James is King

"He is not our hero because he was perfect, but because he perfectly represented the damaged but beautiful soul of our time" - Andy Warhol

[jamesdeaner]

I don’t just want to be a good actor. I don’t even want to be just the best. I want to grow and grow, grow so tall that nobody can reach me. Not to prove anything, but just to go where you ought to go when you devote your whole life and all you are to one thing. Maybe that sounds crazy or egocentric or something, but I think there’s only one true form of greatness for a man. If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, I mean if he can live on after he’s died, then maybe he was a great man. When they talk about success, they talk about reaching the top. Well, there is no top. You’ve got to go on and on, never stop at any point. To me, the only success, the only greatness for a man is immortality. To have your work remembered in history, to leave something in this world that will last for centuries - that’s greatness.

[jamesdeaner]

Happy Birthday to the great James Dean; Feb. 8th!

[jamesdeaner]

When Jimmy was set to do something, nobody could stop him. He was tough-minded when he felt he had to be. And when he laughed, the whole world laughed, and when he cried, it rained. He was always able to get people into his moods. It was a wonderful gift. - Ortense Winslow

[jamesdeaner]

Happy Birthday James Byron Dean! (2-8-31)

[jamesdeaner]

If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, I mean if he can live on after he’s died, then maybe he was a great man. When they talk about success, they talk about reaching the top. Well, there is no top. You’ve got to go on and on, never stop at any point. To me, the only success, the only greatness for man is immortality. To have your work remembered in history, to leave something in this world that will last for centuries - that’s greatness. - James Dean Feb. 8, 1931 - Sept. 30, 1955

[jamesdeaner]

Happy Birthday, James Dean! (Feb. 8, 1931 - Sept. 30, 1955)

I liken it to a kind of star or a comet that fell through the sky, and everybody still talks about it. They say, ‘Ah! Remember that night when you saw that shooting star?’ That was it. I mean he had that enormous appeal and magic. - Julie Harris

Jimmy in my eyes was the prime example of the new type of American. A leader of a new way of living, way of thinking, way of behaving, a way of dressing. Anyone who knew him well, and I believe I did, knew that he could make you feel as if anything were possible. - Pier Angeli

He didn’t show you very much. He’d challenge you to find him. Then when you’d found him, he’d still make you guess. It was an endless game with him. The thing people missed about Jimmy was his mischievousness. He was the most constantly mischievous person I think I’ve ever met. Full of tricks, full of magic, full of outrageousness. - Stewart Stern

All of us were touched by Jimmy and he was touched by greatness. - Natalie Wood

[the-original-it-girl]

The character of Plato in Rebel Without A Cause (1955) was supposed to be subtly but definitely understood as gay. Although the Production Code was still very much in force and forbade any mention of homosexuality, director Nicholas Ray, co-star James Dean and the actor who played Plato, Sal Mineo, all worked together to insert restrained references to Plato’s homosexuality and attraction to Jim, including the pinup photo of Alan Ladd on Plato’s locker door, Plato’s adoring looks at Jim, his loaded talk with Jim in the old mansion, and even the name “Plato,” which is a reference to the Classical Greek philosopher. For that mansion scene, Dean suggested to Mineo that Plato should “look at me the way I look at Natalie.” (x)

[portinaris]

James Dean in the wardrobe tests for “Rebel Without a Cause“.

[summers-in-hollywood]

James Dean in New York City. 1955. Dennis Stock

[pierppasolini]

James Dean photographed by Phil Stern, 1955.

[jamesdeaner]

[jamesdeaner]

modhomme: i went to the festival this year & designed the james dean gallery's new shirt for it (you should go n buy it)

that’s so cool, i’ll definitely check it out!

[jamesdeaner]

I’ve directed eight pictures. I’ve worked with a lot of young people.I’ve never met anyone with the ability of Dean. He cannot be compared with any actor, present or past. - Nicholas Ray

I liken it to a kind of star or a comet that fell through the sky and everybody still talks about it. They say ‘Ah, remember the night when you saw that shooting star?’ - Julie Harris

We cannot speak of cinema without mentioning the name of James Dean, the freshly plucked fleur du mal, James Dean, who is cinema, in the same sense as Lillian Gish, Chaplin, Ingrid Bergman, etc. - Francois Truffaut

We are as caught up by James Dean as was the first generation, experiencing that tender, romantic, marvelously masochistic identification with the boy who does everything wrong because he cares so much. And because Dean died young and hard, he is not just another actor who outlived his myth and became ordinary in stale roles. He is the symbol of misunderstood youth. - Pauline Kael

Jimmy stands clear and unique in a world where much is synthetic and dishonest and drab. He came and rearranged our molecules. - Stewart Stern.

James Byron Dean [Feb. 8, 1931 - Sept. 30, 1955]

[historysisco]

On This Day in History September 30, 1955: Actor James Dean (February 8, 1931 - September 30, 1955) was killed in a head-on collision while behind the wheel of his Porsche 550 Spyder 30 miles (48 km) east of Paso Robles, California. Dean was only 24-years old. 

He would be laid to rest in his hometown of Fairmount, Indiana.

For Further Reading:

James Dean (1931–1955) from IMDB.com

1955: James Dean killed in car smash from the BBC On This Day 1950-2005

James Dean Crash Site: 60 Years Later, Fans Still Leave Cigarettes, Beer Cans and Bras by Ryan Parker from the Hollywood Reporter dated September 30, 2015

Revealed: the truth behind the crash that killed James Dean by Olga Craig from the UK Telegraph dated September 25, 2005

[jamesdeaner]

James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, 1955.

[jamesdeaner]

James Byron Dean; Feb. 8th, 1931 - Sept. 30th, 1955

A star goes wild in the places beyond air — a dark star born of coldness and invisible. It hits the upper edges of our atmosphere and look! It is seen! It flames and arcs and dazzles. It goes out in ash and memory. But its after-image remains in our eyes to be looked at again and again. For it was rare. And it was beautiful. And we thank God and nature for sending it in front of our eyes.

So few things blaze. So little is beautiful. Our world doesn’t seem equipped to contain its brilliance too long. Ecstasy is only recognizable when one has experienced pain. Beauty only exists when set against ugliness. Peace is not appreciated without war ahead of it. How we wish that life could support only the good. But it vanishes when its opposite no longer exists as a setting. It is a white marble on unmelting snow. And Jimmy stands clear and unique in a world where much is synthetic and dishonest and drab. He came and rearranged our molecules. - Stewart Stern

[jamesdeaner]

At twenty-three, he was more gifted, more dedicated, more insightful than anyone I knew of our age. In obedience to Stanislavsky principles, he had opened his heart and mind, had consumed every course of life’s sometimes bitter banquet that had been offered him without regard to personal or popular taste, storing its nourishment for future use. He had given and taken more than most, and, although I’d been slow to see it, he was, in his mindset, already far ahead of his century. - Bill Bast

[jamesdeaner]

submission: Did James Dean like reading? And why did he love the little prince so much, was it because he could relate to it?

yes he did like to read - if you click here and here you can see some of the books he really liked and owned. The Little Prince is such a beautiful story and i think James Dean would have really appreciated the messages in it. and i’m sure he did relate to it also; here’s a great quote from his friend Bill Bast

I remember discussing The Little Prince, which was as sacred to Jimmy as a bible was to other people. He believed in that book, I can’t tell you… It’s the story of this special little guy who comes from another planet and is extraordinarily compelling, and has a view of life that is absolutely beautiful, and of relationships that is very touching. And then a time comes when he has to go away, and he allows the snake to bite him and he goes back to his little planet… Well, what have we here, what have we here… Whose story is that?

also i’ve read that his favorite quote from that book is “what is essential is invisible to the eye” and i think that really goes along with his philosophies.

[jamesdeaner]

[jamesdeaner]

I want to live as intensely as I can. Be as useful and helpful to others as possible, for one thing. But live for myself as well. I want to feel things and experiences right down to their roots… enjoy the good in life while it is good.

[jamesdeaner]

James Byron Dean [Feb. 8th 1931 - Sept. 30th 1955]