Donald Spoto - Rebel: The Life and Legend of James Dean

Rebel

The Life and Legend of
James Dean

Donald Spoto

Copyright 2014 Donald Spoto.

for Fred McCashland

like James Dean, a son of Indiana:

with love and gratitude

for four decades of friendship

And as I gazed with dazzled eyes,

A gleaming smile lit up his lips

As his bright soul from its eclipse

Went flashing into Paradise.

Then tardy Fame came through the door

And found a picturenothing more.

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY, "FAME" (1877)

acknowledgments

D uring the course of my research and writing, I have been the grateful recipient of many kinds of assistance.

For important interviews, the following people generously and courteously offered reminiscences that contributed to a fuller representation of James Dean's life:

Corey Allen, Eric Bentley, Dick Clayton, Mart Crowley, Jonathan Gilmore, Julie Harris, Elia Kazan, Kenneth Kendall, Jud Kinberg, Jack Larson, Ernest Lehman, Arthur Loew, Jr., Beverly Long, Vivian Matalon, Andrew McCullough, Faye Nuell Mayo, William Orr, Leonard Rosenman, James Sheldon, Elizabeth Sheridan, Steffi Sidney, Ray Stark, Stewart Stern, Christine White and James Whitmore.

Marcus Winslow, Jr.James Dean's cousinwelcomed me to his home and graciously shared memories.

In libraries and archives across the country, crucial material turned up with the astute assistance of:

Ned Comstock, in the Cinema and Television Library at the University of Southern California;

Lavedah Craw and Gene Peterson, at the Fairmount (Indiana) Historical Museum;

June Felton and Barbara A. Love, at the Marion (Indiana) Public Library;

Sam Gill, Stacey Behlmer and the entire staff at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills;

Lenny Prussack, Heidi Goodpaster and Luke Williams at the James Dean Gallery in Fairmount;

Margaret Hedrick, librarian at the New School for Social Research, New York;

and the staffs at the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, Lincoln Center Public Library, New York; at the Museum of Television & Radio, New York; and at University Research Library at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Invaluable help was provided by Robert R. Rees, an archivist, writer and James Dean enthusiast, who provided me with copies of a number of Dean's television appearances that would otherwise have been unavailable for viewing.

For various other kind and concrete gestures of help, I am indebted to Matt Battaglia, Gail McCashland, Patrick Miller, Nelson Price and Joshua Samuel Smith.

My publishers and editors, as usual, have never failed to provide their professional wisdom and friendly counsel, as well as their unfailing encouragement. At HarperCollins Publishers, New York, I rejoice in the friendship of Gladys Justin Carr, Vice President and Associate Publisher, who has guided me with her unfailingly acute and perceptive judgments, her great kindness and the leaven of her good humor throughout the production of Rebel, our fourth book together. In her offices, Cynthia Barrett, Deirdre O'Brien and Elissa Altman offer a warm welcome and constant cheerful assistance that make the writer's life so much easier.

Also at HarperCollins, Jack McKeown, Vice President and Publisher of the Trade Group, was a most enthusiastic supporter of this book from the start. To him and to his colleaguesamong them, Diane Reverand, Steven Sorrentino, Jessica Jonap, Joseph Montebello, Kim Lewis and Sue Llewellynmy heartfelt appreciation.

I am fortunate, too, in the friendship of my many foreign publishers, and if I mention only Richard Johnson, at Harper-Collins, London; and Renaud Bombard and Sophie Thiebault, at Presses de la Cit, Paris, that is because I have come to know them personally and to be as enriched by the warmth of their friendship as by their professional support and wise advice.

It is impossible to imagine where I would be without my literary representatives. In the acknowledgments of each book, I have the task of trying to articulate with some sort of fresh diction my loving gratitude for my agent, Elaine Markson, a devoted confidante for almost twenty years. Everyone who knows Elaine will nod knowingly at these words: she is the soul of prudence, erudition, attentive affection and unfailing loyalty. She is also, I can testify, a marvelous traveling companion and the most splendid cookwhat more can any client seek? I am among the many blessed people who love her dearly and cannot imagine life without her.

Part of Elaine's brilliant judgment is reflected in her choice of colleagues: in the offices of Elaine Markson Literary Agency, New York, I am grateful for the vigilance, friendship and daily help of Geri Thoma, Sally Wofford Girand, Pari Berk and Sara DeNobrega. I cannot imagine that any writer has ever benefited from so scrupulous and faithful a team of representatives.

Just so, in London, my interests are looked after by Abner Stein, Octavia Wiseman and their colleagues. No visit to London is complete without their delightful company, not to say their superb and attentive work on my behalf.

In Paris, my agent Mary Kling, at La Nouvelle Agence, has for years enabled me to work with the finest French publishers; her friendship and superb judgment have never failed me, and I am glad for her collaboration and that of her staff.

I cannot think how bleak and impoverished my days would be without the constant devotion of my friends, many of whom are named above; the others know, too, how precious they are to me.

Among them is my superb research and personal assistant, Greg Dietrich. He read and outlined books, tracked down obscure texts, historical documents and archival sources, made careful studies of major themes in American culture and literature and generally made himself an indispensable colleague. Working together daily could be a strain on any friendship, but this is a glorious exception. Greg is not only a gifted and perceptive researcher whose keen intelligence, quick humor, pointed observations and timely questions enrich my work at every stage; he is also the best companion a writer could have. Whatever the weather, his daily arrival at our offices brings sunshine.

On the dedication page of this book is the name of a faithful friend for almost thirty-seven years. I first met Fred McCashland when we were college students, and he has never failed to be my staunch and dear ally. We have laughed together, and we have shared gray as well as glad times. Fred is also a brilliant educator, much admired and rightly honored with impressive awards in his native Indiana. And sodignum et justum estI offer this book to Fred McCashland with gratitude and devotion. James Dean, too, would have valued his friendship.

D.S.

1 November 1995

The Feast of All the Saints

chapter one

Saint: a dead sinner, revised and edited.

AMBROSE BIERCE

F rom thirty-four states and eleven foreign countries, they came to the small Indiana town of Fairmountfrom as near as Indianapolis and as far as Australia. It was September 30, 1995.

"This trip has been fifteen years in the making," said thirty-three-year-old Brian McKay, who traveled from Perth, "and now I know it's worth it." Outside the church, he mingled with Frank Minerva, twenty-six, who had seen Rebel Without a Cause at the age of twelve. "I've been addicted to Jimmy ever since then," he said. "I went into debt coming from Brooklyn, New York, for this day. Jimmy was unique. Cool." Nearby were the Etheridge sisters, Michele and Diane, who had driven fourteen hours to be present. They were chatting with Erika Pearson, who had flown in from San Francisco, where she had taken time off from her job at the Wells Fargo Bank.