The reason James Dean has been the subject of numerous retrospectives and tributes in recent months is that he died tragically exactly 60 years ago, on September 30, 1955, in California. Today, LEC shares what you need to know about this icon of cinema—and of American culture as a whole—before your next language study trip to the United States.
James Dean's full name is James Byron Dean.
He was born on February 8, 1931, in Marion,Indiana, a state you may have the privilege of discovering during an upcoming language study trip to the United States.
As an only child, he has a very close relationship with his mother, but a turbulent one with his father.
James Dean landed his very first role in a Pepsi-Cola commercial.
He found success on Broadway in the stage adaptation of André Gide’s novel, *The Immoralist*.
During his short career, he directed only three feature films: East of Eden (East of Eden) by Elia Kazan in 1955, Rebel Without a Cause (Rebel Without a Cause) the same year, directed by Nicholas Ray, and Giant (Giant), in 1956, directed by George Stevens.
His real first name was rarely used by his contemporaries; he was mostly known as Jimmy Dean.
In its list of the 50 greatest movie stars of all time, the renowned American Film Institute ranked him 18th, behind Kirk Douglas but ahead of Burt Lancaster.
He died at the age of 24 in a car accident while driving his Porsche 550 Spyder.
His role as Cal Trask in *East of Eden* earned him the first posthumous Oscar nomination in history —he was nominated in the Best Actor category. Ultimately, actor Ernest Borgnine won the Oscar for his role in the film *Marty*.