Knowledge Seeker
  • Home
  • Articles

A Record Breaking Actor

2/20/2019

 
He was the first actor to receive an Academy Award after he died and he actually ended up doing it twice. He was an only child and was born in Indiana. His mother died of ovarian cancer when he was nine and his dad couldn't take care of him so he sent him to live with his grandparents who owned a farm. They were both Quakers so religion was a huge part of his life. 

He was a great athlete and student in high school and when he graduated he moved to California to attend college and live with his dad and stepmom. If he could do anything he wanted in life, he would've been a professional racecar driver but he decided to study law in order to make a living. He began getting bored with the Law curriculum and fell in love with drama so he quit college to pursue acting full time. Of course as with most actors, he had to do whatever necessary to stay afloat financially, so he parked cars at CBS studios while also attending a professional acting school.

He was quickly picked up for a Pepsi Commercial and then had bit parts on a few  television shows. Then somebody floated his name for the leading role in a feature film. The film's director was looking for someone like Brando but he said he'd meet the kid as a favor. On a personal level, he didn't like the young actor because he was moody and acted like he didn't care if he got the part. But the director decided to go with him because he was a perfect fit for the character in the film. The movie was "East of Eden" and it became a huge hit.  This was one of the movies for which he received a posthumous Academy Award.
 

He became an instant heartthrob and was on the cover of all the Hollywood magazines. The movie studio jumped on this momentum and cast him in two other movies with one becoming a huge box office success. He did three movies in 18 months.


Drugs and alcohol have brought many a famous actor or musician down but not this time. It was because he couldn't let go of his dream of driving racecars. He competed on his free time and had just picked up a new car from the Porsche automotive company, that he was going to enter into a race.  He wasn't racing the car at the time, but was driving it to a race when a car pulled out in front of him and he was driving over the speed limit and couldn't stop in time. There was another vehicle following him from the race team and both he and the driver of the other car had received speeding tickets before the crash.  

They pronounced him dead at the hospital. It was 1955 and he was just 24 when he died. I'm sure you've figured out by now that I'm writing about James Dean and the second huge movie hit was "Rebel Without a Cause," where he won yet another posthumous Academy Award. His life light burnt amazingly bright if only for a short period in time.  

Comments are closed.

    Author: John Mann

    Picture

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly