James Dean: The Making of Hollywood's Iconic Rebel

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acting world this is the story of james dean and how a hollywood icon was made [Music] james byron dean was born on february 8 1931 in marion indiana 17 months after the wedding of 19 year old mildred marie wilson and 22 year old wynton a dean winton had been a farmer in indiana but after taking a job as a dental technician he relocated the family to santa monica california when jimmy was only eight mildred died of cervical cancer winton did not know how to cope with being a single father wynton's mother emma offered some advice jimmy could go and live with wynton's sister or tents who ran a quaker farm in fairmount indiana with her husband marcus wynton dean agreed it turned out to be the right choice as he was drafted into the army 18 months later and he wasn't cut out to be a single father plus autenson markers turned out to be excellent parental figures for jimmy but as a result james and wynton dean never developed a close relationship and the future actor would constantly seek surrogate parental figures jimmy had an idyllic childhood in fairmont his uncle and aunt became mum and dad and he grew attached to his cousin joan as the big sister he'd never had when joan got married during the war and rice was hard to come by jimmy toured all over the stalls in the county and until there was enough to throw for the newlyweds authentic marcus on their part did their best to encourage jimmy's artistic inclinations as his mother mildred had done before if you were a lazy casting director for an 80s comedy you'd take a look at the kid and cast him as the stereotypical school nerd he was short awkward and he wore thick horn-rimmed glasses and dental braces and yet jimmy excelled in everything except academic subjects he played violin brass horn and drums he tap danced and painted he excelled in both the high school basketball and baseball teams but his greatest passions were acting and motorcycling according to his grandma emma the realization he should pursue acting came after his appearance in a church play in which jimmy played a blind boy well i'll tell you i wish he wasn't quite so good at it i cried all the way through besides family members jimmy's greatest influence in his teenage years was his pastor reverend james dewey a decorated world war ii veteran and friend of winston churchill the clergyman encouraged the young dean to pursue his passion for the stage and for the race course dawid also introduced jimmy to philosophy classical music and the notion that he should seek his true self beyond the physical and ethical confines of small time america the older james taught the younger james that conformity is cowardice a concept ironically jimmy put into place by conforming to his mentor's worldview like a psychic vampire jimmy absorbed every possible teaching from dawid to the point of adopting his convictions and mannerisms this was to become a recurring pattern in dean's life jimmy would cling on to a surrogate parent or other mentor figure he would then drain them of all the culture and knowledge they could offer and then he'd move on to the next provider of mental energy when the two talked about bull fighting and car racing the reverend introduced the ever-present possibility of sudden death in such occupations but sudden death should not be feared if one believed in personal immortality sudden death followed by immortality the future star's fate had been sealed 1949 jimmy graduated from high school and moved back in with his dad winton in santa monica california he enrolled in the local college where winton insisted that he studied law but of course he dedicated way more time to the performing arts one of his drama teachers mrs jean nielsen oh and took him under her wing while his raw talent was undeniable his poor articulation made him barely understandable fellow students blamed this on the indiana accent but nielsen realized the problem was caused by the dental braces eventually she helped fix the annunciation problem by having dean read hamlet for a whole term dean then transferred to the university of california los angeles and majored in theater in his first months at ucla james dean did not make an impression he was withdrawn awkward and did not mingle easily with the theatrical clique even his acting chops did not stand out against the average of the students at that stage he felt more at home with the jocks and the frat boys as he had joined a greek fraternity his attitude changed when he joined the informal classes held by actor james whitmore who had studied in new york and imported the more sophisticated east coast techniques to hollywood it was during his classes that he had an epiphany this was the style for him a new direct and realistic acting style heavily influenced by the system of russian director constantine stanislawski this was an approach which required actors to plunge deep into themselves to retrieve those memories and emotions which could match their character's psychological state it was at whitmore's classes that jimmy finally clicked with the clique of more promising acting students in particular he got acquainted with william bast who had become one of his best friends and lovers as jimmy fell in with the acting crowd he got estranged from his fraternity friends one night one of the frat boys made a snide remark against the thespian community and jimmy reacted badly very badly the argument degenerated into a huge fistfight dean had to leave the frat house and he moved him with bast the two were so strapped for cash that they lived by candlelight subsisting on oatmeal mixed with mayonnaise bast also learned to cope with jimmy's frequent and unpredictable periods of depression during these spells he felt completely silent and it was best to avoid him completely those downers were followed by periods of intense electric energy during which vampire jimmy was able to learn new skills in a matter of days clinging to one of his psychic supplies and in between those extremes dean appeared to most as an intense awkward young man goofy and endearing one moment arrogant and dismissive the next during one of his restless periods dean landed his first paying acting jobs after some tv commercials he was cast as john the baptist in an easter tv special called hill number one the reviews were quite good so good in fact that jimmy got an agent and some minor roles followed mainly in radio and tv dramas but he also scored non-speaking roles in sailor beware with dean martin and jerry lewis and has anybody seen my girl with rock hudson jimmy was elated to find that he had to speak one line in the war drama fixed bayonets but the scene was edited out during this brief stint james got a brief glimpse of hollywood's glitzy lifestyle he had started dating young star beverly wills daughter of noted comedian joan davis through beverly james took to hanging out with a crowd of promising actors and artists around sunset strip the meow initially excited dean as he was exposed to a whirlwind of contemporary art literature and music that he'd never heard of as usually clung to meant to figures like a barnacle and became an instant expert in any new topic of interest but he could not find a viable human host jimmy turned to books based on accounts from his close friends it appears that he had some issues with reading although never explicitly stated he may have suffered from dyslexia that is why he preferred to absorb knowledge via conversations rather than the printed page but he developed an uncanny ability he could skim over a handful of pages of a book to absorb the most complex concepts he was then able to hold entire conversations about those topics fooling people into believing that he was a total expert on for example platonic philosophy [Music] eventually jimmy and beverly broke off their relationship and he grew tired at the sunset strip mob in fact he was sick of hollywood and los angeles as a whole late in 1951 with a few possessions in his case james dean issued conformity and bravely moved to new york looking for an edgier scene and a more intense life on the east coast dean resumed his routine of small bit parts on radio and tv he even appeared on cheesy quiz shows where his function was merely to have pies thrown in his face his new girlfriend was aspiring dancer elizabeth sheridan known as dizzy the daughter of pianist frank sheridan the two moved into cramped lodgings and were soon joined by william bast the trio took to hanging out with a circle of young radio tv and broadway professionals and jimmy became friendly with producer rogers brackett bracket later said that their relationship was actually of a sexual nature to the benefit of both rogers in fact was happy to introduce dean to the who's who of the new york theatrical scene and it was thanks to him that jimmy lem eyes in the summer of 1952 a producer working on the staging of see the jaguar a new play by n richard nash dean had cast his eyes on the role of a teenager locked for years in a smoke house operated by an overprotective mother but production did not progress so he turned his attention to further honing his craft it was during this period that james entered the legendary actors studio this is where acting coach lee strasberg inspired by stanislavski's teachings had honed the method simply known as well the method this is the school that would forge the talents of marlon brando montgomery cliff geraldine page meyer and monroe and later robert de niro and al pacino at the age of 21 jimmy was the youngest member of the studio his chops greatly impressed fellow students visiting directors like elia kaizen and the man himself mr strasberg although apparently the two never got on well strasbourg made dean the target of his frequent barbed critiques pushing him to spill his metaphorical guts into his roles dean was not eager to let strasbourg dissect me like a rabbit in laboratory eventually jimmy took to describing strasbourg's acting instructions as mostly hot air and hog in august dean joined the ires family on a 10 boat cruise not as a passenger but as a crew member on their yacht he had adopted lemire's and wife as his new york surrogate parents and took the occasion to drain them of all their nautical knowledge along the way he carved a good lasting impression on the producer the boating trip was followed by a break-in fairmont during which jimmy introduced bast and dizzy to his aunt or tents and his uncle marcus this was probably the only occasion in which william bast observed james dean to be completely at ease with himself and those surrounding him bast and dizzy also got to meet winton jimmy's dad who joined them at the farm for some days dizzy observed how father and son were shy and respectful to each other as if wary of breaking a fragile emotional balance she found their relationship endearing but in reality they had grown too distant too different to have a proper rapport winton did not hide the fact that he could not understand and accept jimmy's lifestyle nor his choice of becoming an actor mr dean would have hoped for a more solid profession for james little did he know that it was about to pick up the holiday at the quaker farm was in fact cut short by a call from new york buyers had decided to cast james and see the jaguar after a successful run in provincial theaters the play landed on broadway in december 1952. the abrasive new york critics metaphorically ripped the script to shreds spat on it and then wiped their shoes the place sucked apparently and they closed it after five nights the only redeeming factor was the performance of young unknown actor james dean new job proposals kept pouring in the most interesting one being another theater production the immortalist based on the novel by andre guide here james played the role of bashir an algerian young man who seduces the male protagonist the rehearsals apparently were no walk in the park as jimmy related to bast director daniel mann was openly hostile against him as jimmy saw directors as surrogate fathers hostility on their part was especially demoralizing but jimmy may have done his part to drive the rest of the cast and crew totally nuts during the rehearsals he met befriended and seduced another aspiring actor john gilmore in his memoirs gilmore recorded how dean was uncommunicative with the cast or how he read his lines flatly and slowly mumbling through dialogue or improvising without warning most of the cars could not stand him and almost had him fired the only colleague who stood up for him was geraldine page it was no coincidence that paige was aware of dean's difficulties with reading in dean's own explanation to gilmore before he could properly act a script he needed plenty of time to read it digest it and memorize it he had to swallow the script take it into his stomach and fart it out let me say this apparently on opening night 8th february 1954 james farted the right way because he impressed a hollywood heavyweight director elia kasen according to sources it was either thanks to geraldine page or jimmy's agent jane dc that kazan realized that james dean should be the lead for his next film east of eden based on the novel by john steinbeck the plot revolves around cal trask a young man with a fractured relationship with his strict father who sees him as a good for nothing and a troublemaker in fact cal fit james like a glove kazan noticed it even if he did not like james on a personal level he knew that he had cast a star in the making jimmy returned to hollywood to start filming and it was during this time that he met rising star pierre angeli born anna maria pierre angeli in sardinia the italian actress had caught the eyes of hollywood casting directors and just recently moved to tinseltown apparently their relationship never went beyond a strong friendship and a total spiritual and cultural affinity it was clear that the two were meant for each other and even loved each other deeply unfortunately pierre's mother stepped in she was still very young and her mother managed all aspects of her career including who she should be dating her mum objected that dean was not catholic and was worried that his reputation as something of an oddball could compromise pierre's rise to success eventually the italian actress married entertainer vic timon according to bast they say when pierre married victimone jimmy stood across from the church and cried in the meantime filming for east of eden had wrapped and warner brothers had offered a new role to james dean his most iconic one the character of conflicted teenager jim stark in rebel without a cause by nicholas ray the movie was one of the first big productions to deal with the disaffected youth of the post-world war ii generation it introduced tropes such as knife fights amongst teen gangs or lethal chicky runs with powerful racing cars at a deeper level it is an exploration of the troubled psyche of a young man and woman disappointed by parents and authorities who were either distant overbearing or just plain inadequate jimmy the actor and jim the character she had a passion for speed dean had spent his first hollywood paychecks on a brand new motorbike and while he whizzed around la producers insurers and friends were dead worried that it'd break his neck a friend of kazan's thought that jimmy's idol marlon brando might talk some sense into him jimmy had always pined for brando's attention a feeling that the older actor had always shrugged off when the two met brando warn dean to get off the bike as an actor with half a face is no actor at all and that seemed to do the trick jimmy sold the bike and bought a porsche satisfying his need for speed with sports cars he took to road racing winning two trophies in his first competitions but according to bast he was not pursuing accolades rather the excitement of taunting death more precisely he may have been pursuing that elusive sudden death leading to personal immortality that sublime and macabre concept that he learned from reverend weird [Music] dean had little time to speed around the racetrack though after rebel had wrapped he was immediately cast as jet rink and george stevens as sprawling texan epic giant albeit important the role was not a lead one but it did not matter to dean as he got to star alongside hollywood royalty like rock hudson and elizabeth taylor director stevens had a hard time working with dean who frequently erupted in fits of rage or long sulky spells but the veteran filmmaker decided to make the most of it asking the cinematographer to keep cameras rolling in between takes to capture those unique moments co-star liz taylor also bled to cope with dean's mood swings and the two became good pals but the closest friendship was the one that dean forged with set photographer sandy roth and his wife balua the trio had a common interest in photography and eventually the actor came to adopt the couple as his newest surrogate parents yes the same pattern repeating itself again dean spent much time at their home engaging in endless discussions about films and art raiding their fridge and playing with lewis the couple's siamese cat liz taylor took notice and decided to give a present to james a siamese kitten for the first time dean had to look after another being which he decided to name after his uncle marcus the kitten had a positive influence on dean's life it gave him a sense of responsibility and normalized his habits as bass noted jimmy even took to returning home earlier at night and yet a few weeks later he confessed to the wraths that he had given the kitten away he was concerned that his professional commitment would not allow to properly look after marcus in fact james had just been cast as the lead and somebody up there likes me the real-life story of boxer rocky graziano and besides that he realized that he led such a strange and unpredictable life that some night he might not return home again he wondered then what would happen to marcus maybe this was a eerie premonition of his sudden death it wasn't the only one around that time on the 22nd of september 1955 james dean had a chance encounter with alec guinness in l.a the british actor took a look at his new porsche 550 spider and said you'll be dead if you get into that car some days later on the 30th dean and his mechanic rolf wutherich were driving the porsche to a race in salinas california at 3 30 pm they were given a speeding ticket later while driving along route 466 dean's porsche got into an accident with another car driven by student donald turnipseed the 550 spider was devastated from the impact turdup seed and rutherick were severely injured but survived james dean driving at the moment of impact was killed almost immediately he was 24. james dean's life had burned bright blazed fast and disintegrated far too soon but his fate would be spared oblivion only one of his movies was released during his lifetime east of eden rebel without a cause premiered in 1955 and giant in 1956. both films were popular and critical success as an audience has simply could not ignore dean's peculiar intense heartbreaking yet realistic acting style a legend was born ironically after his death at the 1956 and 1957 oscars james dean was nominated for his performances in east of eden and giant respectively he didn't win the awards ultimately but to this day dean is the only actor to receive two posthumous oscar nominations besides the self-destructive tendencies besides his philosophizing about sudden death followed by immortality james dean was serious about his craft and development as a professional actor had he lived he would have been set to achieve legendary status perhaps his career would have followed a trajectory similar to that of paul newman the actor who inherited his role in the rocky graziano biopic or more likely he would have trailed the progress of his idol marlon brando another method illuminous manly yet vulnerable who became both a darling of the academy and a hollywood maverick but besides all the what-ifs the three movies left by james dean influenced entire generations of actors and filmmakers and left an enduring legacy on american popular culture perhaps larry carte of the chicago tribune summarized it best on the 30th anniversary of dean's death when all is said what james dean managed to do was enough so i really hope you found this video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe and thank you for watching [Music] you

Channel: Biographics

Views: 114,993

Keywords: biographics, biography, biographies, people, famous people, simon whistler

Id: izIlmx-pccA

Length: 20min 52sec (1252 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 27 2021