James Byron Dean was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement. Dean was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, on September 14, 1982.
About James Dean in brief
James Byron Dean was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement. After his death in a car crash, Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Stars list. Dean was born on February 8, 1931, in Marion, Indiana, the only child of Mildred Marie and Winton Dean. He also claimed that his father was partly Native American, and that his mother belonged to a line of original settlers that could be traced back to the Mayflower. Dean’s father sent him to live with his aunt and uncle, Ortense and Marcus Winslow, on their farm in Fairmount, Indiana. In his adolescence, Dean sought the counsel and friendship of a local Methodist pastor, the Rev. James DeWeerd, who seems to have had a formative influence upon Dean, especially upon his future interests in bullfighting, car racing, and theater. According to Billy J. Harbin, Dean had an intimate relationship with his pastor, which began in his senior year of high school and endured for many years. In 2011, it was reported that Dean once confided in Elizabeth Taylor that he was sexually abused by a minister approximately two years after his mother’s death. Dean died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, on September 14, 1982.
He was 48 years old and was the only actor to have received two Academy Award nominations after his death. His last film was Rebel Without a Cause, in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant. He was also known for his roles in three walk-on movies: Fixed on the Bayonets! and a youth in Has Anybody Seen My Gal? In July 1951, Dean appeared on Jane Doe, which was produced by Alias Brias, a director who offered him a place to stay to stay as a professional. He quit college to act full-time and was cast in his first speaking part, as John the Beloved Disciple in Hill Number One, an television special dram dramatizing the Resurrection of Jesus. Dean also worked as a parking lot attendant at CBS Studios, during which time he met Al Rogers, a radio director and radio host. He later appeared in several television shows, including The Andy Griffith Show and The Muncipal Show. In January 1951, he was picked from a group of 350 actors to portray Malcolm in Macbeth. At that time, he also began acting in James Whitmore’s workshop. He also appeared in a Pepsi Cola commercial. Dean was never initiated into the Sigma Nu fraternity but was never initiated into the fraternity. He died of cancer when he was nine years old.
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This page is based on the article James Dean published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 10, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
