Jimmy Dean, James Dean
I never let a September 30th go by without recognizing James Dean. This is the anniversary of his death, near Cholame California. 5:45 pm. It was a Friday night, and his silver grey Porsche Spider, Lil' Bastard was a mangled wreck.
What's amazing is that as Ray Davies of the Kinks who said ...."celluloid heroes never die"...was absolutely right.
Actors today, still imitate the genius that was Dean. He was really still a kid. And in the fifties his maturity, for a 24 year old actor from New York by way of Fairmont Indiana was unfounded. How did he come by that stature? Sure Warner Brothers, the studio, helped by promoting his movies, East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant but somehow it was Jimmy that lived long after ..."the candle died." The internet now only prolongs his fame. But he was a star that never really needed any other media than his chosen forum of film.
The intersection of 99 and 46 remains past the Grapevine of the I-5 freeway out of LA. But the monument still stands. You can see the road, you can see the intersection, Jimmy Turnupseed, not seeing Dean in his Porsche. The funeral director on that fateful Friday night thinking he had the body of the sausage king Jimmy Dean. That's how relatively unknown he was at the time of his death. But to live on after death....It remains a greater drama than even Jimmys life itself. Drive on Jimmy, drive on.
What's amazing is that as Ray Davies of the Kinks who said ...."celluloid heroes never die"...was absolutely right.
Actors today, still imitate the genius that was Dean. He was really still a kid. And in the fifties his maturity, for a 24 year old actor from New York by way of Fairmont Indiana was unfounded. How did he come by that stature? Sure Warner Brothers, the studio, helped by promoting his movies, East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant but somehow it was Jimmy that lived long after ..."the candle died." The internet now only prolongs his fame. But he was a star that never really needed any other media than his chosen forum of film.
The intersection of 99 and 46 remains past the Grapevine of the I-5 freeway out of LA. But the monument still stands. You can see the road, you can see the intersection, Jimmy Turnupseed, not seeing Dean in his Porsche. The funeral director on that fateful Friday night thinking he had the body of the sausage king Jimmy Dean. That's how relatively unknown he was at the time of his death. But to live on after death....It remains a greater drama than even Jimmys life itself. Drive on Jimmy, drive on.
Comments