James Dean

James Dean had only three major movie roles, but they earned him two Oscar nominations and the honor of becoming America's ultimate bad boy. Dean was the disaffected youth, the tender rebel all the girls wanted to take care of. It's hard to tell which is more responsible for his legendary status — his character in Rebel Without a Cause or his untimely death in a 1955 head-on collision on a California highway — but the two combined have turned him into a an American icon. James Dean may be gone, but he will never be forgotten: every tousled teenager in a white t-shirt and jeans will see to that.

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