Not many of us would obsess over stars of the 50s, but James Dean is a name most people would remember; having died in a car crash at 24, he remains a teenage icon as portrayed in his 1955 film – ‘Rebel without a cause.’
He became the first actor to receive a posthumous (awarded after death) Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations in Hollywood history.
Personally speaking, my grandmother would never fail to bring up James Dean as her first-ever love interest every now and then; and although she could be consulted as an encyclopedia on him she’d never be willing to speak of his sexual orientation, and this is an observation I made even with groups of James Dean fans of younger generations, excused by the blatant case of straightwashing present in the 2001 movie – ‘James Dean’ starring James Franco.
Despite this ignorance, Dean is considered an icon partly because of his open attitudes and ambivalent sexuality; resulting in The Gay Times Readers' Awards citing him as the greatest male gay icon of all time.
When asked about his sexuality, he reported "No, I am not a homosexual. But I'm also not going to go through life with one hand tied behind my back.”
At the start of his career, Dean befriended Rogers Brackett (an openly gay radio director) with whom he moved in with - whether they had a romantic connection or not is uncertain. Brackett, 15 years older than James stated that -
“I loved him and Jimmy loved me. If it was a father-son relationship, it was also somewhat incestuous.”
Dean's fellow motorcyclist and "Night Watch" member, John Gilmore, claimed that he and Dean "experimented” on multiple occasions in New York, describing their encounters as "Bad boys playing bad boys while opening up the bisexual sides of ourselves." Gilmore later stated that he believed Dean was more so gay than bisexual.
Dean’s Co-star from ‘Giant’ – Elizabeth Taylor, referred to Dean as gay during a speech at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2001. However, when questioned about it she went on to state - “He hadn't made up his mind. He was only 24 when he died. But he was certainly fascinated by women.”
Dean’s sexuality has been contemplated over time, once he was thought to be a straight man who slept with guys to advance his career, then he was a gay man who slept with women to advance his career. Although such rumors may not depict the person James was, he cannot be portrayed as merely a heterosexual man as has been done in many apparent productions of his life, considering his own statements that prove otherwise.
Comments