Perhaps more than any young actor of his generation, James Dean symbolized the uncagable passion and wanderlust of youth. All three of his major motion pictures were filmed in just one year. These three films, East of Eden, Giant, and Rebel without a Cause, all received major theatrical acclaim. However, before James Dean could reap the fruits of his success, he was killed in a violent car accident after attending a race in Salinas, California. Dean's biographer, Joe Hyams, maintains that there's no single reason why James Dean garnered so much attention, other than that his persona perfectly reflected the dilemmas of '50s youths. Dean emerged from relative obscurity. He grew up in Indiana during the Great Depression, and his relationship with his parents was notoriously rocky. After a brief stint in Los Angeles, Dean returned to Indiana after his mother's death. The acting bug never left him. He attended Santa Monica Junior College as well as UCLA before eventually migrating to New York to study acting seriously. After working double duty as a busboy and as a part time television actor, Dean won his first major role in an otherwise forgettable play called See the Jaguar. As with his youthful compatriot, Marlon Brando, Dean was a total natural on screen. His acting style contrasted greatly with the stilted, studied manners of the great play actors of the day. He realistically depicted the emotions and tensions of youth with a flair and fluidity that, to this day, still resonate. Dean and fellow 1950s heartbreaker, Marilyn Monroe, helped define our modern notions of youth idealized--fast, furious, and ultimately deadly. |
