Lendle

Includes over 20 minutes of video clips about Dean's life, career, and death.
Includes pictures of Dean and important people, places, and events.

"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." – James Dean

Everyone has read about history’s most important people and events in dense textbooks and classrooms, but words can only say so much. In Charles River Editors’ Interactive Biography series, history comes to life in video and audio, allowing people to not only read history but truly experience it, through the eyes and ears of the people who were there.

It would be no exaggeration to say that James Dean has been more mythologized than any other actor in history, a development due more to his off-screen personality and conduct than the films he actually starred in. Much of Dean’s appeal derives from his humble and ordinary origins, and audiences are drawn to the romance of the Indiana farm boy who catapulted to the top of the motion picture industry in a single year — the same year that would see him die.

Of course, James Dean remains well-known for being anything but humble and ordinary. As famous as his films are, Dean’s story is inextricably tied to his love for racing cars and his death in a high speed car crash. And though Dean was already wildly famous at the time of his death, there is no question that his death only enhanced his fame. One study found evidence of a “James Dean effect,” which concluded that a star’s popularity benefits if the star dies young instead of living longer and losing luster. By dying young, Dean actually ensured that his name would remain famous, and his appeal has transcended generations.

An Interactive Biography of James Dean profiles the life and legacy of the famous actor and rebel without a cause. Along with videos and pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about James Dean like you never have before, in no time at all.