biography
| name: |
Dean, James (Byron)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1931–55)
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| biography:
| Film actor, born in Marion, Indiana, USA. Raised on an Iowa farm, after high school he attended college in California, where he joined a small theatre group and did occasional television commercials and bit-part film appearances. Arriving in New York (1952), he obtained a part in See the Jaguar on Broadway. Continuing with small parts on television, he acted on Broadway in The Immoralist (1954), which gained him a Hollywood screen test. He starred in only three films, 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. He was killed in a road crash (30 Sep 1955) 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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