On October 29, 1955, almost one month after up-and-coming actor James Dean died in a tragic car crash at the age of 24, Warner Bros. Pictures releases his second major film, Rebel Without a Cause. In the movie, Dean played Jim Stark, a rebellious teenager who moves to Los Angeles, where he clashes with his father, struggles to fit in at his new high school and runs afoul of the local tough guy, Buzz.
As production began on the film, Dean was considered one of Hollywood’s fast-rising stars. After moving to New York City in 1951 to pursue acting—and performing in a handful of TV shows—the Indiana native landed his first starring film role in director Elia Kazan’s East of Eden. Dean’s turn as Cal, a tortured soul vying against his brother for their father’s respect, prompted reviewers to liken him to celebrated actor Marlon Brando, who specialized in deeply vulnerable bad boy characters. The performance, and comparison, turbocharged Dean’s career. The broodingly handsome young actor was soon short-listed for the lead role in Rebel and tapped to appear alongside Hollywood titans Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in Giant.
Critics wrote that “Dean's portrayal of Jim Stark, filled with vulnerability and raw emotion, became emblematic of youthful disillusionment.” They also noted that his Rebel performance was a reminder of what Dean could have become in the industry.
The film’s climactic scene, where Jim and Buzz race stolen cars to the edge of a cliff—with the first to bail out deemed the loser—eerily echoed Dean’s own car-crash demise. In the film, Buzz’s jacket gets caught on the door handle, preventing him from being able to exit the car before it soared into oblivion. In real life, Dean was on his way to watch road races in Salinas, California, when a car crossed the median and hit the actor’s Porsche convertible head-on. He was pronounced dead on arrival at San Robles War Memorial Hospital.
The film itself would go on to receive seven awards nominations, including one going posthumously to Dean from BAFTA (the British Academy Film Awards), and a Golden Globe win for co-star Natalie Wood for the “Most Promising Newcomer–Female." Two other awards would come decades later—from the National Film Preservation Board in 1990, and the Online Film & Television Association Hall of Fame in 2019.
