James Dean Had Brando Put Cigarettes Out on Him, Had Threeway with Judy Garland, Joan Crawford Had Bad Breath

Fuck.

They didn't call him "the human ashtray" for nothing.

I thought it was Montgomery Clift was the human ashtray

This book is by the DL favorite whipping boy Darwin Porter, so it should be entertaining, even if it doesn't contain a word of truth

R3, Kenneth Anger called Dean the human ashtray in "Hollywood Babylon," but a lot of what Anger claimed is questionable. Although he's probably marginally more reliable than Darwin Porter.

Vintage gossip: “ Dean, James. Open bisexual; habitue of rough trade and leather bars. Linked with Nick Adams, Ursula Andress, Pier Angeli, Montgomery Clift, Rock Hudson, Eartha Kitt, Roddy McDowell, Sal Mineo, Liz Sheridan (Seinfeld's mom on Seinfeld) and Natalie Wood. Difficult to work with. Called 'the Human Ashtray' because he would ask men in leather bars to put out their cigarettes on his bare chest. Reportedly enjoyed amputees.“

R6 what about Paul Newman? He was mentioned in the book

I read a book by an actor friend of Dean's.

It was surprisingly candid about how the author, as a young actor, let older men in power fuck him to advance his career.

He said he played around with Dean only once, but Dean's dick was too big for him to comfortably get in his mouth.

We’ve seen Dean’s cock. It wasn’t big.

Why is all this stuff coming out now? Why is he worshipped like that?

And who do you think is the 21st century James Dean? (a hot young thing now, you know, fucking his way to the top)

In my early university years, I was obsessed with James Dean. This was before Al Gore had invented the interwebs, so I remember buying glossy 8X10 photos of him through the mail. I read every book I could get my hands on. In hindsight I realize I just wanted to fuck him. But, I probably know a lot more about him than your average Joe.

That said, this book must be complete schlock because James Dean was gay. Elizabeth Taylor outs him at about 3:20 in this award acceptance speech. It wasn't a mistake. He may have dated a few women and even had sex with them, but he was a gay man.

[quote] I read a book by an actor friend of Dean'

His former roommate.

[quote] Why is all this stuff coming out now? Why is he worshipped like that?

All this shit is old and came out 100 yrs ago. The sources are questionable.

If a Hollywood bio is written by Darwin Porter or Danforth Prince (who I'm sure is the same person), then it is a work of fiction.

I loved that book by Dean's former roommate, it had a real sense of truth about it, I think mainly because he did not try to self aggrandize his role in Dean's life

Yes, all of the sources are always dead, and he somehow knows what the conversations was word for word, by two people who were the only people present during the alleged conversation. How the fuck would he know what Marlon Brando said to James Dean in a dressing room in 1955, and yet he's transcribing the conversation as if he was there! It's gay fan fiction. It's fun to read and Brando's Biography (Brando, Unzipped) is a real hoot, but I rolled my eyes through the whole thing.

James Dean was funny looking. Who cares?

If you’re going to post about a Darwin Porter book, please note the author in the original post so we can file it under fiction.

Man. Brando fucked everyone.

[quote]Man. Brando fucked everyone.

Tell me about it.

Not acting. Behaving.

The ashtray thing was disproven years ago.

How does one disprove the ashtray thing?

The quotations are laughably written.

R22 because in GIANT, the film be shot right before dying, you see his stomach, and he was shirtless in photos before his death. No scars. Cig burns leave scars.

I don't blame him for going for handsome Sal Mineo.

James Dean had a threeway with Judy Garland and Joan Crawford?

Did they exhume him and examine his chest for burns?

OP, no one wants to watch a video

James Dean in his screen tests was eye fucking and flirting with Paul Newman and Richard Davalos who reciprocated the affection. It seemed to go beyond just hetero horsing around. Brando though apparently hated Dean as Dean was obsessed with him and would stalk him. They did know each other from the New York stage scene. Dean also stalked Montgomery Clift who actively avoided him and they never met.

Had he lived, he would very likely have died of AIDS like Rock Hudson.

The Dean rumor is a lie

A lot of the Dean stuff is a bunch of made up sensationalism.

Reading about Dean's personal life. He clearly had bipolar and/or borderline personality disorder or maybe even autism. His difficult nature seemed to do with his lack of emotional regulation and mood swings. He would stalk people he idolized and take on their identity like with Brando and Clift. Liz Taylor and Natalie Wood were fond of him and described him as this lost little boy who just wanted validation. Given his mother died young and his father was neglectful and abandoned him to be raised by his aunt and uncle. And he apparently was molested by the local preacher in town. It makes sense he was so volatile. He had a death wish and probably would have died if he kept his drug-addled daredevil lifestyle.

Dean was a mess and bipolar. He probably would have died of cancer. He would smoke PACKS a day sometimes. His face was already aging by the time he died at just 24.

The stuff about cigarettes is lies. People who worked with him even said that would leave scars and he had no scars on him. He was shirtless constantly on the Giant set. And Brando wouldn’t do it if asked. He kept as far away from Dean as possible. He met him once and DIDNT like him right away.

Probably fucked Paul Newman.

Hypothetically, if he had not died in that car crash, it's hard to tell where his career would have gone. Given how successful East of Eden was and Rebel Without Cause (which probably would have been more successful if JD lived). It's possible he could have had more big roles. But I feel he would have had burnt all of his bridges if he didn't stop his extremely difficult behavior. Plus his looks were fading due to the cigarettes, alcohol and insomnia. Either he would have continued down the downward spiral due to his mental illness and drug abuse and ended up like Marilyn Monroe or he would have quit acting and pursued other things.

You think Rebel would have been MORE successful if he lived? It opened shortly after he died and that’s what made people flock to see it.

I believe it was a big hit because he died.

R11

Elizabeth Taylor also said this when questioned about his sexuality in 1997:

KEVIN SESSUMS: James Dean?

ELIZABETH TAYLOR: I loved Jimmy, too. We used to sit up and talk and talk.

KEVIN SESSUMS: There's been this postmortem debate about whether he was gay or not. What do you think?

ELIZABETH TAYLOR: He hadn't made up his mind. He was only 24 when he died. But he was certainly fascinated by women. He flirted around. He and I … twinkled.

KEVIN SESSUMS: Better be careful—sounds like water sports.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR: Oh God! We had a … well … a … little twinkle for each other.

I personally think Dean was bisexual because he had romantic/sexual relationships with women too like Pier Angeli, Barbara Glenn, Lili Kardell, Arlene Martel, Geraldine Page, etc. Nicholas Ray said this about his sexuality:

“James Dean was not straight, he was not gay, he was bisexual. That seems to confuse people, or they just ignore the facts. Some—most—will say he was heterosexual, and there's some proof for that, apart from the usual dating of actresses his age. Others will say no, he was gay, and there's some proof for that too, keeping in mind that it's always tougher to get that kind of proof. But Jimmy himself said more than once that he swung both ways, so why all the mystery or confusion?"

[quote]How does one disprove the ashtray thing?

You don't have to disprove anything. Everything is automatically disproven unless proven.

I don't have to disprove that I can fly. I have to prove that I can.

Most bisexuals are not split evenly in preference. I think he would have settled down with the sex he preferred as he aged. It could have been like Brando who preferred women or Sal Mineo who preferred men. I still think JD preferred men which and would have associated with gay subcultures. For all the women who claimed to have fucked him, there were more men who have claimed as well.

R3, lots of human ashtrays in those days. I mean, everyone smoked!