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The Real James Dean:
Intimate Memories from Those Who Knew Him Best

Edited by Peter L. Winkler.
Foreword by George Stevens Jr.


(Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2016)
368 pages, illustrated. Paperback, $19.99.
ISBN: : 978-1-61373-472-8


Review by Dr. Kirk Bane
At the time of his death, James Dean, only twenty-four years of age, had starred in three films, all of which became screen classics: Elia Kazan's East of Eden, Nick Ray's Rebel Without a Cause, and George Stevens' Giant. The latter two pictures were released after the actor's fatal car accident near Cholame, California, on September 30, 1955. Of course, Dean went on to become, in death, a genuine Hollywood icon, a lasting symbol of disaffected youth.

Fans of the Indiana born star will applaud the publication of this superb anthology, a welcome addition to Dean studies. Winkler, author of the well-received Dennis Hopper: The Wild Ride of a Hollywood Rebel (Barricade Books, 2011), has assembled an impressive anthology of recollections from those who knew the charismatic young actor, including relatives, mentors and teachers, friends and lovers, directors, and costars. Some adored Dean; others despised him.

Among those whose reminiscences Winkler includes are Emma Woolen Dean, James' grandmother; his father, Winton Dean; Adeline Nall, his Fairmount, Indiana, high school drama teacher; girlfriends Beverly Wills, Dizzy Sheridan, and Pier Angeli; male lovers William Bast, Rogers Brackett, and John Gilmore; gossip columnists Sidney Skolsky and Hedda Hopper; confidants Eartha Kitt, Toni Lee Scott, and Maila Nurmi; colleagues Raymond Massey, Natalie Wood, Jim Backus, Dennis Hopper, Mercedes McCambridge, and Rock Hudson; dialogue coach Bob Hinkle, who taught Dean how to "talk Texan"; photographer Sanford Roth; directors Kazan, Ray, and Stevens; and Porsche mechanic Rolf Wutherich, who accompanied Dean on that doomed trip to Salinas but survived the crash. Actress Shelley Winters viewed Dean as "a forerunner of the Beat Generation." In her assessment, he "was obviously very beautiful and a gifted actor…In some weird way he reminded me of Peter Pan, but without the joy, as if he had sprung from never-never land and would disappear back into it."

Winkler acquired his selections from a wide variety of sources, including weathered movie magazines (such as Modern Screen and Photoplay), books no longer in print, studies about other film stars, memoirs, and Dean biographies. He also provides insightful introductions to each of the book's forty-two chapters.

Released in 1956, Giant, a cattle and oil epic filmed around "sun-blasted" Marfa, Texas, ranks as one of the greatest pictures ever made about the Lone Star State. With remarkable skill, Dean portrayed Jett Rink, the working class ranch hand who struck black gold, becoming a powerful oil baron. Evaluating Dean's performance, Time magazine observed: "He has caught the Texas accent to nasal perfection…[Dean] clearly shows for the first and fatefully the last time what his admirers always said he had: a streak of genius." (Edna Ferber, who authored the novel, based Jett on successful Texas wildcatter "Diamond Glenn" McCarthy, owner of two banks, newspapers, a radio station, and the famous Shamrock Hotel in Houston.) In addition to exploring class issues, director Stevens sharply addressed race, gender, and generational conflict in midcentury West Texas.

Tragically, Giant was Dean's final film; what a promising career, cut brutally short. What might have been? Prior to his demise, Dean was pondering two motion pictures: Somebody Up There Likes Me, about boxer Rocky Graziano, and the Billy the Kid western, The Left Handed Gun. Both roles went to Paul Newman, whose career flourished. One can only surmise: had Dean lived, would he have gone on to play such memorable Newman roles as Fast Eddie Felson, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, and Butch Cassidy?

Dean craved speed, whether from motorcycle or car, and was fond of the quote, "live fast, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse." Undoubtedly, he lived fast and died young, but his remains were a mess, bloodied and broken. His death certificate reported the damage: "broken neck, multiple fractures of upper and lower jaw, multiple fractures of left and right arm, internal injuries." Though he perished at an early age, the memory of Dean, the eternal rebel, endures.

Winkler's fine book adds to the legend. Cinephiles and Texas studies enthusiasts will appreciate his commendable compendium.


Note of interest: University of Texas professor Dr. Don Graham is currently working on a volume about the history and significance of Giant, which should be available in 2017. In a previously published article, Dr. Graham averred, "For Texas historians and moviemakers alike, real Texas was cowboys, vast ranches, and pastoral beatitudes. Giant repackaged and updated the myth, bringing Red River into the twentieth century, where the old beloved ranching tradition was pitted against a newer, rawer Texas myth: oil."
Review by Kirk Bane, Ph.D.
Managing Editor, Central Texas Studies
November 1, 2016
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