James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 September 30, 1955) was an American actor.[1] He is a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, (1955), in which he starred as t roubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were lo ner Cal Trask in (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (19 56). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rest on his performances in only these three films, all leading roles. Dean's premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status.[2] He becam e the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Acto r, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations.[3] In 1999, the ranked him the 18th best male movie star on their AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.[4]

Dean was born at the Seven Gables apartment house at the corner of 4th Street an d McClure Street in Marion, Indiana,[5] the son of Winton Dean (January 17, 1907 February 21, 1995) and Mildred Wilson (September 15, 1910 July 14, 1940). Six y ears after his father had left farming to become a dental technician, Dean and h is family moved to Santa Monica, California. He was enrolled at Brentwood Public School in the Brentwood neighborhood of , but transferred soon after ward to the McKinley Elementary school.[6] The family spent several years there, and by all accounts, young Dean was very close to his mother. According to Mich ael DeAngelis, she was "the only person capable of understanding him".[7] In 193 8, she was suddenly struck with acute stomach pains and began to lose weight qui ckly. She died of uterine cancer when Dean was nine years old.[6] Unable to care for his son, Dean's father sent him to live with his sister Orten se and her husband Marcus Winslow on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana,[8] where he w as raised in a Quaker household.[9] Winton served in World War II and later rema rried. In his adolescence, Dean sought the counsel and friendship of a local Met hodist pastor, the Rev. James DeWeerd. DeWeerd seemed to have had a formative in fluence upon Dean, especially upon his future interests in bullfighting, car rac ing, and theater.[10] According to Billy J. Harbin, Dean had "an intimate relati onship with his pastor, which began in his senior year of high school and endure d for many years".[11][12] Their alleged sexual relationship was earlier suggest ed in the 1994 book Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Legend of J ames Dean by Paul Alexander.[13] In 2011, it was reported that he once confided in that he was sexually abused by a minister approximately two years after his mother's death.[14] Other reports on Dean's life also suggest th at he was either sexually abused by DeWeerd as a child or had a sexual relations hip with him as a late teenager.[12][13] In high school, Dean's overall performance was mediocre. However, he was conside red to be a popular student, having played on the baseball and varsity basketbal l teams, studied drama, and competed in public speaking through the Indiana High School Forensic Association. After graduating from Fairmount High School in May 1949,[15] Dean moved back to California with his dog, Max, to live with his fat her and stepmother. He enrolled in (SMC) and majored in pre -law. He transferred to UCLA for one semester,[16] and changed his major to dram a,[17] which resulted in estrangement from his father. He pledged the Sigma Nu f raternity but was never initiated.[18] While at UCLA, Dean was picked from a gro up of 350 actors to portray Malcolm in Macbeth.[19] At that time, he also began acting in 's workshop. In January 1951, he dropped out of UCLA to pursue a full-time career as an actor.[20] Dean's first television appearance was in a Pepsi Cola television commercial.[21 ] He quit college to act full-time and was cast as John the Beloved Disciple in Hill Number One, an Easter television special, and three walk-on roles in movies , a soldier in Fixed Bayonets!, Sailor Beware, and a youth in Has Anybody Seen M y Gal?[22] His first speaking part was as a boxing trainer in Sailor Beware, a P aramount comedy starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.[23] While struggling to ge t jobs in , Dean also worked as a parking lot attendant at CBS Studios, during which time he met Rogers Brackett,[24] a radio director for an advertisi ng agency, who offered him professional help and guidance in his chosen career, as well as a place to stay.[25][26] In October 1951, following the encouragement of actor James Whitmore's and his m entor Rogers Brackett's advice, Dean moved to New York City. There he worked as a stunt tester for the game show Beat the Clock. He also appeared in episodes of several CBS television series, The Web, Studio One, and , befo re gaining admission to the legendary Actors Studio to study under .[27] Proud of this accomplishment, Dean referred to the Studio in a 1952 letter to his family as "The greatest school of the theater. It houses g reat people like , , , . . .. Very few get into it ... It is the best thing that can happen to an actor. I am one of the youngest to belong."[25] Dean's career picked up and he performed in further episodes of such early television shows as , Robert Montgomery Presents, Dange r, and . One early role, for the CBS series Omnibus in t he episode "Glory in the Flower", saw Dean portraying the type of disaffected yo uth he would later immortalize in Rebel Without a Cause. (This summer 1953 progr am was also notable for featuring the song "Crazy Man, Crazy", one of the first dramatic TV programs to feature .) Positive reviews for Dean's 1954 theatrical role as "Bachir", a pandering North African houseboy, in an adaptati on of André Gide's book The Immoralist, led to calls from Hollywood.[28]