Portrait by Arthur K. Miller.

James Dean used to hang out at the home of my friend Shirley Osborn Ayers. The portrait is by Arthur K. Miller. He was the first actor to receive an Academy Award nomination posthumously, for his role in East of Eden (1955). However, he did not win. He was the grandson of Charles Dean and Emma Dean. He was the nephew of Ortense Winslow (sister of his father) and Marcus Winslow. He was the cousin of Marcus Winslow Jr.. He is the only actor in history to receive more than one Oscar nomination posthumously. He was pictured on a 32¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, originally issued on Monday, June 24, 1996. He pledged Sigma Nu fraternity but dropped out of college before being initiated. As promotion for Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Dean filmed an interview with actor Gig Young for the "Behind the Camera" segment of the ABC series "Warner Bros. Presents" in July 1955. Dean told Young, "I used to fly around quite a bit, you know, I took a lot of unnecessary chances on the highway.... Now when I drive on the highway, I'm extra cautious." When asked if he had advice for young drivers, Dean concluded the interview, "Take it easy driving. The life you might save might be mine." Dean died soon afterward and the interview was never aired. Donald Turnupseed, the driver of the other car involved in Dean's accident, died of cancer in 1995. Turnupseed could not swerve out of the way of Dean's Porsche Spyder, but he successfully swerved journalists who frequently pestered him for interviews about the accident. He is one of several famous and tragic figures from history to be featured on the sleeve artwork of the album "Clutching at Straws" by rock band Marillion (released in 1987). East of Eden (1955) was the only one of the three movies in which he had major roles to be released while he was alive. He is one of only five male actors to be posthumously nominated for an Academy Award as best actor in a leading role. The others were Spencer Tracy, Peter Finch, Massimo Troisi and Heath Ledger. Contrary to popular belief, Dean's middle name was not taken from Lord Byron, but from a relative, "Byron" Dean. During the filming of Giant (1956), he and Rock Hudson did not get along. This tension heightened their onscreen clashes. However, according to Hudson's ex-wife Phyllis Gates, he cried after hearing the news of Dean's untimely death. Gates wrote, "Rock couldn't be reached. He was overcome by guilt and shame, almost as though he himself had killed James Dean.". At the time of his untimely death, James Dean did not leave behind a will, so most of his possessions went to his father, Winton Dean, whose relationship with him was distant at best. In her book "Dizzy and Jimmy", Liz Sheridan claims she and Dean were engaged. Dean's acting breakthrough came on Broadway in the drama "See the Jaguar", despite its run of only four days. He was voted the 22nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. He attended and graduated from Santa Monica College, a California junior college that boasts its elite drama program. Went on to UCLA but left after appearing in one stage production, as Malcolm in "Macbeth", as he was anxious to get his acting career started. According to "The Mutant King", David Dalton's 1974 biography of James Dean, the rumor that Dean was a masochist who liked to have cigarettes stubbed out on his naked body can be traced to a pencil sketch of his called "The Human Ashtray". The sketch featured a human body, in the guise of an ashtray, with many cigarette stubs in it. Dalton speculates that the sketch has nothing to do with Dean's sexual proclivities but much to do with the fact that he was a heavy smoker. Marlon Brando, in his 1994 autobiography "Songs My Mother Taught Me", says that Dean, who idolized him, based his acting on him and his lifestyle on what he thought Brando's lifestyle was.