Today in History: James Dean dies in horrific car crash

I would imagine that most people are too young to have been alive when James Dean was. I'm older than most of you and I was just a mere thought in my parents' minds by the time James crashed and unfortunately died during the pinnacle of his career.

They year was 1955

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_{no, that's not James Franco.... although that could be an idea!}

James Dean is most popularly remembered as being a face of teenage rebellion and kind of a "pretty boy" long before Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were born. His most popular and cited work is "Rebel Without a Cause" where he played Jim Stark (nothing to do with Winterfell.)

He was iconic because prior to his existence, there weren't really many people that had rose to fame in such a short span of time. He appeared first in a commercial for soda-pop (Pepsi) and was picked up and progressed very quickly mostly because of his good looks (it is worth noting that Leonardo DiCaprio's first screen work was also in commercials.)

While he struggled to get roles at first (because the 50s were a very conservative time) he was cast in a leading role in East of Eden in 1953

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If you were to watch this film today without understanding the backstory you would likely see it and be a bit "meh" about the whole thing. However, a great deal of the dialogue and even actions that make it into the final cut of this film were completely unscripted and it was only because Dean was in character, that he was able to portray a rebellious teenager to absolute perfection. This is what lead to his next role and the most famous part of his very short career.

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_{Come on! That looks exactly like James Franco!}

His role as Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause would define James Dean as a really big deal in Hollywood. His portrayal of a rebellious teenager was so absurdly spot on that he quickly became one of the most sought-after actors.

While Rebel was being filmed James was (somewhat) secretly participating in a number of track races and developed a penchant for speed, so to speak. As good as he was on screen, he was actually equally as good on the race track.

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It was well-known with the producers that Dean was prone to dangerous things such as racing and while he was on set for his last movie "Giant" it was in his contract that he was barred from racing while it was being filmed. Of course he sidestepped this by not being involved in any official races, but kept upgrading to more and more powerful personal street vehicles. The last one he upgraded to was a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder.

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It is rumored that one of the last conversations he had was with Alec Guiness (Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy) and when Alec was shown James' car he said "If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week."

It was exactly 7 days later that James Dean was in fact, killed in that very car. He was technically alive (in that he had a pulse) on the way to the hospital, but had such severe injuries (jaw nearly removed from his face, broken spine, multiple other broken and crushed bones) that he was declared dead by the time they arrived there.

He was a mere 24 years old.

He was awarded a posthumous Academy award for his involvement in "Giant." But this was his second posthumous award. The first one was given for "East of Eden" and it was also the first posthumous Academy Award ever given to anyone.

Even if you have never seen his films there is a very good chance that you are familiar with his name. I wonder if he would have become the icon that he is today had he not died at such a young age. What do you think?