By Frank Worth

Profile of seated James Dean in cowboy gear behind a fence on set of 'Giant' 1955.

James Byron Dean (1931-1955) was an American film actor.

Dean's status as a cultural icon is best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause, in which he starred as troubled high school rebel, Jim Stark.

The other two roles that defined his star power was awkward loner Cal Trask in East of Eden and the surly, racist farmer Jett Rink in Giant.

His enduring fame and popularity rests on these three films, his entire starring output.

He was the first person to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains the only person to have two such nominations posthumously.

James Dean died in a head-on car crash in 1955 while he was driving his Porsche. He was 24.