am one of the youngest to belong. If I can keep this up and nothing interferes with my progress, one of these days, I might be able to contribute something to the world.” [He worked with Arthur Kennedy in See the Jaguar; he would later star with Julie Harris in East of Eden, and Mildred Dunnock in Padlocks, a 1954 episode of the CBS television program, Danger.] Dean continued his study at the Actors Studio, played short stints in television dramas, and returned to Broadway in The Immoralist (1954). This last appearance resulted in a screen test at Warner Brothers for the part of Cal Trask in the screen adaptation John Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden. He then returned to New York where he appeared in four more television dramas. After winning the role of Jim Stark in 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause, he moved to Hollywood.
In February, he visited his family in Fairmount with photographer Dennis Stock before returning to Los Angeles. In March, Jimmy celebrated his Eden success by purchasing his first Porsche and entered the Palm Springs Road Races. He began shooting Rebel Without a Cause that same month, and Eden opened nationwide in April. In May, he entered the Bakersfield Race and finished shooting Rebel. He entered one more race, in Santa Barbara, before he joined the cast and crew of Giant in Marfa, Texas.
James Dean had one of the most spectacularly brief careers of any screen star. In just more than a year, and in only three films, Dean became a widely admired screen personality, a personification of the restless American youth of the mid-’50s, and an embodiment of the title of one of his films, Rebel Without a Cause. En route to compete in a race in Salinas, James Dean was killed in a highway accident on September 30, 1955. James Dean was nominated for two Academy Awards, for his performances in East of Eden and Giant. Although he only made three films, they were made in just over one year’s time. 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.”
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LTC Stephen F.
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LTC Stephen F.
FYI CPT Tommy CurtisSGT (Join to see) SGT Steve McFarland 1585663:SGT Mark Anderson]SSG Michael NollCPT Daniel CoxSFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSFC Jack ChampionA1C Ian WilliamsCpl James R. " Jim" Gossett Jr SPC Jon O.MAJ Raúl Rovira
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Too young to appreciate him when it happened. Grew to learn what a tragic loss this was.
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SGT (Join to see)
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Three great movies - East of Eden, Rebel without a Cause, and Giant. He could have won an Academy Award for any of those. He should have won one for at least one of those films.
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