James Dean’s death in a car crash at age 24 immortalized him as a cultural icon of youthful rebellion. His few screen performances captured haunting pain with unprecedented intimacy; now, on the 60th anniversary of Dean’s death, celebrated biographer Paul Alexander delves into the sources of that pain in Dean’s life: his mother’s death, his father’s absence, and his own turbulent sexuality.
Dean’s relationships with women were infamous. His relationships with men—first broached publicly in Alexander’s internationally bestselling biography Boulevard of Broken Dreams—remain hotly debated. This portrait uncovers new evidence on Dean’s sexuality, including reports from the people who knew him, and will also detail for the first time in the US the relationship Dean had with legendary actress Geraldine Page.
James Dean’s electric performances played a fundamental role in changing the direction of contemporary acting. Where did that pain, that vulnerability, come from? What was it like for the young man behind the myth?
Paul Alexander is the writer of critically-acclaimed biographies of Sylvia Plath (Rough Magic) and J.D. Salinger (Salinger: A Biography, made into an acclaimed documentary film). Paul Alexander’s previous biography of Dean, Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Legend of James Dean, was an international bestseller when published in 1994. Alexander is also the author of the bestselling true crime Kindle Singles Murdered, Accused, and Homicidal.
A leading journalist for many years, Alexander has published eight widely-praised books and over one hundred major articles for publications ranging from the New York Times to Rolling Stone.
Alexander is a member of the PEN American Center, The Authors Guild, and the Playwrights and Directors Unit of The Actors Studio.
Dean’s relationships with women were infamous. His relationships with men—first broached publicly in Alexander’s internationally bestselling biography Boulevard of Broken Dreams—remain hotly debated. This portrait uncovers new evidence on Dean’s sexuality, including reports from the people who knew him, and will also detail for the first time in the US the relationship Dean had with legendary actress Geraldine Page.
James Dean’s electric performances played a fundamental role in changing the direction of contemporary acting. Where did that pain, that vulnerability, come from? What was it like for the young man behind the myth?
About the Author
Paul Alexander is the writer of critically-acclaimed biographies of Sylvia Plath (Rough Magic) and J.D. Salinger (Salinger: A Biography, made into an acclaimed documentary film). Paul Alexander’s previous biography of Dean, Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Legend of James Dean, was an international bestseller when published in 1994. Alexander is also the author of the bestselling true crime Kindle Singles Murdered, Accused, and Homicidal.
A leading journalist for many years, Alexander has published eight widely-praised books and over one hundred major articles for publications ranging from the New York Times to Rolling Stone.
Alexander is a member of the PEN American Center, The Authors Guild, and the Playwrights and Directors Unit of The Actors Studio.
