James Dean was born on this day in 1931
James Dean is one of the icons of film in the 20th century, but he only made three films in his short career where he had a leading role.
Born in Indiana, his family moved to California as a child. When his mother died when he was just seven years old his mother died and he was sent back to Indiana to be raised by his aunt and uncle. He return to California to go to university and study law but soon switched to acting. He dropped out of UCLA in 1951 to pursue an acting career first time.
For the next few years he appeared in television commercials and small parts in film and television, often uncredited. In 1953 he was cast in Elia Kazan’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Soon after this he was cast in the teen drama Rebel Without a Cause opposite Natalie Wood. The following year he filmed Giant with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson.
On 30th September 1955 Dean was killed when the car he was driving collided with another vehicle that had strayed over the centre line of the road. The cars hit almost head on, throwing Dean’s car into several cartwheels before landing in a gully. The actor was killed instantly.
After his death he was posthumously nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his work on Giant, but the award went to Yul Bryner for his performance in The King and I.
Since his death there has been speculation about the actor’s sexuality, and many stories have emerged suggesting he was bisexual. His college roommate spoke about them having a sexual relationship, and co-star Elizabeth Taylor also described him many years later as being gay, as did Rebel Without a Cause director Nicholas Ray.
Former Australian High Court judge Michael Kirby devotes a chapter of his book A Private Life: fragments, memories, friends to his teenage recollections of seeing East of Eden and feeling a connection to the star, and later in life making a pilgrimage to Dean’s home town in Indiana.
In 2019 kids show Andi Mack featured a gay character
Kids TV show Andi Mack broke new ground when it featured a gay character. Cyrus Goodman, played by Joshua Rush, was one of the show’s main characters.
Over the course of the show Cyrus slowly shared with each of his close friends how he was feeling about his sexuality.
Having a gay character was a first for a Disney show aimed at young adults, and Goodman is the first character to say the words “I’m gay”. It happened on this day in the 2019 episode One in a Minyan when following the death of his grandmother Cyrus opens up to friend Jonah about his sexuality and shares that he has a crush on him.
The show was praised for its sensitive handling of the topic, but also faced calls for the series to be cancelled from conservative groups.
The moment where Cyrus opens declares he’s gay was built up to over the three seasons of the show’s run. At first Cyrus has a crush on Jonah but does not have the words to express what he is feeling, later during the shows second season he shared with Andi that he has a crush. Later he also confides with friend Buffy.
It’s not until the episode surrounding his grandmother’s death that he uses the word gay to describe himself, later in the season becomes more relaxed about his sexuality and grows closer to another character, TJ.
The series won a GLAAD Media Award, and Television Academy Award for its sensitive take on the topic.
