by James Harvey

Created on: April 29, 2008   Last Updated: September 04, 2011

He was unlike anything anyone had ever seen in motion pictures up to that time. He helped to put the American Teenager on the map-even though at the height of his fame he wasn't even a teenager; he was in his mid-twenties. With his leather jacket, slicked-back hair and rebellious snarl and good looks, James Dean came to epitomize the teenage rebellion that so characterized the 1950s. In the decades following his untimely death, James Dean's fame and screen persona has never been forgotten.

James Byron Dean was born February 8,1931, in Marion, Indiana, being the son of  Winton and Mildred Wilson Dean. When James was six, after his father left farming to become a dental technician, the family moved to Santa Monica, California, where he spent some of his formative years. He was very close to his mother; unfortunately the bonding was short-lived as she died of cancer when James was nine. He was never the same. in fact some sources say that James' moodiness and antisocial behavior he would show in his adulthood was attributed to her loss. His close relationship with his mother would also affect his relationship with women; he tended to be drawn to women who was like his mother, kind and understanding.

Unable to take care of him, Winton Dean sent his son to be raised by his Aunt Ortense and her husband Marcus on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana. In the mid-1940s when James was in his teens he entered high school and was brought up to be a Quaker. He formed a close bond with a Methodist pastor, James De Weerd. The pastor had a profound influence upon the youngster, especially in bull-fighting and his later love, car racing.

James' grades were mediocre; but he especially excelled in sports, notably basketball. He also studied forensic, public speaking (in which he won a public speaking contest when he was 18), and drama. James graduated from high school in 1949. He moved back to California briefly to live with his father and stepmother. He began to attend Santa Monica College, where he studied Pre-law (he later transferred to UCLA) But he never forgot his high school love, drama, to which he later switched to as his major. He beat out 350 other actors for a role as Mac Beth while in college; he began acting with James Whitmore's Acting School (a well-known actor of the day). He eventually dropped out of college in January 1951 to pursue a career in acting.

At first he had little success in Hollywood; he was basically a bit-part actor. For example, he played a boxing

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