James Dean

James Byron Dean was born February 8, 1931, and by the mid-1950s had landed roles that would reshape how Hollywood depicted youth. East of Eden showcased an intense emotional range that earned him a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor - the first actor ever so honored. Rebel Without a Cause cast him as the disillusioned teenager, the archetype that stuck. Giant, a sprawling drama, brought a second posthumous nomination, a record that still stands. He died in a car accident September 30, 1955, at twenty-four, all three films preserved by the Library of Congress for their cultural significance. The American Film Institute later ranked him the eighteenth greatest male star of Hollywood's Golden Age, and in 2012 Time named him one of history's most influential fashion icons - a legacy built on restless defiance and five years of work.