James Dean

:This article is about the actor James Dean. You might also be looking for Jimmy Dean.

Childhood and education

Born on a Marion, Indiana, family farm to Winton and Mildred Wilson Dean, he and his family moved to Santa Monica, California six years after Winton had left farming to become a dental technician. Dean was enrolled in Brentwood Public School until his mother died of cancer in 1940.

Related Topics:
Marion, Indiana - Family - Farm - Santa Monica, California - Dental technician - Brentwood - Cancer - 1940

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At age nine Dean was sent by his father to live with relatives on a farm near Fairmount, Indiana where his upbringing received a Quaker influence. In high school Dean played on the school basketball team and participated in forensics and drama. After graduating from Fairmont High School in 1949 Dean moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother.

Related Topics:
Fairmount, Indiana - Quaker - High school - Basketball - Forensics - Drama - 1949 - California

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He enrolled in Santa Monica College, pledged Sigma Nu fraternity and majored in pre-law. Dean transferred to the University of California Los Angeles and changed his major to drama, resulting in a parental fight that left him turned out of his father's house.

Related Topics:
Santa Monica College - Sigma Nu - Fraternity - Pre-law - University of California Los Angeles - Drama

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