James Dean
Tomorrow Never Comes
1st Edition
Published on 1. May 2016
744 pages
978-1-936003-50-1 (ISBN)
Description
America's most enduring and legendary symbol of young rebellion, James Dean continues into the 21st Century to capture the imagination of the world. In recognition of his enduring appeal as Hollywood's most visible symbol of unrequited male rage, bars from California to Nigeria and Patagonia are named in his honor.
Dean, a strikingly handsome heart-throb, is a study in contrasts: Tough but tender; brutal at times but remarkably sensitive; a reckless hellraiser badass who could revert to a little boy in bed. From his climb from the dusty backroads of Indiana to the most formidable boudoirs of Hollywood, his saga is electrifying.
He claimed that sexually, he didn't want to go through life with one hand tied behind his back. He corroborated his identity as a rampant bisexual through sexual interludes with Marilyn Monroe, Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Natalie Wood, Shelley Winters, Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, Ursula Andress, Montgomery Clift, Pier Angeli, Tennessee Williams, Susan Strasberg, and (are you sitting down?) both Tallulah Bankhead and (as a male prostitute) FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton wanted to make him her toy boy.
Tomorrow Never Comes, the newest in Blood Moon's critically acclaimed Babylon Series, is the most penetrating look at James Dean to have emerged from the wreckage of his Porsche Spyder in 1955. He flirted with Death until it caught him. Ironically, he said, "If a man can live after he dies, then maybe he's a great man."
Before setting out on his last ride, he also said, "I feel life too intensely to bear living it."
Tomorrow Never Comes is published in recognition of the 60th anniversary of his early death. It presents a damaged but beautiful soul, and the embarrassing and sometimes lurid compromises James Dean made on his road to "success" before his demons grabbed him.
Dean, a strikingly handsome heart-throb, is a study in contrasts: Tough but tender; brutal at times but remarkably sensitive; a reckless hellraiser badass who could revert to a little boy in bed. From his climb from the dusty backroads of Indiana to the most formidable boudoirs of Hollywood, his saga is electrifying.
He claimed that sexually, he didn't want to go through life with one hand tied behind his back. He corroborated his identity as a rampant bisexual through sexual interludes with Marilyn Monroe, Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Natalie Wood, Shelley Winters, Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, Ursula Andress, Montgomery Clift, Pier Angeli, Tennessee Williams, Susan Strasberg, and (are you sitting down?) both Tallulah Bankhead and (as a male prostitute) FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton wanted to make him her toy boy.
Tomorrow Never Comes, the newest in Blood Moon's critically acclaimed Babylon Series, is the most penetrating look at James Dean to have emerged from the wreckage of his Porsche Spyder in 1955. He flirted with Death until it caught him. Ironically, he said, "If a man can live after he dies, then maybe he's a great man."
Before setting out on his last ride, he also said, "I feel life too intensely to bear living it."
Tomorrow Never Comes is published in recognition of the 60th anniversary of his early death. It presents a damaged but beautiful soul, and the embarrassing and sometimes lurid compromises James Dean made on his road to "success" before his demons grabbed him.
More details
Persons
Closely associated with several of James Dean's mentors during his rise to mega-stardom, Darwin Porter is one of the world's most respected and most prolific show-biz biographers.
Content
Contents
Chapter One page 1A Hoosier Farmboy Wanders Along Hollywood's Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Rogers Brackett, Joan Davis, Beverly Wills, the pretty boys of Henry Willson's Dream Factory, John Carlyle, George Cukor, Spencer Tracy, William Bast.
Chapter Two page 31Shacking Up with the A-list Legends of Hollywood.Clifton Webb, Joan Crawford, Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Cecil Beaton, Roddy McDowall, Cole Porter,¿Alfredo de la Vega, Chapter Three page 65 A TV Producer at CBS "Adopts" a Kid from the street Jack Benny, Barbara Payton, Hedy Lamarr, Walter Pidgeon, John Bromfield, Vince Edwards, The Bad and the Beautiful, a violent altercation with Humphrey Bogart, and a developing passion for bullfighting.
Chapter Four: page 113 James Dean and Nick Adams Become Hollywood Hustlers Before Setting Out to Conquer New York."The Little Prince" tackles Tallulah Bankhead, Peggy Lee, Dizzy Sheridan, Merv Griffin, Martin Milner, Barbara Baxley, Robert Stevens, some casting directors in New York, and, in Indiana, the priest who molested him.
Chapter Five page 173 See the Jaguar. The Play's a Dud, but Jimmy's Debut on Broadway Generates Rave Reviews.Grace Kelly, Sarah Churchill, Stanley Haggart, Lem & Shirley Ayers, Alec Wilder, Christine White, Kim Stanley &¿Brooks Clift, opera giant Frank Corsaro, a three-way with Jack Cassidy and Tom Tryon, and a "to-the-death" feud with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.
Chapter Six page 229 Jimmy's Affair with Steve McQueen Two ambitious but unknown actors, each a male prostitute, meet in a motorcycle repair shop in NYC. Their competition onscreen and after dark.
Chapter Seven page 243 Jimmy's Jailbait. His Affair and Correspondence with Barbara GlennHe takes her virginity, slaps her around, borrows money he doesn't return, sends her psychotic love letters, and talks about marriage.
Chapter Eight page 253 Jimmy Emerges as a Star in the Early Days of TelevisionTeleplays for NBC, CBS, Campbell's Soup, Kraft, Philco, General Electric, Westinghouse, U.S. Steel, and Schlitz. Down and dirty on the casting couch with playwright Bill Inge. Egomania and homophobia from Robert Montgomery, and Dark Dark Hours with Ronald Reagan.
Chapter Nine page 311 James Dean Vs. Marlon BrandoRivals on screen, Master &¿Slave after midnight
Chapter Ten page 327 Jimmy After Dark and on the Streets of ManhattanFriendships and/or Feuds with Eartha Kitt, Truman Capote, Shelley Winters, Eli Wallach, Patricia Neal, Gary Cooper, and Dance Queen Katherine Dunham. Suicidal Dreams: To the horror of everyone at the Actors Studio, Jimmy slits his wrists onstage. Battle Cry and Dean's ongoing feud with Tab Hunter. Getting Musical with composer David Diamond. How literary groupie and Playboy centerfold Alice Denham added James Dean to her list of sexual conquests.
Chapter Eleven page 381 Jimmy's Convoluted Relationship with Tennessee WilliamsAuditioning replacements for "The Horse," he interviews James Dean as his possible new lover, then invites him to be the father of a child he'd adopt. Tennessee's Lost Manuscript: Was it based on James Dean?
Chapter Twelve page 399 James Dean's Affair with Montgomery CliftRebel actors neurotically feuding on their respective roads to self-destruction. How the millionaire murderer, Libby Holman, contributed to their feud.
Chapter Thirteen page 411James Dean Vs. Paul NewmanActors of a similar "type" compete, collaborate, maneuver, and scheme for the same roles and the same lovers. How Newman stepped into Jimmys shoes, post-mortem.
Chapter Fourteen page 437 The Immoralist. James Dean Opens on Broadway as an Arab "He-Slut" with a Hundred Bitchy Tricks, Including Blackmail.Geraldine Page interprets James Dean and André Gide. Hatred backstage, as Louis Jourdan and Jimmy exchange venom. Both its playwright and its enraged director agree: "Working with this monster boy was my worst experience ever with an actor."¿
Chapter Fifteen page 449East of Eden. Playing the Son of a Whore, a Star is BornJimmy irritates Elia Kazan and infuriates Raymond Massey. His Oscar nomination places him in direct confrontation with Hollywood's Old Guard.
Chapter Sixteen page 473 Jimmy's Affair with Marilyn MonroeBaby Doll, Bus Stop, the Actors Studio, and how a farm boy from Indiana seduced the Sex Queen of Hollywood. From the twisted wreckage of their ashes, icons emerge to enchant the world.
Chapter Seventeen¿page 499 Tales from the FBI: J.Edgar Hoover, Hot on Jimmy's "Tail"How Jimmy got caught shoplifting and "red-handed," and how he managed to avoid getting blacklisted and the Red Channels list.
Chapter Eighteen page 511 James Dean and His Affair with the Woolworth Heiress, Barbara HuttonHow he rejected her offer to make him her all-expense-paid "Toy Boy," and how he séguéd their association into a friendship and love affair with her son, Lance Reventlow.
Chapter Nineteen page 527 The Beauty and the Billionaire: James Dean "Aviates" with Howard Hughes and Terry MooreAmerica's richest eccentric demonstrates what unlimited money can do in Hollywood. In and out of bed with "The American Emperor."
Chapter Twenty page 547 James Dean & Pier AngeliA tangled web of Hollywood affairs. Everybody sleeping with everybody else's lovers. Vic Damone, Marisa Pavan, Marlon Brando, Natalie Wood, and John Derek. Changing partners with Ursula Andress.
Chapter Twenty-One page 577 James Dean Vs. Vampira, Eartha Kitt & Theater Mogul Arthur Loew, Jr.How Vampira, the weirdest TV personality of her era, lured and later cursed Jimmy with Black Magic. How Sammy Davis, Jr. pulled Jimmy toward Satanism, the occult, and a fascination with coffins. Jimmy's affair with Toni Lee Scott and America's (male) sweetheart," Van Johnson. Inconclusive interludes with Tony Perkins, Lilli Kardell, and various "Unsavory Aliens of the Night."
Chapter Twenty-Two page 625Rebel Without a CauseHow a low-budget experimental film ignited the angst of teenagers everywhere. The murky sexual dynamics of Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood, and Nicholas Ray. How Jayne Mansfield, Jack Simmons, Dennis Hopper, Johnny Weissmuller, J. Paul Getty, Grace Kelly, and Alan Ladd contributed to the offscreen dramas. And how Nick Adams' self-anointed role as a Hollywood gopher for newbie Elvis Presley eventually led to his murder.
Chapter Twenty-Three page 673 GiantHow a short, nearsighted farmboy from Indiana became the biggest tycoon in Texas; and how a lesbian author, a gay leading man, a sultry, bed-hopping beauty, and a bisexual rebel brought a sprawling saga to the screen.
Epilogue: Death in the Afternoon page 729Drive Fast, Die Young
Acknowledgments page 737
Recording the Voices (Authors' Bios) page 741
