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Sunday 28 September 2014

James Dean

James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana, United States on February 8, 1931 to Winton Dean and Mildred Wilson.

When Dean was six his family moved to California, and James went to school in Los Angeles.

James' mother died of cancer when he was nine, and he went to live with his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana.

When he was 11 years-old, Dean was sexually harassed by a Protestant minister. This experience tortured him during all his whole childhood.

In high school, he became interested in drama and car racing. After he graduated, he moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother.

He had two front teeth knocked out while he was swinging around on a homemade trapeze. Dean said he lost them in a motorbike accident and would shock people by taking out his false teeth during conversations.

James Dean made his television debut with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial on December 13, 1950. He was the guy who put the money in the jukebox. He was asked to film a second Pepsi ad the very next day.


Dean attended Santa Monica College and UCLA, but left college in 1951 to become a professional actor.

He starred in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) as troubled teenager Jim Stark and loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955).

Dean in Rebel Without a Cause

Dean had a fondness for auto racing and had purchased the 1955 Porsche Spyder sports car, one of only 90 made of that year model, planning to participate in the upcoming races in Salinas, California on Oct 1, 1955.

Exactly one week before he died, James Dean was warned by Sir Alec Guinness not to get into his new Porsche 550 Spyder, or “You’ll be found dead in it by this time next week."

On September 30, 1955 the 24-year-old James Dean, driving his Porsche Spyder, collided with another car in Cholame, California and was killed. He had received a speeding ticket just two hours and fifteen minutes before.

Ironically, he had filmed a highway safety commercial with actor Gig Young on the set of Giant in July 1955. Dean told Young, "I used to fly around quite a bit, took a lot of unnecessary chances on the highway.... Now when I drive on the highway, I'm extra cautious."

Source Wikipedia

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