James Dean Collection

The Complete James Dean Video Collection

This thread includes the following movies and rare footage of James Dean
-East of Eden (1955)
-Giant (1956)
-Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
-Something for an Empty Briefcase (1953)
-The Bells of Cockaigne (1953)
-Sentence of Death (1953)
-Hill Number One (1951) Televised debut of James Dean
-I'm a Fool (1954)
-The Unlighted Road (1955)

-The Dark Dark Hours (1954)

James Dean (Harvest) 23.11.1953



James Dean and Me



James Dean (Sense memory)



James Dean Rare TV Show (The Big Story Rex Newman)






James Dean - Mark Rydell

QUICK FACTS 

NAME: James Dean
OCCUPATION: Film Actor
BIRTH DATE: February 08, 1931
DEATH DATE: September 30, 1955
EDUCATION: University of California at Los Angeles
PLACE OF BIRTH: Marion, Indiana
PLACE OF DEATH: Paso Robles, California
AKA: James Dean
FULL NAME: James Byron Dean

Synopsis

James Dean was born on February 8, 1931, in Marion, Indiana. He starred in the film adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel East of Eden, for which he received an Oscar nomination. His next starring role, in Rebel Without a Cause, made him into the embodiment of his generation. Shortly after completing work on the film Giant, Dean was killed in a car crash and quickly became an enduring film icon.

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 studied law at Santa Monica College, but eventually transferred to University of California, Los Angeles, and majored in theater.

Commercial Success
After appearing in just one stage production, as Malcolm in Macbeth, Dean dropped out of UCLA. His first television appearance was in a Pepsi Cola commercial, and his first speaking part was in 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.

In 1951, Dean moved to New York City and was admitted to the Actors Studio to study under Lee Strasberg. His career began to pick up, and he performed in such 1950s television shows as Kraft Television Theatre and Omnibus. In 1954, Dean's success in a theatrical role as an Arab boy in The Immoralist led to interest from Hollywood. Over the next 18 months, Dean starred in three major motion pictures, beginning with the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, East of Eden. Director Elia Kazan chose Dean after Dean 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 Oscar for this 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 inRebel Without a Cause, a role that would define his image in American culture. Dean then landed a supporting role to Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in Giant, playing an older, oil-rich Texan.Giant was Dean's last film. It was released after his death in 1956. Dean received an Oscar nomination for this role, 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 Wütherich, drove Dean's new Porsche 550 Spyder to a weekend race in Salinas, California. At 3:30 p.m., they were stopped just south of Bakersfield and given a speeding ticket. Later, while driving along Route 466, a 23-year-old Cal Poly student named Donald Turnupseed suddenly turned his Ford Custom in front of Dean's Porsche. The two cars collided almost head-on, flipping the Spyder in the air and landing it on its wheels in a gully. Dean was killed almost immediately. He was 24.

7 Facts About James Dean: Dirty Habits, Magical Powers & More

SEP 30, 2014

Today in 1955, 24-year-old James Dean died in a car crash on a California highway, but almost six decades later he remains one of Hollywood’s most enduring and enigmatic icons. Here are 7 revealing facts about the man behind the sex symbol.

It’s almost 60 years after his tragic death and still Hollywood is looking for “the next James Dean.” The young actor made only three movies in his career – East of Eden (1955) where he played the bad boy brother in the “Cain and Abel” retelling, his signature role as an angst-fueled teen in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and Giant (1956) where he stepped into the cowboy boots of a nonconformist ranch hand. All of his movies became Hollywood classics, but he only saw one, East of Eden, completed.

Just hours before his crash, James Dean takes a cigarette break at a gas station next to his beloved silver Porsche 550 Spyder that he named Little Bastard.

He was only 24 years old on September 30, 1955, when he was driving down Route 466 in his Porsche 550 Spyder and a car collided with his, killing him almost instantly. The young star's life and career was cut short, but his premature death contributed to the legend he would become. Rebel Without a Cause and Giant were released posthumously, and Dean came to epitomize the sensitive, troubled rebel who fans still connect with today. Who was the man behind the brooding Hollywood sex symbol? Here are 7 revealing facts that might give you a clue.

1. He Had Daddy Issues

James Byron Dean was born in Marion, Indiana on February 8,1931. Dean's father Winton left farming to become a dentist and moved the family to Santa Monica, California. But when Dean’s mother died from cervical cancer when he was 9, the family broke apart. His father sent him back to Indiana to live on his aunt and uncle’s Quaker farm, and this was the beginning of an estrangement between father and son that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

2. He Had Some Dirty Habits
He was the symbol of sexy cool onscreen, but off camera the 5’8”, 135-pound star had some quirky and dirty (as in unwashed) habits. Dean supposedly didn’t care much about his public appearance and went for the disheveled look. At one formal luncheon, he showed up barefoot and in filthy jeans and was known to appear at rehearsals in pants held together with safety pins. He was also know for having pretty extreme mood swings, according to friends, who said he also had the habit of calling or visiting them late at night. “He’d be up one minute, down the next. He was uncomfortable in his own skin,” one of them said.

James Dean - Mini Biography (TV-PG; 02:59) James Dean made his film debut in "East of Eden," but it was his next film, "Rebel Without a Cause" that made him an icon of his generation. He died in a car accident at the age of 24 and soon became an enduring Hollywood legend.

3. He Looked Up to Brando

Dean respected another brooding actor of the day Marlon Brando. While Dean was just emerging in Hollywood, the slightly older Brando had major success as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), his iconic role as a motorcycle gang leader in The Wild One (1953), and he won an Oscar for On the Waterfront (1954). Dean attempted to call Brando and see him socially, but Brando rebuffed his attempts at bro-ship. “I gave him the name of a [psycho]-analyst, and he went. At least his work improved,” Brando said.

4. He Wanted to Be Billy the Kid
In his short career, Dean played fictional non-conformists who played by their own rules, but if he had lived he may have taken on the role of a real-life outlaw. He read and re-read the book The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid and frequently spoke of wanting to portray the Wild West gunslinger in a film.

5. He Confused Ronald Reagan

Before he made it in the movies, Dean worked a lot in live television. A fan of improvising, he went off script on one show and threw a few ad-libs at one of his co-stars, actor and future president Ronald Reagan, who was totally confused by Dean's acting method. Reagan wasn’t the only one who disliked Dean’s spontaneity. "Just make him say the lines as they’re written,” one actor said once.

James Dean - Rebel Without a Cause (TV-14; 01:13) Watch a short video about James Dean and learn how this popular actor met his untimely end.

6. The Sexuality of the Sex Symbol
Although Dean was briefly engaged to actress Pier Angeli, his sexuality has been a matter of debate. A number of biographers doubt his relationship with Angeli was a physical one. Some biographers believe he was bisexual; others characterize him as a homosexual who had one or two brief affairs with women. It was rumored that his first sexual experience occurred as a teenager when a local minister seduced him.

7. He Had Magical Powers (Sort of)
When he wasn’t acting or racing cars, Dean liked to practice magic tricks. A smoker, who was often photographed with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, Dean put a magical spin on his tobacco habit: he would put an unlit cigarette and a flaming match into his mouth and then pull out a burning cigarette. Another reason why Dean was smoking hot.