James Byron Dean was born on February 8th, 1931 in to Winton and Mildred Wilson DEan in Marion, Indiana. AFter his father left farming to
become a dental technician, the family moved to Santa Monica, California. By many accounts, Dean was very close to his mother and his later
moodiness and antisocial behavior were most likely due to her death from cancer in 1940. At that time Dean was only nine years old, and his father
feeling that he was unable to care for his son sent him to live with Winton's sister on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana. Dean attdended high school there and
was brought up with a Quaker background. Although Dean was a mediocre student, he successfully played on the baseball and basketball teams and studied forensics and
drama. He graduated from high school in 1949 and moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother.
Dean then enrolled in Santa Monica College and majored in pre-law. He transferred to UCLA, changed his major to drama and pleged the Sigma Nu fraternity, but was never initiated. While at UCLA, Dean beat out 350 actors to land the role of Malcolm in Macbeth. Then in January of 1951, Dean dropped out of college to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.
Dean initially had very little success in Hollywood but got his first acting job in a Pepsi Cola television commercial. While struggling inbetween jobs, Dean also worked as a parking lot attendent at CBS studios. In October of 1951 Dean made the move to New York City where he worked as a stunt tester for the Beat the Clock game show. He also appeared in several CBS television series.
Dean's first manjor movie role came in 1953 when he played the role of Cal Trask in East of Eden. After getting the part, Dean bought himself a red MG TD which he later upgraded to a Porsche 356 Speedster. Dean quickly followed up his role in Eden with a starring role in Rebel Without a Cause, which would prove to be very popular among teenagers. His third and final film, Giant, was released posthumously in 1956.
On September 30th, 1955, Dean and his mechanic Rolf Wutherich set off for a sports car race at Salinas, California where Dean would be racing his Porsche 550 Spyder. Originally, Dean had planned to trailer the Porsche to the meeting point in Salinas, but decided to drive the car, feeling he needed more time to familiarize himself with the car. As he was driving west on U.S. Route 466 near Cholame, California, a 1950 Ford Tudor driven from the opposite direction attempted to take a fork onto State Route 41 and crossed Dean's lane without seeing him. The two cars hit almost head on. Dean was taken to Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
James Dean is buried in Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Indiana. In 1977, a James Dean memorial was built in Cholame, California. The sculpture is composed of concrete and stainless steel around a tree of heaven growing in front of the Cholame post office. The dates and hours of Dean's birth and death are etched into the sculpture, along with a handwritten description of one of Dean's favorite lines, "What is essential is invisible to the eye."