8.2.11

ΣΑΝ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ. ΤΖΕΪΜΣ ΝΤΙΝ


Ο Τζέιμς Ντην (ή Τζέημς Ντιν) (8/2/1931-30/9/1955), ήταν αμερικανός ηθοποιός, ένα θρυλικό όνομα του κινηματογράφου όλων των εποχών παγκοσμίως, κυρίως λόγω του τραγικού θανάτου του στην ακμή της επιτυχίας του, σε ηλικία 24 ετών, έπειτα από αυτοκινητιστικό ατύχημα.
Υπήρξε είδωλο και προσωποποίηση της νεανικής επαναστατικότητας, ιδίως έπειτα από την ερμηνεία του στην ταινία Επαναστάτης χωρίς αιτία (Rebel without a cause). Γεννημένος στο Φέρμουντ της Ιντιάνα το 1931, παρά τα προβλήματα της παιδικής και οικογενειακής ζωής, ο Τζέημς Ντιν ξεχώρισε για τις υποκριτικές του ικανότητες καθώς και για την εξωτερική του εμφάνιση.
Πέρα από τα πρώτα χρόνια στην υποκριτική τέχνη σε θέατρα και τηλεοπτικά επεισόδια, ο Τζέημς Ντιν πρόλαβε να πρωταγωνιστήσει σε τρείς ταινίες που έγιναν ιδιαιτέρως δημοφιλείς: Ανατολικά της Εδέμ (East of Eden, 1955), Επαναστάτης χωρίς αιτία (Rebel without a cause, 1955) και Ο Γίγας (The Giant, 1956) (έκδοση μετά θάνατον).
Πριν από τις τρείς αυτές κινηματογραφικές παραγωγές, από τις οποίες έγινε γνωστός, ο Τζέημς Ντιν είχε πάρει μέρος σε άλλες τρείς κινηματογραφικές ταινίες, σε παραστάσεις του Μπρόντγουέϊ καθώς και σε τηλεοπτικά σήριαλ της εποχής. Έχει επίσης συνεργαστεί με τον ελληνοαμερικανό σκηνοθέτη Ελία Καζάν και έχει προταθεί για βραβείο Όσκαρ πρώτου ανδρικού ρόλου.
Η επιτυχία του Ντιν δεν κράτησε για πολύ, καθώς βρήκε τραγικό θάνατο μέσα στο αυτοκίνητό του, κοντά στο Χολάμ της Καλιφόρνια, στις 30 Σεπτεμβρίου του 1955. Σύμφωνα με πηγές της αστυνομίας της Καλιφόρνια που έχουν δημοσιευτεί, ένας φοιτητής πανεπιστημίου ήταν ο υπεύθυνος για το θανατηφόρο τροχαίο καθώς μπήκε στο αντίθετο ρεύμα και συγκρούστηκε με το αυτοκίνητο του γνωστού ηθοποιού.
Ο Τζέημς Ντιν πέθανε σε ηλικία μόλις 24 ετών, έχοντας ελάχιστη αλλά ιδιαιτέρως σημαντική παρουσία, στο χώρο της υποκριτικής και του κινηματογράφου. Επιπλέον, κατάφερε να δημιουργήσει ένα θρύλο γύρω από το όνομα του και να παραμένει μέχρι και σήμερα μια από τις σπουδαιότερες και πιο αινιγματικές μορφές της αμερικανικής κουλτούρας. Το Αμερικανικό Ινστιτούτο Κινηματογράφου τον έχει κατατάξει 18ο στη λίστα με τους 25 μεγαλύτερους σταρ όλων των εποχών. (el.wikipedia.org)


Screenwriter William Bast was one of Dean's closest friends, a fact acknowledged by Dean's family. Dean's first biographer (1956), Bast was his roommate at UCLA and later in New York, and knew Dean throughout the last five years of his life. Fifty years after Dean's death, he stated that their friendship had included some sexual intimacy.
Early in Dean's career, after Dean signed his contract with Warner Brothers, the studio's public relations department began generating stories about Dean's liaisons with a variety of young actresses who were mostly drawn from the clientele of Dean's Hollywood agent, Dick Clayton. Studio press releases also grouped "Dean together with two other actors, Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, identifying each of the men as an 'eligible bachelor' who has not yet found the time to commit to a single woman: 'They say their film rehearsals are in conflict with their marriage rehearsals.'"
Shortly before filming began on East of Eden (film), Dean befriended horse trainer Monty Roberts. Roberts introduced Dean to the area and the two became close friends. Dean had planned to meet with Roberts shortly after the race on September 30 to discuss plans for the construction of a ranch, which would be owned by Dean but managed by Roberts. Roberts and his wife were the first people to learn of Dean's death through a telephone call placed by Dean's mechanic, Rolf Wütherich, immediately following the incident, in which Wütherich mumbled through a broken jaw that Dean had died. Roberts and his family did not attend Dean's funeral because, although the two considered themselves 'brothers', their friendship was unknown to Dean's family.
Dean's best-remembered relationship was with young Italian actress Pier Angeli, whom he met while Angeli was shooting The Silver Chalice on an adjoining Warner lot, and with whom he exchanged items of jewelry as love tokens. Angeli's mother was reported to have disapproved of the relationship because Dean was not Roman Catholic. In his autobiography, East of Eden director Elia Kazan, while dismissing the notion that Dean could possibly have had any success with women, paradoxically alluded to Dean and Angeli's "romance", claiming that he had heard them loudly making love in Dean's dressing room. For a very short time the story of a Dean-Angeli love affair was even promoted by Dean himself, who fed it to various gossip columnists and to his co-star, Julie Harris, who in interviews has reported that Dean told her about being madly in love with Angeli. However, in early October 1954, Angeli unexpectedly announced her engagement to Italian-American singer Vic Damone, to Dean's expressed irritation. Angeli married Damone the following month, and gossip columnists reported that Dean, or someone dressed like him, watched the wedding from across the road on a motorcycle. However, when Bast questioned him about the reports, Dean denied that he would have done anything so "dumb", and Bast, like Paul Alexander, believes the relationship was a mere publicity stunt.
Pier Angeli only talked once about the relationship in her later life in an interview, giving vivid descriptions of romantic meetings at the beach. Dean biographer John Howlett said these read like wishful fantasies, as Bast claims them to be.
Actress Liz Sheridan claims that she and Dean had a short affair in New York. In her memoir, she also states that Dean was having a sexual involvement with director Rogers Brackett, and describes her negative response to this situation. However, again Bast is skeptical whether this was a true love affair and says Dean and Sheridan did not spend much time together.
Dean avoided the draft by registering as a homosexual, then classified by the US government as a mental disorder. When questioned about his orientation, he is reported to have said, "No, I am not a homosexual. But, I'm also not going to go through life with one hand tied behind my back."
(en.wikipedia.org)

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