Why was James Dean so famous and his death spooky?

It had been a very long time. More than half a century since he was killed. So, why is James Dean so famous still, after all that time.

Well, some people are, because they make such and an impression on the world, they become almost immortal. I’m sure we can all name a few.

James Dean was one of them. He was a shooting star that came and went in a blinding flash that burned as bright as a comet in the night sky.

A chance viewing on Youtube left me with a chiiling realisation. James Dean’s death was spooky. It moved me to write this story 58 years after he was killed, because there was also a connection going back sixty years which never dawned on me.

I was tempted to dismiss it or put it down to coincidence or just one of those things, as we sometimes say. But it set me thinking. What a small and strange world we live in and how closely linked we are, one way or another.

Why is James Dean so famous?

Why is James Dean so famous? because his performances were compelling, his method acting rivetting, and he mesmerised his peers. James Dean death was spooky because Alec Guinness warned him not to drive his Porsche Spyder. “…if you do…by ten o’clock next Thursday night you’ll be dead …”

His Oscar Nominations surprised no-one

James Dean was good enough to be nominated for an Oscar in two of the only three films he acted in before his death at the age of 24. He acted alongside super-stars Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause are still great to watch, even in the 21st Century.

His premature death meant he only made three movies. But what an impact he had.

He starred in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel ‘East of Eden’ for which he received an Oscar nomination posthumously. Then the definitive ‘Rebel without a cause’ which made him an icon and role model for many young people at the time. And finally ‘Giant’ with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. He again received a posthumous Oscar nomination for ‘Giant’ and became the first actor to be nominated twice posthumously.

Why was he famous so young?

So, why is James Dean so famous? Or should I say why was he famous so young and is still so famous, more than a half-century after hie died?

Because he was exceptional, and many of his peers in the movie business believed that he was destined to be a great actor.

And his performances in such a short career were so compelling and are still remarkably good.

He was a method actor who immersed himself to such a degree that he became the character rather than playing the part, as a character actor would. And his performances were so rivetting, he mesmerised many of his peers. 

The impact he had cannot be overstated.

So, it is not unreasonable to think we missed the best of a great talent and want to hang on to his memory in those three iconic films.

James Dean, me, and my imagination

I was only thirteen when he died in 1955, aged twenty-four, but I remember well, a few years later, when I became the proud owner of a red bomber jacket which I wore over a white ‘T’ shirt just like he did. Everybody called him Jimmy and that was what I was called until I was old enough to become Jim and then later graduate to my real name James. So, in my youthful fantasy world, Jimmy and I were inseparable.

There were differences

• James Dean was an icon, a heart-throb and a big star; I wasn’t. One-nil to Jimmy Dean.
• But he was only 5’8” and I was 6’1”. One all.
• Jimmy Dean raced cars professionally as well as acting. I was an insurance clerk. Two-onel to Jimmy Dean.

He just pipped me.

It felt like I lost an older brother when he was killed in a road accident driving his brand new ‘Porsche 550 Spyder’ to a race meeting in California.

Strange Encounter

One of the greatest English character actors Sir Alec Guinness who died at the age of 86 in 2000 recounted a strange encounter with Jimmy Dean on the Parkinson TV show. The story is of how Alec saw the James Dean Porsche 550 Spyder when he met Jimmy a week before the accident, and of how he warned him not to drive his brand new Porsche ‘Spyder’.

Sir Alec recalls

“It was my very first night in Hollywood. It was very odd. I’d just arrived off the plane. I was alone that evening and a woman I knew phoned and invited me to dinner. She was wearing trousers and they wouldn’t let her into any of the smart Hollywood restaurants. We finally went to an Italian restaurant which was full. As we walked on I said, ‘I don’t mind just a hamburger.’ Then I heard feet running down the street and it was James Dean. He said, ‘I was in that Italian restaurant and you couldn’t get a table. My name is James Dean; will you come back and join me.’ I said, ‘Yes. That’s very kind of you.’

Going back to the restaurant he said, ‘Before we go in I must show you something. I’ve just got a new car.’ And there in the courtyard of the restaurant was this car. I don’t know what it was but it was all done up in cellophane with a bunch of roses tied to its bonnet. I said, ‘How fast can you drive in it?’ He said, ‘I can go 150’. I said, ‘Have you ever driven it?’ He said, ‘No. I’ve never been in it at all.’

Some strange thing came over me; like a different voice and I said, ‘Look, I won’t join your table unless you really want me to but I must say something. Please do not get into that car, because if you do; and I looked at my watch. If you get into that car at all, it’s now Thursday ten o’clock at night and by ten o’clock next Thursday night you’ll be dead if you get into that car.’ Then we had a charming dinner together and he was dead the following Thursday afternoon. It was very odd and spooky.” 

Joining the triangle

There was another spooky connection, I never knew existed, between two actors I admired greatly.

The next part of the story was the joining of the triangle. How were the three of us connected?

Jimmy Dean lived in Hollywood and I was a thirteen-year-old boy living in England when he died. So, the chances of me ever meeting him were extremely remote.

But I did meet Sir Alec sometime in the 1970’s, in the Bunch of Grapes pub in King Street, Bristol, England. Many actors playing at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre frequented the popular pub where I ate lunch most days. He was alone and I introduced myself. We chatted over a pint of Guinness, which seemed quite the appropriate tipple. Sir Alec’s encounter with Jimmy Dean was not mentioned.

Final thoughts

I’d love to make more of it, but in my rational moments, I accept it was a strange, coincidence, or just one of those things.

Like being in the audience at Eddie Cochran’s last concert, the night he died.