Five Portrayals of James Dean on Film, Ranked

A comprehensive look at James Dean biopics, for his 90th birthday

James Dean would have turned 90 today, had he not been killed in a tragic car crash at the age of 24. His life was cut short just as his star was beginning to rise; only East of Eden, which was his first starring role, had been released when he died. Rebel Without a Cause hit theaters less than a month later; his final film, Giant, was still in production when he died and would not come out for another year.

It’s hard to say exactly why, in death, James Dean became the icon that he did. Something about his style of acting — a mix of Brando and Clift, plus something indefinable all his own — spoke to the aimlessness of his postwar generation, a generation with barely-repressed turmoil and anguish roiling beneath the surface. His Jim Stark in Rebel is a maelstrom of emotion… anger, fear, sadness, lust, joy, and pride all mixed up in one… lashing out at his parents because he wants to lash out at the whole rotten society. And by the time audiences saw this shockingly handsome, moody new star who represented them on screen like no one ever had been able to capture before, he was already dead.

In the 65-odd years since he died, only a handful of films have tried to portray Jimmy Dean’s life, to capture the James…