James Dean was born on February 8th, 1931 in the small Indiana town of Marion Indiana. His parents were Winton and Mildred Dean. His father moved the family to Los Angeles because of his work when James was five years old. Shortly after the move, his mother became very sick and died. After his mother died, James was moved back to Indiana to live with his aunt and uncle. Jimmy acted throughout high school and then attended Santa Monica Junior College before transferring to UCLA.
During his college years he toned his acting skills. He attended an acting workshop run by James Whitmore who convinced him to move to New York and began a serious acting career. He landed small roles in seven television shows, making a living by being a busboy. As he was starting to get noticed for his talent, he was given a small part in a play called See the Jaguar.
While in New York he studied acting at Actors Studio and starred in a Broadway play called The Immoralist in 1954. After people noticed him in The Immoralist he was asked to screen test for a movie adaption of John Steinbeck's famous novel East of Eden. He made the role and appeared in his first big screen performance. He also played Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause. After that he moved to Los Angeles to continue his acting career. In February of that year he visited his home town in Indiana with friend Dennis Stock, who made a photo journal of the trip.
Dean purchased a Porsche in celebration of his Film Success and even entered the Bakersfield Race and another in Santa Barbara. He took a brief stint from racing to film Giant in the town of Marfa, Texas.
In total he made three films taking a little more than one year. During his era, he became very popular and symbolic. His career tragically ended while having a fatal car accident while driving to a race in his Porsche. Considered one of the most influential and greatest actors in history, Dean's legacy still lives on.
