James Dean is an American film actor and considered as a cultural icon.
He is said to be the first teenager on screen where he played as a troubled
young man, having problems with his parents and the rules that society laid on
him. He only appeared in three movies: East of Eden, Rebel without Cause and Giant,
which made him a legendary. From these movies, James Dean quotes were compiled and makes him alive in the hearts
of the public.
Dean’s first appearance was for a television commercial of a soda. He then
quit college and went acting for full time. He struggled to get into Hollywood,
while working as an attendant in a parking lot in order to survive. During that
time, he met his mentor Rogers Brackett who helped him with his chosen career
and provided him a place to stay. He followed the advice of Brackett to move to
New York and appeared in various television shows.
The positive reviews he gained from portraying different roles in television
opened the door for him to be in his first major screen role, East of Eden (1955) and it was followed by
Rebel Without a Cause. In his films, he
usually appears as an angry youth, sleepy eyes, and has a reckless emotional
acting style. Although all of these films were made in the same year, it was only
a year after his death when Giant was
released.
Humphrey Bogart once said, "It's a good thing [James] Dean died
when he did. If he'd lived, he'd never have been able to live up to the
publicity." Although James has a lot of supporters, many believe that he
has gained a lot of popularity from dying at a young age.
It was true that he was known even more after his
death. There were speculations about Dean’s car. Those who bought it and the
parts of the car, like the engine and the tires met an accident and got killed.
Fans still visit his grave in Indiana. There were companies, who sold T-shirts
with Dean’s brooding face and posters. Jim Morrison who was influenced by James
Dean lived fast and died hard too.
On the other hand, Dean has gained popularity through
his hard work and his talent. He enrolled himself in drama during college and attended
acting workshops that honed him to become an actor. That is enough said to
consider a young American legendary actor to be called famous until today.
James Dean
quotes are popular, but do you know what his favorite quote is? In a
memorial built by a fan in California just 900 feet from the site of the
accident, the plaque reads: “What is essential is invisible to the eye,” a
quotation from Jean Antoine de Saint Exupery's "The Little Prince". It
is not sure if that is Dean’s favorite, but he often reads that to those who
are close to him and probably has significance for him.