Rebel: The Life and Legend of James Dean - Softcover

Spoto, Donald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0815410719 ISBN 13: 9780815410713

Publisher: Cooper Square Press, 2000

Synopsis

Based on meticulous research and new interviews with dozens of family members, friends, lovers, directors, and costars, Rebel offers a revelatory look at actor and film icon James Dean (1931-1955). From the dusty roads of rural Indiana to Manhattan's gay culture , from Broadway to Burbank, here is Dean's troubled life: the tragic death of his mother when he was nine; his tumultous relationship with his father; his rise to stardom in New York and Hollywood and his on-and off-screen exploits.

About this title

Review:

The most detailed biography of Dean to date. Kirkus Reviews Straightforward and unsentimental, Rebel is perceptive and original. It has the ring of truth. The Washington Post Scrupulously fair...Rebel restores a balance to the negative portrayals of Dean that have appreared over the years. The New York Times A well-written, superbly researched biography that brings to the fog that has enveloped the Dean mystique. The Boston Globe

From the Back Cover:

‘There's only one true form of greatness for a man. If he can bridge the gap between life and death... if he can live on after he's died... then maybe he was a great man. Whatever the truth, you've got to live fast’
JAMES DEAN

America's most enduring symbol of rebellious youth, James Dean has held the fascination of the public since his tragic death at the age of twenty four almost forty years ago. In the first complete, fully documented biography of this enigmatic hero, Donald Spoto offers a startlingly revelatory look at the short, greatly misunderstood life of an icon who remains frozen in time.

With the co-operation of dozens of family members, friends, lovers, directors and co-stars, Spoto vividly describes Dean's electrifying rise to stardom from his humble roots and mid-western childhood; he delves deeply into the tragic death of Dean's mother when he was nine and his tumultuous relationship with his father, the devastating effects of which would be played out for the rest of his life.

Donald Spoto, author of international best-selling biographies of Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams, Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, Describes James Dean's on-and -off screen exploits while filming the classics ' East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause 'and' Giant'. His authoritative new biography offers an illuminating perspective on the boy/man who remains the eternal teenage rebel.

‘Compellingly takes us through the facts of Dean's brief life’
SUNDAY TIMES

‘Scrupulously fair and unsensationalized’
NEW YORK TIMES

About this edition

• Publisher: Cooper Square Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0815410719
• ISBN 13: 9780815410713
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 354