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A life in pictures: James Dean

A life in pictures: James Dean

BY Eleanor Dunn

1st Jan 2015 Celebrities

3 min read

Only the good die young. Here are ten striking photos of the timeless actor James Dean, showcasing his much-too-short life in fascinating pictures
“The only way to make a scene realistic is to do it the way you know it would really happen.” James Byron Dean’s acting style was peppered with the truths of his personal life, a life defined by the young star’s unabashed rebellion, curiosity and brooding air of intrigue.
Perhaps the most striking remnants of James Dean’s brief yet rich life lie in iconic portraits. They provide an invaluable insight into the man behind the mere three Hollywood blockbusters he starred in before his tragic death at age 24. Here are ten of the best.

1. Some light reading

James Dean wears glasses and sits at a kitchen table smoking while reading a book of poetry
In this rare photograph from 1955, James Dean reads from a book of poetry in his hometown of Fairmont, Indiana.
He was visiting his uncle, Marcus Winslow, with whom his father sent him to live after his mother died from cancer when he was nine years old. Dean was raised by his aunt and uncle as a Quaker on their humble farm. 

2. Playing the part

James Dean wears a red jacket and kisses Natalie Wood on the forehead, who looks into the distance
Dean is here seen with his Rebel Without a Cause co-star, the then 16-year-old Natalie Wood. Both stars suffered tragically premature deaths. Dean died in a car accident before the film was released, and Wood drowned in 1981 whilst on a weekend boat trip to Santa Catalina Island aged just 44.

3. A dog's life

A little girl shows James Dean a pheasant's head outside a shop. Another girl, holding a dog on a lead, looks disapprovingly to the camera
In another rarely seen snap by Dennis Stock, a little girl shows the actor a pheasant’s head outside a shop in Fairmont, Indiana. 

4. Starring in East of Eden

James Dean, in character as Cal Trask, clings onto a pole as another character tries to drag him away
James Dean played Cal Trask in East of Eden, his 1955 big-screen debut and one of just three films he appeared in before his death. Based on John Steinbeck’s haunting novel, East of Eden questioned the dynamics of brotherly love, strongly drawing from the themes of the Biblical Cain and Abel tale.
It has been said that on the last day of shooting the film, Dean was found sobbing in his dressing room, crying “it’s over.”

5. Boy racer

James Dean wears a helmet and races in a white Porsche with 23F painted on its side; a crowd of people are small but just visible in the distance
Dean was a race-car fanatic and his insatiable appetite for adrenaline would eventually lead to his untimely death.
Whilst shooting Giant, director George Stevens banned the star from racing until production had finished. Just before the start of the ban, Dean entered a Memorial Day race in Santa Barbara, where on the very last lap he blew a piston of his Porsche Speedster.
Dean knew and embraced the perils of his obsession, once declaring “What better way to die? It’s fast and clean and you go out in a blaze of glory.”

6. A walk in the rain

Black and white photo of James Dean in a black coat smoking a cigarette, walking in the rain in Times Square, New York City
In perhaps the most iconic of Dennis Stock’s portraits of Dean, the star is seen trawling the rain-beaten pavement of Times Square in 1955. 
Complete with Dean’s signature brooding gaze and cigarette, this shot is said to have inspired Grammy award-winning rock band Green Day’s melancholy single "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

7. Hidden talents

James Dean is wearing a tight black shirt and leggings while performing a ballet exercise; the teacher is adjusting his hip and ankle placement
Dean practices ballet in a New York City class in 1955. A perhaps unlikely hobby for the speed-racing rebel, Dean began taking tap lessons at the Marion College of Dance and Theatrical Arts at the age of three. He danced ballet alongside Katherine Dunham in New York City, as captured by Dennis Stock. 

8. At the Oscars

James Dean wears a tuxedo and bow tie and Pier Angeli wears a white dress and coat, they look at something out of shot together
At an Oscars ceremony, Dean sports his now-famous timid, enigmatic gaze alongside actress Pier Angeli.
After his death, Dean became the first actor to be honoured with a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. 

9. A musical soul

James Dean wears a shirt and trousers while kneeling on the floor to play a conga drum, a cigarette hanging from his lips
In another rare capture, James Dean plays a conga drum in a ‘jam session’ with friends in New York City, 1955. The actor had a deep love of music, and founded his college’s jazz club. 

10. Life in death

James Dean wears a suit and lies in a coffin, holding his chest and pulling a facial expression that suggests illness
In this light-hearted, yet eerie shot taken in Fairmont, Indiana, Dean poses in a coffin just seven months before his death.
The gutsy young actor once spoke on his powerful interpretation of the afterlife, claiming “if a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he’s dead, then maybe he was a great man.”
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