The Strange Case Of... James Dean's Death Being Foretold By Ben Kenobi!
This isn't the car you want to be driving.
It's 23rd September 1955, and in Los Angeles a young British actor is meeting the studio heads. Widely regarded as the most versatile performer of the age, the execs are so keen to secure the thesp's signature that they're giving him the royal treatment; putting him up in the fanciest hotels, throwing gala dinners in his name, and introducing our man to the biggest names of the day.
This being 1955, there's no bigger name in Hollywood than James Byron Dean. The man who's image would become synonymous with both rock 'n' roll and a new social phenomenon called 'the teenager', Dean's debut performance in East Of Eden has gone down a storm with everyone from the bobbysoxers to the big studios. With his second picture, Rebel Without A Cause, attracting astonishing pre-release buzz, the Hoosier is riding as high as anyone ever has.
What our two actors discussed over dinner, we'll never know. (Given that they were both bisexual, there's been plenty of speculation that their dinner was in fact a date but this has never been established.) What is well documented is the conversation that occurred when the pair parted outside the restaurant.
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