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James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 –
September 30, 1955) was a charismatic American
film actor who epitomized youthful angst. Dean's
status as a cultural icon is likely embodied in
the title of his most cited work, Rebel Without a
Cause.

==Childhood and education==
Born on a Marion, Indiana, family farm to Winton
and Mildred Wilson Dean, he and his family moved
to Santa Monica, California six years after Winton
had left farming to become a dental technician.
Dean was enrolled in Brentwood Public School until
his mother died of cancer in 1940.


At age nine Dean was sent by his father to live
with relatives on a farm near Fairmount, Indiana
where his upbringing received a Quaker influence.
In high school Dean played on the school
basketball team and participated in forensics and
drama. After graduating from Fairmont High School
in 1949 Dean moved back to California to live with
his father and stepmother.

He enrolled in Santa Monica College, pledged Sigma
Nu fraternity and majored in pre-law. Dean
transferred to the University of California Los
Angeles and changed his major to drama, resulting
in a parental fight that left him turned out of
his father's house.

Dean began his career with a Coca-Cola television
commercial followed by a stint as a stunt tester
in the game show Beat the Clock. He quit college
to focus on his budding career but struggled to
get jobs in Hollywood and succeeded in paying his
bills only by working as a parking lot attendant.

Following the advice of friends Dean moved to New
York City to pursue a career in live stage acting,
where he was accepted to study under Lee Strasberg
in the storied Actors Studio. His career picked up
and Dean did several episodes on early-1950s
episodic television programs such as Kraft
Television Theater, Studio One, Lux Video Theatre,
Robert Montgomery Presents, Danger and General
Electric Theater.  His rave reviews in André
Gide's The Immoralist led to calls from Hollywood
and film stardom.

==Film career and death==

He appeared in several uncredited bit roles in
forgettable films like Sailor Beware but gained
recognition and success in 1955 in film|1955 with
his first starring role, Cal Trask in East of Eden
(1955 movie)|East of Eden, for which he received
an Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for
Best Actor|Best Actor in a Leading Role (the first
posthumous acting nomination in Academy Awards
history).  He followed this up in rapid succession
with two more starring roles in Rebel Without a
Cause and the 1956 in film|1956 release Giant
(movie)|Giant, for which he was also nominated for
an Academy Award.

Dean had become friends with fellow auto
enthusiast and multi-millionaire Lance Reventlow,
one of the last people to speak to Dean when they
met on their way to an auto race in Salinas,
California. A few hours later James Dean died in a
road accident while driving his Porsche 550 Spyder
near Cholame, California when a car driven by
Donald Turnupseed made a left turn thereby
crossing Dean's lane (this happened before the
release of Giant). He is one of only five people
to be nominated for Best Actor for his first
feature role and the only person nominated twice
posthumously. He is buried in Park Cemetery in
Fairmount, Indiana.

Two films from 1955, Rebel Without a Cause and
Blackboard Jungle, are most often cited as having
symbolized the growing post-war rebellion of 1950s
teenagers along with playing a part in the
emergence of Rock and Roll as a lasting cultural
phenomenon. Many young people of that and later
generations modeled themselves after James Dean.
His very brief career and lifestyle, violent death
and highly publicized funeral along with disputed
urban legends of bisexuality transformed Dean into
a cult figure and pop icon of apparently timeless
fascination.

==Filmography==
*Fixed Bayonets (movie)|Fixed Bayonets (1951)
*Sailor Beware (1952)
*Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
*Trouble Along the Way (1953)
*East of Eden (1955 movie)|East of Eden (1955)
*Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
*Giant (movie)|Giant (1956)

==External links==

*http://www.jamesdean.com James Dean (Official
Website)
*imdb name | id=0000015 | name=James Dean
*http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biod1/dean2.htm
l James Dean

lived | b=1931 | d=1955 | key=Dean, James