James Dean was a member of the basketball varsity team when he was a student at Fairmont High School, circa 1948
Hollywood actor James Dean, who died in a car accident at the age of 24, is the memory of a generation, and his handsome face and rebellious personality fascinated a large number of young boys and girls in the early 1950s.
Dean was born on February 8, 1931 in the small Indiana town of Marion, where his father, Winton Dean, was of part Indian descent and his mother Mildred Wilson was a descendant of British immigrants.
At the age of 6, Dean moved with his parents to California, where he lived in Santa Monica, west of Los Angeles.
Just three years after moving, Dean's mother died of uterine cancer, and his father, unable to take care of him alone, sent him back to Indiana to live with his aunt and uncle.
The aunt's family runs a farm where Dean spent his happy childhood and teenage years.
Dean was a good student at school, participating in various sports activities, interested in drama and speech, and getting along well with his classmates.
Later Dean said: "When I was in middle school, I had a vague feeling that I would be an actor in the future. ”
The aunt's eldest son, Marcus Winslow Jr., was 12 years younger than Dean, and the age gap did not prevent them from having fun together.
"We went crazy together on the farm," Dean recalls, "and played with us cows, pigs, and chickens, and I learned a lot from animals, and they were my first audience members and helped me a lot in my future acting career." ”
After graduating from high school, Dean returned to California and attended Santa Monica College and then UCLA, but dropped out of college before graduating to become an actor.
In 1950, at the age of 19, Dean made his debut in a Pepsi commercial and began his short but legendary acting career.
Dean as an infant, when he was not yet one year old, in 1931
▲ Dean was two years old, taken around 1933
As the only child in the family, Dean was pampered by his parents from an early age, taken around 1933
Dean, who was not yet in elementary school, had already shown a precocious side, taken around 1936
▲ Dean, who has known how to play handsome since childhood, was photographed around 1938
Dean plays on his aunt's farm, circa 1943
▲ Cousin Marcus, who has just learned to walk, pulls Dean sitting in a trolley, photographed around 1944
Dean and cousin Marcus play on the farm, circa 1944
Dean, who has grown into a handsome man, was photographed around 1948
▲ Dean's stills from Rebel without a Cause, which was dead when it was released, circa 1955