James Dean

Dean, James (1931–55), U.S. actor. Elia Kazan recognized his talent in the New York stage play The Immoralist (1954) and cast him in the film East of Eden (1955). His next film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), established him as the romantic, rebellious antihero of a generation, but his career ended tragically when he was killed in a car crash.