It’s almost inconceivable that today marks 70 years since James Dean died. The 24-year-old star, driving his Porsche 550 Spyder from Los Angeles to Salinas to take part in an auto race, was killed after colliding with another car along what was then State Route 466 near the tiny town of Cholame, California. Dean had just finished filming Giant (Warner Bros. stipulated all racing was out during the film’s production) and was eager to return to the sport after competing earlier that year. While a passenger in Dean’s car and the driver whose vehicle was hit suffered only minor injuries, the actor was pronounced dead after arriving by ambulance at nearby Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital. Coincidentally, Dean had been ticketed for speeding less than three hours before the fatal crash.
September 30, 1955 has since become a date so ingrained in pop culture memory that writer/director James Bridges used it as the title for his 1977 coming-of-age drama. That film stars Richard Thomas as a college football player shocked to learn of the death of his movie idol the night before, while Thomas was at the local theater watching East of Eden.
In the seven decades since Dean’s untimely passing, he evolved from rising movie star to folk hero and symbol of youthful rebellion. He’s been the subject of documentaries and biodramas. James’s name turns up in songs from “American Pie” to “Rock On.” His brooding likeness is found on countless posters alongside fellow icons Bogey, Marilyn, and Elvis (and occasionally John Wayne). And I discovered that he and I are sixth cousins with a common great-great-great-great-great grandfather.
All this rests upon a relatively brief body of work that included about two dozen TV appearances and eight movie roles, five of them uncredited. In this retrospective we’d like to help neophyte Dean fans trying to spot him in these pre-1955 cinematic cameos:
Dean made his big-screen debut as “Doggie” in Sam Fuller’s 1951 Korean War actioner Fixed Bayonets!. He turns up near the film’s conclusion, and you need to keep your eyes peeled.
When Navy recruit Jerry Lewis has to step into the boxing ring in the 1952 Martin and Lewis service comedy Sailor Beware, that’s James serving as a trainer and cornerman for Jerry’s brawny opponent.
Dean is a copy boy working with crusading newspaper editor–and future poster partner–Humphrey Bogart in Deadline–U.S.A. (1952).
Also in ’52, he’s seen (in color for the first time) as one of the youths hanging out at a soda fountain in director Douglas Sirk’s comedy Has Anybody Seen My Gal?, also starring Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie.
The actor’s final pre-East of Eden appearance was as a fan in the stands in 1953’s Trouble Along the Way, starring John Wayne as a former pro football coach signed to revive a Catholic college’s gridiron program. Sorry we don’t have a still with Dean, but there’s Wayne and the aforementioned stands, at least.
In one of Hollywood’s spookier ironies, on September 17th, 1955, Dean–dressed in his Jett Rink attire from Giant–filmed a PSA commercial with actor Gig Young in which he warned young people about the dangers of speeding and unsafe driving. “I used to fly around quite a bit,” he says. “I took a lot of unneccesary chances.” Dean concluded his message with the prophetic ad-libbed line “The life you might save, might be mine.”
What memories do you have of James Dean? Were you around when he shot to stardom in 1955? How did you react to the news of his death? Or are you a fan who discovered him years later? Share your thoughts in the comments.