I never knew Jimmy Dean. Personally. I felt like I knew him. When I viewed his acting on the screen, he moved me to laughter and to tears. I read about his tumultuous life and his incredible natural acting ability. I studied his complex character. Like millions of other movie fans, I wondered what would have happened to James Dean if he hadn’t died in a car crash at the young age of 24.

Would he have gone on to become known as one of the greatest actors in Hollywood history? Or, would he have clashed egos with Hollywood directors and faded into oblivion? It’s hard to imagine James Dean being more immortalized in Hollywood film history than he is today.

And, that’s an incredible observation when you realize he only starred in three major films – “East of Eden,” “Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant.”

Though Dean had many fans in his short screen career, one does not have to look far to find critics who say he was simply a flash in the pan, who became an icon as a method actor, while, in reality, he was a spoiled kid who whined a lot and lived a precarious lifestyle. One Hollywood star even said he wished Dean had not died at such an early age because, had he lived, he would be fat and ugly and acting on “Dynasty” instead of being immortalized with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, and Humphrey Bogart.

Many bizarre things have been said about Dean over the years. Some funny, some childish, some outlandish. Many contend that Dean was a
bi-sexual, who often bragged about having had intimate relations with some of the leading stars and directors in Hollywood.

For years, one of the most talked about rumors at social functions in Hollywood was the story concerning a photo of a young man sitting naked with a giant erection on a tree limb. Supposedly, it was James Dean. In some Hollywood circles, Dean was also known as “the human ashtray,” because he frequented leather gay bars and often participated in sadistic rituals. Even the coroner said he noted scars on Dean’s body that had to have been made by burning cigarettes.

Did Jimmy Dean really live in a world of his own? Could he understand the emotional lives of those around him who tried, but could not understand his own? Did he really paint, sing, read music, pound on bongo drums, straddle motorcycles, zoom off in speeding racing cars and sit alone in silence for hours in the corner of a darkened room?

Some say it’s a wonder Dean ever ended up in the movies at all. He was so kooky and unpredictable, not many Hollywood honchos wanted to have anything to do with him. Warner Bros. executives, for instance, had some reservations about the casting of Dean and Natalie Wood in the film “Rebel Without a Cause.” The studio didn’t like the idea and wanted to use Jayne Mansfield and Tab Hunter because both were being groomed for stardom.

Director Nicholas Ray was adamant about using the two young stars and when “East of Eden” was released in 1955 and catapulted the young Dean to superstardom, the studio backed off and dropped all of their resistance.

For an actor, Dean had more than an unusual influence on “Rebel Without a Cause.” He was directly responsible for finding both the composer and the screenwriter for the film. The composer was Leonard Rosenman, who was Dean’s piano teacher. Rosenman had never entertained the thought about composing for the movies until one day when Jimmy Dean brought Elia Kazan to a concert given by Rosenman. Kazan was working with Dean on “East of Eden” at the time, and was so impressed with the concert, that he hired Rosenman on the spot. (Rosenman wrote music for “East of Eden” and was carried over to work on “Rebel Without a Cause”).

The movie’s screenwriter was Stewart Stern, who had only one screenplay to his credit. One day, when he went to visit his cousin, James Dean was there. Stern took an immediate liking to Dean. In the evening, the two went to a sneak prevue of “East of Eden.” Stern said later that he had never seen such an impressive screen debut as Dean’s performance.

Dean later introduced Stern to director Nicholas Ray, who spent a night explaining to Stewart what he wanted, and then later hired him to do the job. To research the assignment, Stern went to a juvenile hall and spent ten days posing as a social worker.

The two most famous scenes in the film are the scene where Dean takes out his frustration on a desk and the scene where youths play “chicken” with their cars. Dean spent an entire day getting ready to play the desk scene, which was one of the first shots of the movie. The whole crew waited until Dean got into the mood, and Ray gave instructions that Dean was not to be disturbed, no matter how much money the delay was costing.

Finally, Dean signified that the moment had come. He walked out of his dressing room and came to the set, and the filming began. Dean started pounding on the desk, finally breaking it to splinters. The scene was shot in one take. (After everyone finished congratulating Dean, it was later discovered that the actor had broken two bones in his hand).

The so-called “chicken” scene gained greater fame when Dean died in the auto accident – the same year that “Rebel Without a Cause” was released. (“Giant,” his last film, was released in 1956, after his death).

At one time, director George Stevens had considered Richard Burton for the James Dean part in “Giant,” but Alan Ladd was his first choice. (Stevens wished many times that Ladd had accepted, because he and Dean did not get along. He swore Dean would never appear in another picture of his, and he never did, for not long after the film was completed, Dean died).

The “Giant” film company of 250 nearly outnumbered the townspeople on location in Marfa, Texas where Dean shared a house for three summer months with Rock Hudson and Chill Wills.

To get into the character of Jett Rink (based loosely on Glen McCarthy, oil magnate-builder of the famous Houston watering hole, The Shamrock Hotel), Dean arrived early to the Texas location, to mingle with the natives, who taught him, among other things, how to twirl a lariat. Dean was quite proud of his accomplishment, as can be seen in a well-known photograph taken of Dean by Sanford Roth (It was Roth, by the way, who took the last photo of Jimmy on the fatal trip to Salinas).

Director Stevens seemed to have enjoyed the epic touches of shipping in 4100 head of cattle and a Christmas tree for the movie, but Dean also had his own ways of making a statement. During one scene, Stevens looked through the camera lens, only to see a red convertible parked in the midst of the cattle herd. He knew, without being told, who owned the car.

There was one scene in “Giant,” in which Jett Rink was invited to a party at his employer’s house. Director Stevens wanted Dean to walk up to the bar and help himself. Dean argued, that since Rink always carried a flask in his back pocket, he would more likely have passed on his employer’s whiskey for his own flask.

Stevens prevailed. However, years later, when he was viewing “Giant” and that scene came up on the screen, he realized that Dean had been right all along. He also realized that Dean was “too good for it,” and told those in attendance that anyone could have played the part.

Dean’s final words in “Giant” belong to someone else. In the final scene, (the banquet scene), his words were unclear, and he had to be dubbed (by Nick Adams), but by the time the dubbing took place, he was already dead.

There are many movie fans today who refuse to accept the fact that James Dean IS dead, when they view his work on the screen in a darkened theater. Sometimes, when I watch a James Dean film, I, too, have this uncanny feeling that he is still among us. Sometimes, I can almost sense his presence.

What would James Dean say to us if he were alive today? Would he chastise us for making such a fuss about him? Would he say something funny and make us laugh? Would he offer some words of wisdom for future generations of would-be Jimmy Deans? Maybe.

In James Dean’s own words, (from a biography by William Bast):

“I figure there’s nothing you can’t do, if you put everything into it. The only thing that stops people from getting what they want is themselves. They put too many barriers in their paths. It’s like they’re afraid to succeed. In a way, I guess I know why. There’s a terrific amount of responsibility that goes with success, and the greater the success, the greater the responsibility.

“I think if you are not afraid, if you will take everything you are, everything worthwhile in you, and direct it in one goal, one ultimate mark, you’ve got to get there. If you start accepting the world, letting things happen to you, around you, things will happen like you never dreamed they’d happen.

“I don’t just want to be a good actor. I don’t even want to be just the best. I want to grow and grow, grow so tall, nobody can reach me, not to prove anything, but just to go where you ought to go when you devote your whole life and all you are to one thing.

“Maybe this sounds crazy, or egocentric or something, but I think there is only one true form of greatness for a man. If he can bridge the gap between life and death…I mean, if he can live on after he’s dead, then maybe he was a great man.

“They talk about success. They talk about reaching the top. Well, there is no top. You’ve got to go on and on, never stopping at any point. To me, the only success, the only greatness for man is immortality. To have your work remembered in history, to leave something in this world that will last for centuries…that’s greatness.

“I want to grow away from all the petty little world we exist in. I want to leave it all behind, all the petty little thoughts about the unimportant little things, things that will be forgotten a hundred years from now, anyway. There’s a level somewhere, where everything is solid and important. I’m going to try to reach up there and find a place where this whole messy world should be, could be, if it’d just take the time to learn.

“Well, then..there..now, I shot my wad. Now you know what a nut I am.”

Nut or genius, there are days when I think I can hear Jimmy Dean talking. There are days when I think I can visualize him walking. Awkwardly. Down the streets somewhere of an abstract kingdom.

Well, that’s show biz, baby.

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