Dean's rebel streak stirs youthful emotions 50 years after death

Before James Dean exploded on to the screen in a fireball of angst, confusion and existential despair, teenagers were simply something that bridged the gap between children and adults.

With his brief career, Dean changed all that. In East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, Dean set the template for the image of teenagers today: moody, mistrustful of adults, rebellious, sensitive, idealistic and not always wrong. Dean, who had a reputation for dangerous driving, died 50 years ago in a car accident, but his influence on teen culture is still felt today.

Many better actors have been forgotten, but the lean and moody Dean is remembered because he transcended his craft to become an icon. 'James Dean gave a name and a style to a generation,' wrote British film critic Alexander Walker. 'He was the original mixed-up kid. When he said, in Rebel Without a Cause, 'How can a guy grow up in a circus like this?', he struck a familiar chord with teenagers everywhere who felt that parents could no longer hand down the verdict about life around the family dinner table. He spoke romantically for the 'hurt' children of the post-war upheaval.'

Like Marlon Brando - whom he idolised - Dean was an exponent of method acting, a style that demands actors draw on their own experiences rather than play 'let's pretend'.

Dean's short life had given him many experiences to draw on. He was born in near poverty in rural Indiana, and didn't get on with his father. His mother, Mildred, taught him poetry, tap dancing, piano and violin, and he was devastated by her early death from breast cancer. A poignant experience for the young Dean was travelling back to the family home on the same train as his mother's coffin.

Dean was drawn to acting by watching Brando's film debut in The Men in 1950. He moved to New York, where he was accepted at the prestigious Actor's Studio, the home of the method technique. Director Elia Kazan cast him - over Paul Newman - as one of the feuding brothers in East of Eden in 1955, and his powerful performance made him an overnight star. Dean consolidated his teen stance with Rebel Without a Cause, and followed up as the antagonistic Jet Rink in the sprawling oil field saga Giant.