James Dean
The career and life of James Dean was all too brief. His feature film acting credits rest on only three films: East of Eden (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and Giant (1956). Born in Indiana in 1931, Dean lived in California with his family until the death of his mother, when he was nine years old. His father sent him back to Indiana to live with relatives, where he finished high school excelling in athletics, debate, and drama. Dean moved back to California and attended UCLA to study acting. He quit school to spend more time auditioning, and like many aspiring actors, supported himself as a parking lot attendant and through other odd jobs. It was only after moving to New York City in 1951 that Dean's career took off. He first appeared on Broadway in See the Jaguar, and also joined the Actors Studio where he met Elia Kazan. After an acclaimed performance run on Broadway in The Immoralist (1954), Kazan asked him to do a screen test for an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden. Dean's persona tapped into the zeitgeist of post-war American youth in a phenomenal way. His sensitivity, anger, and alienation made him a touchstone that continues to be relevant to this day. Dean was an avid race car enthusiast and it was on the way to a race in Salinas, California that James Dean was killed in a head-on collision on September 30th, 1955. Dean received two posthumous Best Actor nominations for his roles in East of Eden and Giant.
