HE WAS A LOST SOUL... THE WAY HE GREW UP AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS LIFE, COMBINED WITH HIS ULTRA-SENSITIVE NATURE. HE NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO BE NORMAL...
It's amazing that he...
...lived as long as he did...
He was born in Indiana, lived in Santa Monica, California for a while with his father, after his mother died. Then, went back to be raised an Indiana farm boy by his aunt and uncle; although he found farm life boring. His mother was a sensitive young woman who died of cervical cancer when he was 9; his much older father was cold-natured toward him, perhaps partly, because he might have believed James wasn't really his son. His father kept urging him "to get a real job," instead of pursuing an acting career, which his father considered strange and flighty.
James Dean was only 24 when he died. He recklessly rode his Triumph Trophy motorcycle like a madman. Many times, friends said, he should have died, narrowly missing, by inches, being killed, especially at night, on the streets.
He had as a girlfriend, Liz Sheridan, who eventually, in her mature years, played a role on "Seinfeld". They were in the famous New York City Actor's Studio, run by Lee Strasberg, when they were both broke, young and in love, in their 20s, --- a much coveted school where the competition in try-outs was fierce. One of his friends at the Actor's Studio was T.V.'s "Mission Impossible'" star Martin Landau. Marilyn Monroe, and plenty of other eventually famous actors also attended there. James even asked Liz to marry him, but she said "no". She didn't want the "ties" of marriage, not at "this time in her life", and they parted. James was much more sad about it than Liz.
James Dean was known as a "crazy" all over Hollywood, but his talent was absolutely stunning. There had never been anybody like him, nor has there been anybody like him since.
His unique type of moody "cool" too, has stood the test of time. He was only about 5' 7" and slender, but he could inspire fear because no one ever knew what he would do next; he was totally unpredictable. And, he was an insomniac. He wandered streets in the very early hours of the morning, going to all night coffee shops. He'd often fall asleep during conversations, developing huge bags under his eyes. He smoked way too much. When he was flush with cash he ate big steaks; when he was broke he eat plate after plate of spaghetti.
He fell in love with the very sweet and enchantingly beautiful starlet Pier Angeli, whose real name was Anna Marie Pierangeli, who had a twin sister. Pier was born on the Italian island of Sardinia. Her father was a construction worker; her mother was an amateur actress. Pier died at 39 of a barbiturate overdose.
Her very domineering mom hated James for lots of reasons, but one of the main reasons was because he wasn't a devout Catholic. And, she succeeded, so some believed, in breaking Pier and James up. Pier quickly married considerably older, settled and stable singer Vic Damone. (After Pier died Vic married again, once to singer Diann Carroll,)
And, in that same year Pier had a baby that was rumored to possibly be James Dean's son. But, --- really, who knows?... Still, he (below) certainly looks like James, more than he does like Vic Damone, --- very much the same eyes, nose, smile as James. Perry Damone died when he was 59, of lymphoma and had no children...
As Vic and Pier were getting married James waited very angrily outside the church, sulking and scowling, leaning against his bike. When the couple came out of the church after the wedding James loudly zoomed off in a cloud of dust. Supposedly, he'd cried bitterly all night, the evening before.
James Dean played the recorder, a type of simple flute. He was quite near-sighted, wore glasses and could look very geeky.
His favorite book was the children's story, "The Little Prince'. He also made of clay ash trays shaped like vaginas. It was thought he might have been bi-sexual and that he might have had a homosexual affair with an older man, a mentor, when he was in his teens in Indiana. A friend said that he was "the most co-ordinated person he'd ever met", --- like an acrobat James could be walking along, turn a somersault, and keep right on walking.
Famous elegant and Shakespeare trained English actor Alec Guinness saw the car when James was having it's name painted on the back of it and grimly predicted that James surely would die in it. James just laughed. (James happily gives the "thumbs up" sign, below.)
German mechanic Rolf Wuetherich was with James in the passenger seat of the car when it crashed. Wuetherich was thrown from the Porsche and was severely injured, but he recovered. Donald Turnupseed survived the almost head-on crash too, with only a few bruises, but he was known infamously ever after, and vehemently hated, as --- "The Man Who Killed James Dean," even though it was an accident. It practically ruined his life. He admitted his mind wasn't on the road, at the time, because he was day dreaming about actress Doris Day.
Sadly, James Dean, although he was recorded quite a few times when he made "live" performances in plays on early T.V., made only 3 movies: "Rebel Without A Cause," "Giant," and "East Of Eden". (He got an Oscar nomination after his death for his role of Jett Rink, in "Giant".)
James was supposedly slated to play the role of Rocky Graziano in "Somebody Up There Likes Me". But, with James' death Paul Newman got the role. (Paul Newman was thought to be a little too handsome to play Rocky, so he gained weight, 20 pounds, for the role and was "roughed up" a little with make up.)
No comments:
Post a Comment