"Rebel Without A Cause" premiered 60 years ago in New York, on October 27, 1955 - less than a month after the tragic death of the iconic Hollywood actor James Dean. But the unruly rebel with the leather jacket lives on.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Advertisement
Remembering James Dean 60 years on
He was the epitome of the rebellious, carefree youth: James Dean died 60 years ago in a tragic car accident, but his legend lives on. Here's a look back at his short career.
Image: picture alliance/AP Images/Warner Bros
James Dean: The epitome of cool
He was self-assured and utterly carefree. Images like this one, from his last film "Giant," ensure that James Dean will remain in our collective memory as a role model for being laid back.
Image: picture alliance/AP Images/Warner Bros
James Dean's family tragedy
The actor was born on February 8, 1931, and grew up in the Midwestern state of Indiana in the US. His mother died of cancer at the age of 29, when James was just nine. He was raised by his grandmother and aunt.
James Dean discovered his interest in acting, art and dance early on. In the rural Midwest where his family lived, he participated in school theater groups and learned to dance, make music and do pottery. Pictured is his boyhood home in Fairmount, Indiana.
Image: AP
Beginning with bit parts
James Dean began acting at a young age, participating in private theater groups. He also got small roles in stage and television productions. He made his cinema debut in 1951 with an appearance in "Fixed Bayonets!" under director Sam Fuller.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
James Dean's big break
His first major film role shot him to fame. The in-demand director Elia Kazan cast the young Dean in his drama, "East of Eden" in 1955. The makers of the movie intentionally geared the actor into an iconic figure.
His second major film solidified James Dean's 'cool' status. In Nicholas Ray's classic "Rebel Without a Cause," Dean played the role of his life: the insubordinate American teen.
Image: picture-alliance /
James Dean's last leading role
George Steven's "Giant" (released in 1956) was the last movie James Dean starred in. He died in a car accident in 1955 before the film was edited. In the picture on early 20th-century American society, Dean played alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson.
Image: picture alliance/AP Images/Warner Bros
The faster, the better
James Dean was always interested in fast cars. With the money he earned from his early films, he bought fancy sports cars and participated in car races.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Shocking death at 24
On September 30, 1955, James Dean crashed his car at an intersection in California. At first, his speeding was thought to be the cause of the accident. But it was later determined that the actor wasn't responsible. Images of his destroyed car were overwhelming for his fans.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The legend lives on
The cult surrounding James Dean began shortly after his death. He remains one of the most legendary actors to have come out of Hollywood.
Image: AP
10 images1 | 10
James Dean is back. Actor Dane DeHaan has the honor and challenge of portraying the Hollywood legend in the film "Life" by director Anton Corbijn, which tells the story of Dean's encounter with photographer Dennis Stock in 1955.
The film is due for release in the US in December, and stars heartthrob Robert Pattinson as Stock.
Just a short time before his tragic death on September 30, 1955, Stock photographed Dean for a magazine and the images have become a part of the cult surrounding the actor.
Over the past six decades, the memory of the actor who died at the age of just 24 has found itself into nearly every aspect of pop culture - from songs to books, visual art, theater and decorative wall posters.
The leather jack, the cigarette dangling coolly from his lips - Dean embodies the images of the sexy, relaxed young American man.
Sure, Dean isn't the only Hollywood legend from the mid-20th century. But his legend is perhaps one of the strongest. Humphrey Bogart's trench coat has long gone out of style. Romy Schneider didn't make it far beyond Europe. And even Marilyn Monroe's unblemished skin seems artificial to today's audiences.
But James Dean hasn't aged a day.
His tragic early death also boosted his iconic status, freezing him in the middle of the rosy 1950s, a time when nothing could go wrong. We never got the chance to meet Dean as an old man - and his career never took a natural end.
Fast cars, cool outfits, smoking without thinking about cancer - those are still things that fascinate young people. Even in another 60 years, James Dean will still be a timeless icon.
