"My laptop was completely ruined when my office flooded. Even the hard disk was wrecked; but I didn't lose a single document."
 | James dean News - 6-March-2000 |  |
Finding Fairmount - The Hometown of James Byron De
James Byron Dean was born in Marion, Indiana, ten miles north of Fairmount on February 8th, 1931. He was the only child of Winton & Mildred Dean.
When his mother died at an early age, nine year old Jimmy came to Fairmount where he was raised by his Uncle Marcus and Aunt Ortense Winslow.
Jimmy attended Fairmount schools, and was an average student. He participated in most sports, and excelled in basketball and track.
He was also a member of the debate club, and was active in all of the school plays.
Upon graduating from Fairmount High School in 1949, Jimmy went to California where his father lived and attended Santa Monica City College, and later UCLA, where he was a theatre arts major.
His first acting job was in a Pepsi commercial for which he earned $30.00. He got bit parts in a couple of movies, but wanted more important roles.
In September of 1951 James Dean left Hollywood for New York City to get into more serious acting. He began getting cast in live dramas before being cast in his first broadway play, "See the Jaguar." It was in his second broadway play, "The Immoralist," that he was spotted by Director Elia Kazan, who had him screen tested and flown back to Hollywood to star in as the leading role in John Steinbeck's classic, "East of Eden."
He immediately went on to make "Rebel Without a Cause," with Director Nick Ray.
His third film was the Edna Ferber epic, "Giant" which co-starred Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson.
He made all three films within 16 months.
On September 30, 1955 James Dean was driving his new 550 Porsche Spyder to Salinas where he planned to enter it into a race. At 5:45 p.m., a 1950 Ford turned in front of the sports car, and he was unable to get around it.
With only "East of Eden" released to the public, James Dean was dead at the age of 24.
"Rebel Without a Cause" would open one week later.
James Dean's body was returned to Fairmount and is buried in Park Cemetary. Each year thousands of people visit the town of Fairmount and James Dean's gravesite to pay their respects to one of the most remembered personalities in film history.
- Biography provided by "The Fairmount Reporter," Winter/Spring 2000 No. 8 | Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
|
|
