Credit for the facts found is given to jamesdean.com and Mark Kinnaman As well as research from Rebel.

• Birth Name: James Byron Dean
• Nickname: Jimmy Dean
• Birth Date: February 8, 1931
• Birth Place: Seven Gables Apartments in Marion, IN
• Death Date: September 30, 1955
• Death Place: Cholame, CA
• Burial Location: Park Cemetery in Fairmount, IN
• Height: 5'8"
• Weight: 155
• Hair Color: Blond
• Eye Color: Blue
• Skin: Very Fair
• Parents: Winton and Mildred Dean
• High School Education: Fairmount High School, IN
• College Education: Santa Monica Junior College and UCLA
• Occupation: Actor
• First Professional Acting Job: Pepsi Commercial

• There have been countless songs, documentaries, and books produced to honor him.

• His movies have been translated into more languages than are spoken at the U.N.

• He has a statue in Indiana AND one in California.

• Every February there is a birthday party in Indiana (hosted by David Loehr) AND one in California (hosted by Kenneth Kendall).

• He has the second largest selling postage stamp honoring an individual in history. (Marilyn Monroe sold only 80 million stamps, James Dean sold 340 million stamps, Elvis 500 million.)

• There are two museums in or near his hometown of Fairmount honoring him, the Fairmount Historical Museum in town and the James Dean Memorial Galleryand Museum at exit 59 off I-69 in Gas City.

• There are two festivals held in his honor every September on the weekend of his death., one in Indiana AND one in California held on the same weekend. (This may have become once every two years.) Add in the annual fan appreciation weekend at the end of July in Fairmount.

• Every year the Fairmount Museum and the Gallery are visited by people from all over the world, from as far as Japan, Australia, Croatia, and Bosnia.

• He is the epitome of what's cool, and has been since 1954.

• All of this for a young man who only starred in 30 television, 2 Broadway plays, and 3 major motion pictures.

• We are talking about an Indiana farm boy who was in New York City only 29 months and in Hollywood 16 months. He was only famous for 5 months of his life, from the release of "East of Eden" until his death.

• Can you imagine Rock 'n' Roll ever coming to the forefront of music if Jimmy wasn't there to set the stage?

• Can you name another individual who has acquired this much acclaim? Who they are erecting statues to some 40 years after his passing? Who has influenced modern popular culture as much as James Dean?

• Elizabeth Taylor gave James Dean a Siamese kitten in which he named Markie, after his young cousin.