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James Dean is a Actor and Co-Director American born on 8 february 1931 at Marion (USA)
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rest on his performances in only these three films.
Dean's premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status. He became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 17th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.
While at UCLA, Dean dated Beverly Wills, an actress with CBS, and Jeanette Lewis, a classmate. Bast and Dean often double-dated with them. Wills began dating Dean alone, later telling Bast, "Bill, there's something we have to tell you. It's Jimmy and me. I mean, we're in love." They broke up after Dean "exploded" when another man asked her to dance while they were at a function: "Jimmy saw red. He grabbed the fellow by the collar and threatened to blacken both of his eyes," she said. Dean had also remained in contact with his girlfriend in New York, Barbara Glenn, whom he dated for two years. Their love letters sold at auction in 2011 for $36,000.
Early in Dean's career, after Dean signed his contract with Warner Brothers, the studio's public relations department began generating stories about Dean's liaisons with a variety of young actresses who were mostly drawn from the clientele of Dean's Hollywood agent, Dick Clayton. Studio press releases also grouped Dean together with two other actors, Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, identifying each of the men as an 'eligible bachelor' who has not yet found the time to commit to a single woman: "They say their film rehearsals are in conflict with their marriage rehearsals."
Dean's best-remembered relationship was with young Italian actress Pier Angeli, whom he met while Angeli was shooting The Silver Chalice on an adjoining Warner lot, and with whom he exchanged items of jewelry as love tokens. Angeli, during an interview fourteen years after their relationship ended, described their times together:
We used to go together to the California coast and stay there secretly in a cottage on a beach far away from prying eyes. We'd spend much of our time on the beach, sitting there or fooling around, just like college kids. We would talk about ourselves and our problems, about the movies and acting, about life and life after death. We had a complete understanding of each other. We were like Romeo and Juliet, together and inseparable. Sometimes on the beach we loved each other so much we just wanted to walk together into the sea holding hands because we knew then that we would always be together.
In his autobiography, East of Eden, director Elia Kazan dismissed the notion that Dean could possibly have had any success with women, although he remembered hearing Dean and Angeli loudly making love in Dean's dressing room. Kazan has been quoted saying about Dean, "He always had uncertain relations with girlfriends."
Those that believed Dean and Angeli were deeply in love claim a number of forces led them apart. Angeli's mother disapproved of Dean's casual dress and what were, for her at least, radical behavior traits: his T-shirt attire, late dates, fast cars, and the fact that he was not a Catholic. Her mother said that such behavior was not acceptable in Italy. In addition, Warner Bros., where he worked, tried to talk him out of marrying and he himself told Angeli that he didn't want to get married. Richard Davalos, Dean's East of Eden co-star, claimed that Dean wanted to marry Angeli and was willing to allow their children to be brought up Catholic.
After finishing his role for East of Eden, he took a brief trip to New York in October 1954. While he was away, Angeli unexpectedly announced her engagement to Italian-American singer Vic Damone. The press was shocked and Dean expressed his irritation. Angeli married Damone the following month. Gossip columnists reported that Dean watched the wedding from across the road on his motorcycle, even gunning the engine during the ceremony, although Dean later denied doing anything so "dumb."
Some, like Bast and Paul Alexander, believe the relationship was a mere publicity stunt. Esme Chandlee, the publicist at Angeli's home studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who had kept news of her love affair with Kirk Douglas under wraps, believed that Angeli had been more smitten with Kirk than Jimmy Dean.
Pier Angeli talked only once about the relationship in her later life in an interview, giving vivid descriptions of romantic meetings at the beach. Dean biographer John Howlett said these read like wishful fantasies, as Bast claims them to be. Hyams, in his 1992 biography of Dean, claims that he visited Dean just as Angeli, then married to Damone, was leaving his home. Dean was crying and allegedly told Hyams she was pregnant, with Hyams concluding that Dean believed the child might be his.
Angeli, who divorced Damone and then her second husband, the Italian film composer Armando Trovajoli, was said by friends in the last years of her life to claim that Dean was the love of her life. She died from an overdose of barbiturates in 1971, at the age of 39. In 1997, the television movie Race with Destiny was produced, a true-story account of the love affair between Dean and Pier Angeli. It was shot on location "where he lived and loved" until his death.
Actress Liz Sheridan asserts that she and Dean had a short affair in New York in 1952. Speaking of the alleged affair in 1996, she said that it was "just kind of magical. It was the first love for both of us."
Again Bast is skeptical as to whether this was a true love affair and says Dean and Sheridan did not spend much time together. Sheridan published her memoir, Dizzy & Jimmy: My Life with James Dean; A Love Story in 2000.
Dean also dated Swiss actress Ursula Andress. "She was seen riding around Hollywood on the back of James's motorcycle," writes biographer Darwin Porter. She was also seen with Dean in his sports cars, and was with him on the day he bought the car that he died in. At the time, Andress was also dating Marlon Brando.
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James Dean
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Birth name James Byron Dean
Nationality USA
Birth 8 february 1931 at Marion (USA)
Death 30 september 1955 (at 24 years) at Cholame (USA)
Nationality USA
Birth 8 february 1931 at Marion (USA)
Death 30 september 1955 (at 24 years) at Cholame (USA)
Dean's premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status. He became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 17th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.
Biography
Screenwriter William Bast was one of Dean's closest friends, a fact acknowledged by Dean's family. According to Bast, who was also Dean's first biographer, (1956), he was Dean's roommate at UCLA and later in New York, and knew Dean throughout the last five years of his life. Fifty years after Dean's death, he stated that their friendship had included some sexual intimacy.While at UCLA, Dean dated Beverly Wills, an actress with CBS, and Jeanette Lewis, a classmate. Bast and Dean often double-dated with them. Wills began dating Dean alone, later telling Bast, "Bill, there's something we have to tell you. It's Jimmy and me. I mean, we're in love." They broke up after Dean "exploded" when another man asked her to dance while they were at a function: "Jimmy saw red. He grabbed the fellow by the collar and threatened to blacken both of his eyes," she said. Dean had also remained in contact with his girlfriend in New York, Barbara Glenn, whom he dated for two years. Their love letters sold at auction in 2011 for $36,000.
Early in Dean's career, after Dean signed his contract with Warner Brothers, the studio's public relations department began generating stories about Dean's liaisons with a variety of young actresses who were mostly drawn from the clientele of Dean's Hollywood agent, Dick Clayton. Studio press releases also grouped Dean together with two other actors, Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, identifying each of the men as an 'eligible bachelor' who has not yet found the time to commit to a single woman: "They say their film rehearsals are in conflict with their marriage rehearsals."
Dean's best-remembered relationship was with young Italian actress Pier Angeli, whom he met while Angeli was shooting The Silver Chalice on an adjoining Warner lot, and with whom he exchanged items of jewelry as love tokens. Angeli, during an interview fourteen years after their relationship ended, described their times together:
We used to go together to the California coast and stay there secretly in a cottage on a beach far away from prying eyes. We'd spend much of our time on the beach, sitting there or fooling around, just like college kids. We would talk about ourselves and our problems, about the movies and acting, about life and life after death. We had a complete understanding of each other. We were like Romeo and Juliet, together and inseparable. Sometimes on the beach we loved each other so much we just wanted to walk together into the sea holding hands because we knew then that we would always be together.
In his autobiography, East of Eden, director Elia Kazan dismissed the notion that Dean could possibly have had any success with women, although he remembered hearing Dean and Angeli loudly making love in Dean's dressing room. Kazan has been quoted saying about Dean, "He always had uncertain relations with girlfriends."
Those that believed Dean and Angeli were deeply in love claim a number of forces led them apart. Angeli's mother disapproved of Dean's casual dress and what were, for her at least, radical behavior traits: his T-shirt attire, late dates, fast cars, and the fact that he was not a Catholic. Her mother said that such behavior was not acceptable in Italy. In addition, Warner Bros., where he worked, tried to talk him out of marrying and he himself told Angeli that he didn't want to get married. Richard Davalos, Dean's East of Eden co-star, claimed that Dean wanted to marry Angeli and was willing to allow their children to be brought up Catholic.
After finishing his role for East of Eden, he took a brief trip to New York in October 1954. While he was away, Angeli unexpectedly announced her engagement to Italian-American singer Vic Damone. The press was shocked and Dean expressed his irritation. Angeli married Damone the following month. Gossip columnists reported that Dean watched the wedding from across the road on his motorcycle, even gunning the engine during the ceremony, although Dean later denied doing anything so "dumb."
Some, like Bast and Paul Alexander, believe the relationship was a mere publicity stunt. Esme Chandlee, the publicist at Angeli's home studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who had kept news of her love affair with Kirk Douglas under wraps, believed that Angeli had been more smitten with Kirk than Jimmy Dean.
Pier Angeli talked only once about the relationship in her later life in an interview, giving vivid descriptions of romantic meetings at the beach. Dean biographer John Howlett said these read like wishful fantasies, as Bast claims them to be. Hyams, in his 1992 biography of Dean, claims that he visited Dean just as Angeli, then married to Damone, was leaving his home. Dean was crying and allegedly told Hyams she was pregnant, with Hyams concluding that Dean believed the child might be his.
Angeli, who divorced Damone and then her second husband, the Italian film composer Armando Trovajoli, was said by friends in the last years of her life to claim that Dean was the love of her life. She died from an overdose of barbiturates in 1971, at the age of 39. In 1997, the television movie Race with Destiny was produced, a true-story account of the love affair between Dean and Pier Angeli. It was shot on location "where he lived and loved" until his death.
Actress Liz Sheridan asserts that she and Dean had a short affair in New York in 1952. Speaking of the alleged affair in 1996, she said that it was "just kind of magical. It was the first love for both of us."
Again Bast is skeptical as to whether this was a true love affair and says Dean and Sheridan did not spend much time together. Sheridan published her memoir, Dizzy & Jimmy: My Life with James Dean; A Love Story in 2000.
Dean also dated Swiss actress Ursula Andress. "She was seen riding around Hollywood on the back of James's motorcycle," writes biographer Darwin Porter. She was also seen with Dean in his sports cars, and was with him on the day he bought the car that he died in. At the time, Andress was also dating Marlon Brando.
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The Celluloid Closet (1996)
, 1h47Directed by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Documentary, Historical
Themes Films about films, Films about sexuality, Bisexuality-related films, LGBT-related films, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentaire sur l'homosexualité, Documentary films about cities, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Susan Sarandon, Lily Tomlin, Armistead Maupin, Arthur Laurents, Antonio Fargas, Tom Hanks
Roles Self (archive footage)
Rating77%
Le film montre comment le cinéma hollywoodien a évoqué le thème de l’homosexualité, comment cette représentation a évolué au fil des ans et comment, en retour, elle a influencé la perception de l’homosexualité par le grand public.
Elvis (1979)
, 2h30Directed by John Carpenter
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Comedy-drama, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films about television, Musical films
Actors Kurt Russell, Shelley Winters, Season Hubley, Bing Russell, Robert Gray, Pat Hingle
Roles Jim Stark (archive footage)
Rating68%
The story follows the life of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley. It ends in 1970, and does not depict the last few years of Presley's career.
, 52minutesDirected by Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin
Genres Documentary
Actors Jane Fonda, Marlon Brando, Yves Montand, James Dean, Renée Falconetti, Henry Fonda
Roles Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Rating57%
Juste après avoir tourné « Tout va bien » avec Jane Fonda, Godard et Gorin lui adressent une lettre cinématographique interrogeant une photographie de l'actrice au Vietnam. « Cette photo répond à la même question que celle que pose Tout va bien : quel rôle les intellectuels doivent-ils jouer dans la révolution ? »
The James Dean Story (1957)
, 1h21Directed by Robert Altman, George W. George
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry
Actors Martin Gabel, James Dean, Clark Gable, Arlene Martel, Dennis Hopper, Lili Kardell
Roles Self (archive footage)
Rating62%
Sorti deux ans après la mort de James Dean, ce documentaire raconte sa courte vie et sa carrière à travers des photographies en noir et blanc, des entretiens avec la tante et l'oncle qui l'ont élevé, ses grands-parents paternels, un ami chauffeur de taxi new-yorkais, le propriétaire de son restaurant préféré de Los Angeles, sorties d'East of Eden, images de la soirée d'ouverture de Giant et PSA ironique de Dean pour une conduite sûre.
Giant (1956)
, 3h21Directed by Fred Guiol, George Stevens
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Romance, Western
Themes Films about families, Films about racism
Actors Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Nick Adams, Mercedes McCambridge
Roles Jett Rink
Rating75%
The movie follows a Texas family over a quarter century from the 1920s until after World War II. Themes of discrimination along race, class and gender lines, as well as the role they played in the social evolution of post-war Texas, are prominent.
East of Eden (1955)
, 1h55Directed by Elia Kazan, Don Alvarado
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about families, Films about religion, Films based on the Bible, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Julie Harris, James Dean, Raymond Massey, Burl Ives, Richard Davalos, Jo Van Fleet
Roles Cal Trask
Rating77%
The story is set during 1917 and 1918, leading into American involvement in World War I, in the central California coastal towns of Monterey and Salinas. Cal (James Dean) and Aron (Richard Davalos) are the sons of a modestly successful farmer and wartime draft board chairman, Adam Trask (Raymond Massey). Cal is moody and embittered by his belief that his father favors Aron. Although both Cal and Aron had long been led to believe that their mother had died "and gone to heaven," the opening scene reveals Cal has apparently learned that his mother is still alive, owning and running a successful brothel in nearby Monterey.
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
, 1h51Directed by Nicholas Ray, Don Alvarado, Gary Nelson
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Films about families, Transport films, Films about automobiles
Actors James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Ann Doran, William Hopper, Rochelle Hudson
Roles Jim Stark
Rating75%
Behind the opening credits, the film opens on a suburban Los Angeles street with teenager Jim Stark (Dean) drunkenly lying down on a sidewalk. He is arrested and taken to the juvenile division of the police station for "plain drunkenness". At the station he meets John "Plato" Crawford (Mineo), who was brought in for shooting a litter of puppies with his mother's gun, and Judy (Wood), who was brought in for curfew violation (she was wearing a bright red dress with matching lipstick and was mistaken for being a streetwalker). The three each separately reveal their innermost frustrations to officers; all three of them suffer from problems at home:
Trouble Along the Way (1953)
, 1h50Directed by Michael Curtiz
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Sports films, American football films
Actors John Wayne, Donna Reed, Charles Coburn, Tom Tully, Tom Tully, Marie Windsor
Roles Football Spectator (uncredited)
Rating67%
Small, obscure St. Anthony’s college, run by the Catholic church, is in financial straits and about to be closed. To save it, and himself from forced retirement, elderly rector Father Burke (Charles Coburn) hires a down and out former big time football coach, Steve Williams (John Wayne), in hopes of building a lucrative sports program. First turning down the job, Williams later accepts it when he learns that his former wife, Anne (Marie Windsor), now remarried, complained to Social Services that he is an unfit father, and plans to sue for custody of his 11-year-old daughter, Carole (Sherry Jackson). Anne’s actual aim is not to get Carole, in whom she has no interest, but rather to pressure Steve into rekindling an affair with her. Social Services worker Alice Singleton (Donna Reed), coldly prejudiced against Steve because she suffered from a relationship with her father similar to that between Steve and Carole, is preparing a report in Anne’s favor. Steve, in the meanwhile, attempts to charm Alice and win her over. Desperate to have the football program pay off, Father Burke uses his clerical connections to schedule St. Anthony’s against high profile Catholic colleges--Villanova, Notre Dame, etc.--in the upcoming season. Faced with physically inadequate players, Steve, unbeknownst to Father Burke, uses chicanery to enroll beefy star athletes as freshmen, giving St. Anthony’s a winning team. Father Burke subsequently learns of Steve’s dishonest methods and, after chiding him, disbands the sports program, knowing this would cause St. Anthony’s to close. Alice submits a report unfavorable to Steve, but subsequently, in her testimony in the court custody hearing, repudiates it after having recognized her bias and the mother's lack of honest affection for Carole. Alice also speaks against Steve, stating he isn't a properly responsible parent, and under questioning reveals she is in love with him. The judge halts proceedings, placing Carole in custody of the State, and assigning her a new case worker, until matters can be sorted out. In a surprise move, the church agrees to continue funding St. Anthony's without the football program. Even so, Burke resigns as rector believing that he had been behaving selfishly to unnecessarily prolong his position. Before leaving, though, he reinstates Steve as coach and forgives him his unscrupulous behavior because it was for love of his child. The film ends with Carole, accompanied by Alice, walking away from Steve, with the implied understanding that Steve and Alice would later marry and the three would be together as a family.
Sailor Beware (1952)
, 1h48Directed by Hal Walker
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Military humor in film, Seafaring films, Transport films, Films based on plays, United States Armed Forces in films
Actors Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Corinne Calvet, Marion Marshall, Robert Strauss, Leif Erickson
Roles Boxing Opponent's Second (uncredited)
Rating61%
After meeting in the Navy recruiting line, Al Crowthers (Dean Martin) and Melvin Jones (Jerry Lewis) become friends. Al has tried to enlist before, 11 times, but was always rejected because of a bad knee. However, he keeps trying so that he can impress women (including Betty Hutton in a cameo role as "Hetty Button"). Melvin, meanwhile, is allergic to women's cosmetics and his doctor prescribed ocean travel, so he decided to join the Navy as this was the only way he could afford to follow doctor's orders.
Deadline - U.S.A. (1952)
, 1h27Directed by Richard Brooks
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists, Children's films
Actors Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Ed Begley, Warren Stevens, Paul Stewart
Roles Press Boy (uncredited)
Rating71%
Ed Hutcheson is the crusading managing editor of a large metropolitan newspaper called The Day. He is steadfastly loyal to publisher Margaret Garrison, the widow of the paper's founder, but Mrs. Garrison is on the verge of selling the newspaper to interests who plan to permanently cease its operation.
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
, 1h29Directed by Douglas Sirk
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn, Gigi Perreau, Lynn Bari, Larry Gates
Roles Youth at Soda Fountain (uncredited)
Rating70%
The year is 1928. Samuel Fulton (Charles Coburn) is an old and lonely New York millionaire who has decided to leave his fortune to the family of the late Millicent Blaisdell. Millicent is the only woman he has ever been in love with and they briefly dated, until she dumped him because she did not return his love. Samuel explains to his lawyer Edward Norton (Frank Ferguson) that losing the love of his life was what inspired him to build up a career as a wealthy businessman, eventually becoming the richest man in the world. Fearing the family will spend the money the wrong way, he decides to visit them in a small Vermont town, faking a newspaper advertisement to board a room under the alias John Smith.
Fixed Bayonets! (1951)
, 1h32Directed by Samuel Fuller
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action
Themes Politique, Political films, Children's films
Actors Richard Basehart, Gene Evans, Michael O'Shea, Craig Hill, Skip Homeier, Paul Burke
Roles Doggie (uncredited)
Rating68%
The film is set in the first winter of the Korean War during the Red Chinese intervention . The story follows the fate of a lone 48 man platoon left as a rear guard to defend a choke point, to cover the withdrawal of their division over an exposed bridge. The subplot explores the psychological makeup of the individuals charged with leadership of the platoon, and therein examines the nature of service and valor. Ultimately command of the platoon falls upon Cpl. Denno (Richard Basehart), who has an innate aversion to responsibility for the lives of others.
Director
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
, 1h51Directed by Nicholas Ray, Don Alvarado, Gary Nelson
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Films about families, Transport films, Films about automobiles
Actors James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Ann Doran, William Hopper, Rochelle Hudson
Roles Co-Director
Rating75%
Behind the opening credits, the film opens on a suburban Los Angeles street with teenager Jim Stark (Dean) drunkenly lying down on a sidewalk. He is arrested and taken to the juvenile division of the police station for "plain drunkenness". At the station he meets John "Plato" Crawford (Mineo), who was brought in for shooting a litter of puppies with his mother's gun, and Judy (Wood), who was brought in for curfew violation (she was wearing a bright red dress with matching lipstick and was mistaken for being a streetwalker). The three each separately reveal their innermost frustrations to officers; all three of them suffer from problems at home: