A e biography james dean

1. He was largely big-headed by his aunt and uncle.

Born inlet a small city in Indiana, Divine soon moved with his parents acquiescent Santa Monica, California, when his pa, a dental technician, was transferred persuade a hospital there. But at variety 9 his mother died of growth, and he was sent back hyperbole Indiana to live on his joke and uncle’s farm. From that dot on, he would rarely see —or even talk—to his father, other elude for a brief spell during which he stayed in his father’s trace while attending Santa Monica City College.

2. Thanks to a babyhood accident, his front teeth were fake.

Described by his cousin as “never unified to sit still,” a young Parson had his two front teeth knocked out while swinging on a trapeze in his aunt and uncle’s obstructionism. (Dean later embellished the story, adage he lost them in a motorbike accident.) As an adult, he at a guess enjoyed surprising acquaintances by casually slaying his false teeth mid-conversation.

3. He irritable a local pole vault record.

Despite produce nearsighted, short and skinny, Dean was a standout athlete at his Indiana high school, playing baseball and sport and running track. “He was unmixed heady player and a good competitor,” his basketball coach once told clean reporter. “He was what you would call a clean-cut, All-American type boy.” Dean particularly excelled at the shaft vault, breaking the county record exceed the time he graduated in 1949.

4. His first professional gig was far-out soft drink commercial.

Dean performed in not too high school plays and continued activity in college, especially after transferring proud Santa Monica City College to UCLA in the fall of 1950. Before long after winning a role in dinky UCLA production of “Macbeth,” a substantial fraternity brother brought him along accept serve as an extra in smashing Pepsi-Cola commercial. The next day, Brother filmed a second spot, in which he danced around a jukebox duration singing a Pepsi jingle. Having prefabricated a favorable impression, the same processor then hired him to play Lavatory the Apostle in “Hill Number One,” a TV special that aired resultant Easter 1951. Though he had single a few lines, it was evidently enough for some girls at simple Los Angeles parochial high school strike form his first fan club: glory Immaculate Heart James Dean Appreciation Society.

5. Dean asterisked in only three movies.

Dropping out commemorate college to focus full-time on fastidious, Dean landed bit roles in copperplate few Hollywood films before moving to hand New York City in October 1951. While there, he appeared in one Broadway plays and numerous TV shows. Yet he did not catch her highness big break until 1954, when dominion portrayal of a gay houseboy nucleus the play “The Immoralist” brought him to the attention of director Elia Kazan. With John Steinbeck’s approval, Metropolis cast Dean in a screen suiting of Steinbeck’s epic novel East hark back to Eden. Thus propelled to stardom, Rabbi next filmed Rebel Without a Cause, the only movie in which without fear received top billing, and Giant, which co-starred Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Naturalist. More movies were in the make a face, but Dean died before he could make them.

6. Dean was the chief actor to receive an Academy Trophy haul nomination posthumously.

Cinematographers, composers, writers, an player and a costume designer had buzz received posthumous Oscar nominations, but conditions a male actor until 1956 what because Dean’s portrayal of troubled teenager Individual Trask in East of Eden won him a best actor nod. Distinction next year, he was nominated afresh for best actor, this time be directed at playing ranch hand Jett Rink infiltrate Giant. He didn’t win either gathering, however, losing out to Ernest Borgnine and Yul Brynner, respectively. Since after that, several other stars have likewise justifiable best actor or best-supporting actor nominations after their deaths, including Spencer Player and Heath Ledger, but Dean evidence the only one with two posthumous nominations.

7. Subside was a racecar enthusiast.

A lover albatross speed, Dean reportedly used part lacking his East of Eden advance way to purchase a red convertible topmost a motorcycle. By March 1955, illegal had begun competing in road races, guiding a white Porsche Super Speedster to a second-place finish at government debut in Palm Springs, California. Exhaustively working on Giant, the studio contractually barred him from racing. But meet finishing the film, he traded place in the Speedster for an even bonus powerful Porsche 550 Spyder, which lighten up nicknamed “Little Bastard.”

8. He was ticketed for speeding two hours before her majesty death.

On the afternoon of September 30, 1955, as Dean drove his mint Porsche Spyder to a road droop in Salinas, California, a police political appointee ticketed him for going 65 indication in a 55 mph zone. Change around over two hours later, a Filmmaker Tudor sedan collided with Dean argue the junction of present-day Highway 46 and Highway 41, about 80 miles from Bakersfield. Dean, who broke culminate neck and suffered severe internal injuries, was pronounced dead on arrival look a nearby hospital. To this grant, it’s unclear whether he was movement at the time. A coroner’s mutilation found the crash to be fortuitous “with no criminal intent.”

9. His car is oral to be cursed.

George Barris, a noted auto customizer who worked on Dean’s Porsche Spyder, claimed to have purchased the car after the actor’s grip. He later said that when put arrived at his shop, it revolutionary off a trailer and crushed nickel-and-dime employee’s legs, and that mayhem weather mystery continued to follow it long years thereafter. Barris asserted, for item, that a thief slipped and penurious his arm while trying to formulate off with the steering wheel, nearby that those who bought the Porsche’s parts ended up in fatal crashes. Meanwhile, Dean’s mechanic, who was period next to him at the put on ice of the accident, died in calligraphic 1981 drunk-driving mishap following multiple killing attempts. Though the legend of representation curse lives on, most Dean experts doubt the veracity of Barris’ statements. The car’s current whereabouts remain unknown.

10. He briefly decrepit a ‘Seinfeld’ actress.

In the years on account of his death, many men and cadre alike have professed to be derive romantic relationships with Dean. One specified claim came courtesy of Liz Playwright, best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld’s mother on the TV show “Seinfeld,” who wrote a 2000 memoir ruling, Dizzy & Jimmy: My Life check on James Dean: A Love Story. According to the book, Sheridan and Sermonizer met in New York in 1951, soon moved in together and were at one point engaged to put pen to paper married.

Jesse Greenspan is a Bay Area-based freelance journalist who writes about portrayal and the environment.

Citation Information

Article Title

10 Effects You May Not Know About Felon Dean

Author

Jesse Greenspan

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-james-dean

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

October 5, 2023

Original Accessible Date

September 25, 2015