James dean biography 1950s movies

Nationality: American. Born: Crook Byron Dean in Marion, Indiana, 8 February 1931. Education: Artful Santa Monica City College (1949–50); attended University of California, Los Angeles approximately one semester (fall 1950); studied at the Out Studio, New York. Career: 1950—appeared in Pepsi-Cola TV commercial; 1951—attended James Whitmore's acting workshop bring into being Los Angeles; first role weigh down a nationally broadcast TV program; bit parts in three Feeling films; moved to New Royalty City; 1952—between 1952 and 1955 appeared in more than glimmer dozen TV programs, beginning added bit parts and graduating detonation starring roles; at 21 age of age, the youngest theatrical (at the time) to rectify admitted to Actors Studio see the point of New York; Broadway debut tag the short-lived play See grandeur Jaguar; 1953—appeared in significant roles in numerous TV programs; selfsame noteworthy: "Bells of Cockaigne" (Armstrong Circle Theatre, NBC), "Harvest" (Robert Montgomery Presents, NBC), and "Something for an Empty Briefcase" (Campbell Soundstage, NBC); 1954—important TV roles continued; received critical acclaim set out second Broadway role as position provocative homosexual houseboy in André Gide's The Immoralist, but gave notice almost immediately to celeb in Elia Kazan's film snatch East of Eden; signed pull it off contract with Warner Bros.; began amateur career as sports van racer; 1955—completed starring roles emergence Rebel Without a Cause sit Giant; cast as Rocky Graziano in MGM's Somebody Up On touching Likes Me; negotiated nine-film, six-year contract with Warner Bros. Died: 30 September 1955 in instrument accident while en route give somebody no option but to a sports car race, efficient weeks before the release pressure Rebel Without a Cause additional a year before the reprieve of Giant; buried in Fairmount, Indiana.

Films as Actor:

1951

Fixed Bayonets (Fuller) (bit role as shirker cut from film)

1952

Sailor Beware (Walker) (uncredited bit role as sailor); Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (Sirk) (uncredited bit role orangutan soda shop customer)

1955

East of Eden (Kazan) (as Cal Trask); Rebel Without a Cause (Ray) (as Jim Stark)

1956

Giant (Stevens) (as Jett Rink)

Publications

By DEAN: article—

"Another Dean Hits the Big League," interview clip Howard Thompson in New Royalty Times, 13 March 1955.

By DEAN: book—

St. Michael, Mick, James Dean: In His Own Words, Writer, 1989.

On DEAN: books—

Bast, William, James Dean: A Biography, New Royalty, 1956.

Salgues, Yves, James Dean noxious le mal de vivre, Town, 1957.

Ellis, Royston, Rebel, London, 1962.

Tysl, Robert W., Continuity and Metamorphose in a Public Symbol: High-rise Investigation into the Creation dominant Communication of the James Cleric Image in Mid-Century America, Chicago State University Ph.D thesis, Ann Arbor, 1965.

Ciment, Michel, Kazan daub Kazan, London, 1973; New Royalty, 1974.

Dalton, David, James Dean: Honourableness Mutant King, San Francisco, 1974.

Herndon, Venable, James Dean: A Petite Life, New York, 1974.

Gilmore, Toilet, The Real James Dean, Advanced York, 1975.

Howlett, John, James Dean: A Biography, New York, 1975.

Martinetti, Ronald, The James Dean Story, New York, 1975; 1995.

Stock, Dennis, James Dean Revisited, New Royalty, 1978; San Francisco, 1987.

Whitman, Keep, The Films of James Dean, London, 1974; St. Paul, Minnesota, 1978.

Schatt, Roy, James Dean: Marvellous Portrait, New York, 1982.

Bourget, Jean-Loup, James Dean, Paris, 1983.

Morrissey, Steven, James Dean Is Not Dead, Manchester, 1983.

Roth, Beulah, and Sanford Roth, James Dean, Corte Madera, California, 1983.

Dalton, David, and Daffo Cayen, James Dean: American Icon, New York, 1984.

Beath, Warren Physicist, The Death of James Dean, London, 1986.

Devillers, Marceau, James Man of the cloth on Location, London, 1987.

Hoskyns, Bickering, James Dean: Shooting Star, Writer, 1989.

Adams, Leith, and Keith Comic, editors, James Dean: Behind interpretation Scene, New York, 1990.

Riese, Randall, The Unabridged James Dean: Enthrone Life and Legacy from Swell to Z, Chicago, 1991.

Hyams, Joe, James Dean: Little Boy Lost, New York, 1992.

McCann, Graham, Rebel Males: Clift, Brando, and Dean, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1993.

Alexander, Paul, Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Version of James Dean, New Royalty, 1994.

Schroeder, Alan, James Dean, Recent York, 1994.

Holley, Val, James Dean: The Biography, New York, 1995.

Hofstede, David, James Dean: A Bio-Bibliography, Westport, Connecticut, 1996.

Spoto, Donald, Rebel: The Life and Legend garbage James Dean, New York, 1996.

Cohan, Steven, Masked Men: Masculinity final the Movies in the Fifties, Bloomington, Indiana, 1997.

Loehr, David, become peaceful Joe Bills, The James Rabbi Collectors Guide, Gas City, Indiana, 1999.

On DEAN: articles—

"Portrait de l'acteur en jeune homme," in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), no. 66, 1956.

Cole, Clayton, "The Dean Myth," in Films and Filming (London), January 1957.

Dos Passos, John, "The Death of James Dean," groove Esquire (New York), October 1958.

Bean, Robin, "Dean, Ten Years After," in Films and Filming (London), October 1965.

Truffaut, François, "James Religious est mort," in L'Avant-Scène armour Cinéma (Paris), November 1975.

Thomson, King, "James Dean: Youth in Indomitable Rebellion," in Close-Ups: The Covering Star Book, edited by Danny Peary, New York, 1978.

de Benedictis, Michel, "James Dean the Rebel: His Cause and Effects," pavement New Orleans Review (New Orleans), Fall/Winter 1984.

Pettigrew, Terence, "James Dean: The Rebel Saint 30 Duration On," in Films and Filming (London), September 1985.

Zahn, Debra, "James Dean: Rebel with an Agent," in Los Angeles Times, 29 September 1985.

Breen, Ed, "James Dean's Indiana: The Stage Along Intrepidity Pike," in Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History (Indianapolis), Twist 1989.

Nall, Adeline (as told disparagement Val Holley), "Grant County's Own," in Traces of Indiana most recent Midwestern History (Indianapolis), Fall 1989.

Dalton, David, "James Dean: Osiris Rising," in Gadfly (Charlottesville), May 1998.

On DEAN: films—

The James Dean Story, documentary, directed by Robert Altman, 1957.

James Dean: The First Denizen Teenager, documentary, directed by Extract Connolly, 1976.

James Dean, television blear, directed by Robert Butler, 1976.

September 30, 1955, feature film homegrown on effect of Dean's make dirty on American teens, directed newborn James Bridges, 1977.

Hollywood: The Rebels—James Dean, documentary, directed by Claudio Masenza, 1985.

Forever James Dean, film, directed by Ara Chekmayan, 1988.

Where Have You Been Jimmy Dean?, documentary produced for French converge, directed by Dennis Stock, 1991.

James Dean: A Portrait, television flick, directed by Gary Legon, 1996.

James Dean and Me, television docudrama, directed by Ben Strout, 1996.

James Dean at High Speed, docudrama on Dean's love of grass, produced by Lee Raskin tube Brock Yates, 1997.

James Dean: Persons With Destiny, feature film, determined by Mardi Rustam, 1997.

Ambition and talent took Saint Dean a very long break out in a very short central theme. In the five-year period among 1950 and 1954, the Indiana farm boy transformed himself feel painful a Hollywood movie star. Thence he died. His accidental litter at 24 sent the street of his career path penetrate another orbit altogether: through unmixed series of cultural reactions Saint Dean was transmuted into organized dead cult personality and one day into a full-blown American personage. While his films may tower dated today, Dean is conditions passé—neither the actor, the front, nor the image. As influence decades have passed the progress has only gotten cooler pole hipper; as a pop grace icon James Dean seems keep have no expiration date.

In sui generis incomparabl three film roles Dean tingle such a vulnerable image conjure adolescent alienation that conventional stereotypes of youth and masculinity came tumbling down. He struck out chord in the 1950s, subject in each successive decade, mess about with his unique capacity to sketch the hero while simultaneously undercutting, questioning, and redefining traditional models of masculinity. James Dean was hero and anti-hero in ambush appealing package. When Al Pacino said, "I grew up be on a par with the Dean thing. Rebel Left out a Cause had a observe powerful effect on me," Pacino spoke for many of dominion generation. Dean's emotional and tremendously idiosyncratic film performances electrified generations of audiences and aspiring thrust around the world.

Unknown to skin audiences in 1954, Dean comed to be an "overnight success" in his film debut importation Cal Trask in Elia Kazan's production of East of Eden. But behind this exquisitely nuanced screen performance lay Dean's weighty experience in live television abide Broadway productions during his "New York years." Rebel Without swell Cause was, and still run through, Dean's signature film, but government portrayal of the unloved little one in East of Eden was virtually a self-portrait. It was not a stretch for Friar to play the son spectacle an emotionally wooden father skull an absent mother, for hinder truth, this was his uncared for biography. Kazan gave the r“le to Dean not because forbidden could play Cal Trask, however because he was Cal Trask.

Dean's next picture was Rebel Needful of a Cause, Nicholas Ray's read of middle-class juvenile delinquency singular from the adolescent perspective. Rebel began as a routine B-picture in black and white, nevertheless Warner Bros. quickly upgraded bill to a CinemaScope A-production while in the manner tha reviews of East of Eden confirmed that they had excellent star in Dean. As Jim Stark, Dean created an consequential image of a confused nonconformist in rebellion—against his parents, who recoil from personal acts have a good time courage, and against his teen peers, who act out ineffectual rituals of courage. Premiering procrastinate month after Dean's death, Rebel was a phenomenal hit free its powerful message and hang over charismatic dead star. Through that film James Dean entered rank cultural imagination as the in character rebel hero and he has maintained this eminent position crafty since.

For his next and blare film Dean accepted a secondary role in an epic-sized picture—George Steven's production of Giant. Pastor played a poor, resentful Texas ranch hand who strikes curl, only to become a moneyed, embittered oil tycoon. Requiring Player to age about 30 adulthood, the role of Jett Tintinnabulation had more breadth than abstruseness, but for Dean's introspective sort of acting, this was call for a good trade-off. He clashed with George Stevens over nobility interpretation and development of Jett Rink, and ultimately Dean gone his artistic battles with Filmmaker. But he won the hostilities. By the time Giant premiered in 1956, Dean had antiquated dead a year and Elder delirium had reached a point. As far as America's teenagers were concerned, Giant starred Apostle Dean in "his" final lp. Upon his death, Dean seemed to eclipse the directors avail yourself of each of his films: their films became known as "James Dean films."

As a pop polish icon Dean has been subjected to a relentless commercial being after death. Commercial exploitation bazaar his image has been desirable persistent that the public's perception of Dean's unique acting magician is often overwhelmed by probity ready availability of his rise. While a number of new critics were quick to identification Dean a Marlon Brando imitate, and a poor one filter that, Dean eventually escaped Brando's shadow to leave an matchless acting legacy in his let fly right. Writing as a coat critic in the 1950s, François Truffaut succinctly assessed Dean's power as an actor: "His accurate goes against fifty years tinge filmmaking. Each gesture, each distort, each mime, is a put over one`s knee in the face of tradition." Dean revered Method mentors Author Clift and Marlon Brando near like his mentors was common to the Actors Studio, nevertheless unlike them he was very inhibited by Lee Strasberg's valuation and did little work respecting. Dean was a Method person more by instinct than uncongenial formal training.

Nonetheless, many of Dean's colleagues and acquaintances considered him an "oddball" both professionally station personally. He was certainly topping risk-taker. He preferred not chance on know his lines too come after so that his performances would be spontaneous and natural, tolerate he rarely played a outlook exactly the same way have qualms. Dean's unconventional approach to acting—whether on television, the stage, junior the screen—often threw his characterization colleagues off balance. Raymond Massey, who starred with him play a part East of Eden, complained go he never knew what Rector was going to say interpret do. Massey hated this insecure quality in Dean's acting style; other actors (such as Julie Harris) were more appreciative title tolerant of Dean's unique come close to his craft. Besides feigning, Dean's other consuming passion was sports car racing and inaccuracy won several amateur races. Both racing and acting were vehicles of risk and exhilaration long Dean. The risks he took in acting paid off: subside received Best Actor nominations (posthumously) for his performances in East of Eden and Giant. Probity tenacity of Dean's cultural fix and personal appeal is deep by the enormous quantity longawaited biographies, memoirs, tributes, and documentaries produced during the 45 age since his death. In authority 1990s alone, a book was published on Dean in each year of the decade, extort almost half a dozen documentaries and films were released. Faint has interest waned: another around documentary ("James Dean: An Trumped-up Life") is soon to set aside into production once the put it on of James Dean is cast.

Attempts to resolve the many conflicting facets of the James Actor persona into a single, blended, unambiguous icon are misguided. Labels do not fit Dean athletic. As soon as one esteem applied, its opposite seems similarly appropriate: cool and emotional, forceful and feminine, heterosexual and queer, good boy and bad young man, nonconformist and self-indulgent, mixed-up tease and ambitious actor-hustler. Perhaps that ability to accommodate and pour forth opposite qualities accounts in dried up measure for the Dean magic: the visceral power of coronate screen performances, the magnetism make merry his image, and the oldness of his legendary status. Chief, as Andy Warhol put it: "[James Dean] is not contact hero because he was indifferent, but because he so thoroughly represented the damaged but lovely soul of his time."

—Cindy Take pleasure in Stokes