 James
Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 - September 30, 1955) was an American film actor
who epitomized youthful angst. Dean's mainstream status as a cultural icon is
best embodied in the title of his most cited role in Rebel Without a Cause. As
with Buddy Holly, Bruce Lee, and Marilyn Monroe his death at a young age helped
guarantee a legendary status.
Childhood and Education
Born in Marion, Indiana to Winton and Mildred Wilson Dean, James Dean and his
family moved to Santa Monica, California six years after his father had left
farming to become a dental technician. Dean was enrolled in Brentwood Public
School until his mother died of cancer in 1940.
At age nine, Dean was sent by his father to live with his aunt Ortense and uncle
Marcus Winslow on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana, where he was brought up with a
Quaker influence. In high school Dean played on the school basketball team and
studied forensics and drama. After graduating from Fairmount High School in
1949, Dean moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother.
He enrolled in Santa Monica College (SMCC), pledged to the Sigma Nu fraternity
and majored in pre-law. Dean transferred to the University of California, Los
Angeles and changed his major to drama, resulting in estrangement from his
father.
Acting Career
Dean began his acting career with a Pepsi-Cola commercial followed by a stint as
a stunt tester in the Beat the Clock game show. He quit college to focus on his
budding career, but struggled to get jobs in Hollywood and paid his bills only
by working as a parking lot attendant at CBS Studios.
Following friends' advice, Dean moved to New York City to pursue live stage
acting, where he was accepted to study under Lee Strasberg in the storied Actors
Studio. His career picked up, and he did several episodes on early-1950s TV
shows such as Kraft Television Theater, Studio One, Lux Video Theatre, Robert
Montgomery Presents, Danger and General Electric Theater. One early role, for
the CBS series, Omnibus (Glory in the Flower) saw Dean portraying the same type
of disaffected youth he would later immortalize in Rebel Without a Cause (this
summer 1953 program was also notable for featuring the song Crazy Man, Crazy,
one of the first dramatic TV programs to feature rock and roll). Positive
reviews for his role in André Gide's The Immoralist led to calls from Hollywood
and paved the way to film stardom.
Dean and his mechanic Rolf Wuetherich set off from Competition Motors where they
had prepared his Porsche 550 Spyder that morning for a sports car race at Palm
Springs. Dean originally intended to tow the Porsche to the meeting point at
Salinas behind his Ford, crewed by Hickman and photographer Stanford Roth, who
was planning a photo story of Dean at the races. At the last minute Dean decided
he needed more time to familiarize himself with the car. Later in the afternoon,
Dean was pulled over for speeding. Already having left the Ford far behind, they
stopped for fuel and to meet up with fellow racer Lance Reventlow.
Death
Dean was driving west on US Highway 466 (later California State Route 46) near
Cholame, California when a 1950 Ford Tudor driven from the opposite direction by
23-year-old Cal Poly student Donald Turnupseed attempted to take the fork onto
California State Route 41 and crossed into Dean's lane without seeing him. The
two cars hit almost head on. According to a story in the October 1, 2005 edition
of the Los Angeles Times, California Highway Patrol officer Ron Nelson and his
partner had been finishing a coffee break in Paso Robles when they were called
to the scene of the accident, where they saw a heavily-breathing Dean being
placed into an ambulance. Wuetherich had been thrown from the car but survived
with a broken jaw and other injuries. Dean was taken to Paso Robles War Memorial
Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 5:59 pm at the age of 24.
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