Dean, James (redirected from dean)

Dean, James (James Byron Dean), 1931–55, American film actor, b. Marion, Ind. After a few stage and television roles, Dean was chosen to play the moody, rebellious son in the film East of Eden (1953). He was further identified with restless, inarticulate youth in his second film Rebel without a Cause (1954). Dean was killed when his racing car crashed the day after he finished work on Giant (1955). His death set off a worldwide wave of popular mourning unequaled since the death of Rudolph Valentino, and he has remained a cult hero.

Bibliography

See V. Herndon, James Dean: A Short Life (1974); D. Dalton and R. Cayen, James Dean: American Icon (1984); P. Alexander, Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times and Legend of James Dean (1994).

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Dean, James (Byron)

James Dean in Giant (1956).

(credit: © 1956 Giant Productions, courtesy of Warner Bros.; photograph, Culver Pictures)

(born Feb. 8, 1931, Marion, Ind., U.S.—died Sept. 30, 1955, near Paso Robles, Calif.) U.S. film actor. He played bit parts in four films before trying the Broadway stage, where his role in The Immoralist (1954) led to a screen test and a brilliant though brief movie career. His starring role in East of Eden (1955) brought him an Academy Award nomination. As a misunderstood teenager in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) he personified the confused and restless youth of the 1950s. He was featured as a nonconformist ranch hand in his last film, Giant (1956). His death at age 24 in an automobile crash caused anguish among his fans and contributed to his idolization as a cult figure.

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Dean, James (Byron) (1931–55) film actor; born in Marion, Ind. Raised on an Iowa farm, after high school he attended college in California, where he joined a little theater group and did occasional television commercials and bit part film appearances. Arriving in New York in 1952, he got a part in See the Jaguar on Broadway. He had bit parts on television and acted on Broadway in The Immoralist (1954), which got him a Hollywood screen test. He starred in only three movies—East of Eden (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and Giant (1956)—but this moody actor was instantly acclaimed as the epitome of the mid-fifties, representing the alienated American youth of the time, the true rebel without a cause. On September 30, 1955 he was killed in a highway crash while driving his Porsche to compete in a racing event. He became a cult figure, and for many years after his death remained a symbol of youthful alienation and rebellion.

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Dean, James

(1931–1955) leader of restless youth cult in early 50s. [Am. Cinema: NCE, 730]

See : Death, Premature

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Dean, James

(1931–1955) actor whose inarticulateness epitomized the anti-eloquence of American youth in the 1950s. [Am. Cinema: Griffith, 423]

See : Diction, Faulty