James Dean: Life and Career Documentary Directed by Robert Altman - The James Dean Story (1957)

1957 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005LKHT?ie=UTF8&tag=doc06-20&link... http://thefilmarchived.blogspot.com/

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 -- September 30, 1955) was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were as loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955), and as the surly farmer Jett Rink in Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rests on only these three films, his entire output being in starring roles. His death in a car crash at an early age cemented his legendary status.

He was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains the only person to have two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Dean the 18th best male movie star on their AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.

Dean performed in episodes of such early 1950s television shows as Kraft Television Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents, Danger, and General Electric Theater. One early role, for the CBS series Omnibus the episode "Glory in the Flower" saw Dean portraying the same type of disaffected youth he would later immortalize in Rebel Without a Cause. (This summer 1953 program was also notable for featuring the song "Crazy Man, Crazy", one of the first dramatic TV programs to feature rock and roll music.) Positive reviews for Dean's 1954 theatrical role as "Bachir", a pandering North African houseboy, in an adaptation of André Gide's book The Immoralist, led to calls from Hollywood.

American teenagers at the time of Dean's major films identified with Dean and the roles he played, especially in Rebel Without A Cause: the typical teenager, caught where no one, not even his peers, can understand him. Joe Hyams says that Dean was "one of the rare stars, like Rock Hudson and Montgomery Clift, whom both men and women find sexy." According to Marjorie Garber, this quality is "the undefinable extra something that makes a star." Dean's iconic appeal has been attributed to the public's need for someone to stand up for the disenfranchised young of the era, and to the air of androgyny that he projected onscreen. Dean's "loving tenderness towards the besotted Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause continues to touch and excite gay audiences by its honesty. The Gay Times Readers' Awards cited him as the male gay icon of all time."

Dean is mentioned or featured in various songs, which include titles such as "Jimmy Dean" by Icehouse, "James Dean" by That Handsome Devil, "James Dean" by the Eagles, "A Young Man is Gone" by The Beach Boys, "American Boy" by Chris Isaak, "Mr. James Dean" by Hilary Duff, "Speechless" by Lady GaGa, "Vogue" by Madonna, "Allure" by Jay-Z, "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" by Daniel Bedingfield, "James Dean" by Bonnie Tyler, "Jack and Diane" by John Mellencamp, "Rock On" by David Essex, "American Pie" by Don McLean, "Peach Trees" by Rufus Wainwright, "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel, "Daddy's Speeding" by Suede, "Electrolite" by R.E.M., "Flip-Top Box" by Self, "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed, "Bla bla bla" (Blah Blah Blah) by Perfect, "Rockstar" by Nickelback, "Girl on TV" by LFO, "Hello my hate" by Black Veil Brides, "Chciałbym umrzeć jak James Dean" (lit. I Wish to Die Like James Dean) by Partia, and "Famous" by Scouting for Girls. In addition, he is often noted within television shows, films, books and novels. In an episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation, the character Liberty likens the rebellious, anti-social Sean Cameron to James Dean. On the sitcom Happy Days, Fonzie has a picture of Dean in his closet next to his mirror. A picture of Dean also appears on Rizzo's wall in the film Grease. On American version of Queer as Folk, the main character Brian Kinney mentions James Dean together with Cobain and Hendrix, saying "They're all legends. They'll always be young, and they will always be beautiful". In the alternate history book Homeward Bound by Harry Turtledove, Dean is stated to have not died in a car crash and made several more films, including a film called Rescuing Private Ranfall, based on Saving Private Ryan.

Dean's estate still earns about $5,000,000 per year, according to Forbes Magazine.

On April 20, 2010, a long "lost" live episode of the General Electric Theater featuring James Dean was uncovered by NBC writer Wayne Federman while working on a Ronald Reagan television retrospective. The episode, originally broadcast in December 1954, drew international attention and highlights were featured on numerous national media outlets including: The CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and Good Morning America. It was later revealed that some footage from the episode, entitled The Dark, Dark Days, was first featured in the 2005 documentary, James Dean: Forever Young.

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[toiseywoisey]

@josephgmen

Friend, you got it all wrong Johny Depp is the wannabe James Dean of the 20th Cenury--there's just no comparison.

[kinglaith7]

He is the coolest of cool. I love him.

[newworldodour]

@funcooldrew2 I mean ppl are the same then as they are now just aas I think they are most places, basically primitive, barbaric, ignorant etc etc

[funcooldrew2]

@newworldodour ? what do you mean

[bullwinkle1989]

No, not Depp; Leo DiCaprio can play anything and he does.

[queenwhitney1]

nobody compares to james dean

[apewillrise]

A true legend.

[TheDaddyCokes]

Interesting doco but rather overly-dramatic cheeseball narrative..filled with every imaginable cliche line dreamed up by writers projecting their own interpretation of James Dean the icon. How America loves to iconize its heroes and glorify the ideal of "becoming famous"...lacking the same sense of equanimity that Dean seemed to lack. But interesting doco anyway, especially the interviews (i.e. when the narrator SsTFU...)

[newworldodour]

wow americans havent changed a bit

[TheBr0dster]

@toiseywoisey I wouldn't say Johnny Depp is the "wannabe James Dean". Their both great actors of their generations.