A4
John Sofonoff

Funeral Held

Here Tuesday

Prayers were said Wed-
nesday evening from the
chapel of Castlegar Funeral
Home and service was held
Thursday morning for John
N. Sofonoff, 79, of Castlegar,
who died Monday at Trail
Regional Hospital.

Born Dec. 1, 1900 in
Yakutsk, Russia, Mr. Sofo-
noff came to Canada in the
early 1900s, and for the past
15 years, he had lived at
Ootischenia. He was a car-
penter by trade, and a
member of the Brotherhood
of Carpenters Local 2300.

Surviving is one son,
John of Castlegar; four
daughters, Mrs. Mike (Mary)
Postnikoff of Castlegar, Mrs.
Mike (Tina) Samaroden of
Calgary, Alta., Mrs. Koozma
{Ann) Pereverzoff and Mrs.
Nick (Marie) Hadikin, both of
Pass Creek; 20 grandchildren
and 10 great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by
his wife, Tina in 1964 and one
son, Alec in 1946.

Interment was in the
Brilliant Cemetery, with
Castlegar Funeral Home in
care of arrangements.

Consumer
- Comment

—————————_—

Do you understand each .
of the following terms con-
tained in legislation affecting
consumers?

1) BAIT AND SWITCH:
This situation occurs when a
merchant advertises a pro-
duct at a bargain price, then
claims not to have the
product available, He tries to
switch the customer to a
higher priced item.

2) DOUBLE TICKET-
ING: ‘When two or more
prices are clearly marked on
an item, by the retailer or on
his behalf, and neither has
been obliterated, it is illegal
to sell the item at the higher
price.

8) REFUNDS: If a pro-
duct is defective, the store
can choose to replace it,
repair it, or give a cash
refund or credit note. Uniess
the product is defective, or
was fraudulently repre-
sented, a store has no obliga*
tion to accept its return.
Always ask about the refund
policy before you buy.

z 4) ADVERTISED

- PRICES: If a price shown in
anad appears as the result of
anerror, the advertiser is not
required to sell the item at
the incorrect price. A store
which consistently misre-
presented its prices, how-
ever, would land in serious
trouble.

5) PYRAMID SALES: A
federal law makes pyramid
sales (schemes in which one
buys a distributorship and
then sells further distributor-
ships to others) illegal unless
licensed by the provincial
government. Before you get
involved in such a scheme,
check first with the provin-
cial ministry of consumer and
corporate affairs to see if the
company is licensed to oper-
ate in B.C. As well, check the
company’s reputation with
the Better Business Bureau.

6) LABELLING: A pack-
age label may not have
illustration that implies the
package contains something
it does not actually contain. If
the picture on a label shows
five pieces of fish, for exam-
ple, there must be at least
five pieces of fish in the
package.

RCMP Charge
Driver After
Hwy. Accident

A single vehicle accident
occurred on Highway 5,
approximately 2 miles east of
the Nancy Greene junction
early Monday morning, invol-
ving a pick-up truck owned
and operated by Jerry Mc-
Cauley of Douglas Lake, B.C.
The driver and this three
passengers, all from out of
town, were taken to Cast-
legar Hospital with minor
injuries and later released.
The 1979 pick-up received
approximately $3500.00 in
damages. McCauley has been
charged with driving without

CASTLEGAR NEWS, July 6, 1980

SPECIALS FOR. YOUR FAMILY, _ ia
YOUR HOME, AND YOURSELF - JUST SAY “CHARGE IT”.

SALES PRICES EFFECTIVE FOR ONE DAY ONLY OR WHILE QUANTITIES LAST .

Ladies sportswear" -

LADIES BRIEFS

100% nylon with cotton
gusset. White or nude.
Sizes: S-M-L.

LADIES BIKINIS
100% cotton with elastic
logs, White or nude.

Girls wear -

B GIRL'S SHORTS

100% polyester pull-on
styling, Assorted colours.
Sites: 7 to 14, each 1.44

—__-—_Infants-wear———_

SOAKERS

100% cotton terry knit.
White, aqua or maize.
Sizes: 1 104,

2 tor 1.44
PLASTIC PANTS
5 pair per package.

Sizes: S-M:LXL, eacn exc. 1.44
TODDLERS BRIEFS OR VESTS -
50% polyester/50% cotton, Blue, white

Seer ntosk. 2 for 1 44
4 tor] 44

INFANTS BIBS

Screen print front.

TODDLERS ATHLETIC SHORT!

400% nylon. “Assorted colors to choose
ro

2103x. cach 1.44
CHILDREN'S SHORTS
{0% colton deolen: Half

xar waist. Sizes:

410 6X. cach 1,44

CHILDREN’ T-SHIRTS

Cotton or cotton and polyester, Short
sleeved, Assorted colors,

Sizos: 4 10 6X, cach 1.44

Family hosiery
LADIES/MISSES BERMUDAS

Your choice of acrylic/nylon or polyester/

nylon terry hose.
Assorted colours. cacuer. 1.44

LADIES KNEE-HI'S

6 pair per package.
A Beige or spice colour. eacnexc. 1.44

m color, Sizes: S-M.

SILKY LEGS PANTY HOSE

Choose either regular or
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or spice colour. 2 pr. 1.44
CONTROL TOP PANTY HOSE
Sheer legs or sandol foot to choose from.
Sizes: 95
150 bs. es EACH PR. 1 44
LADIES PANTY HOSE

4pr.1.44

One size fits all.

Beige or spice only.

BOY'S CUSHION HOSE

70% cotion/30% nylon, Assorted colours.

bie. 2 pr. 1.44

los!
A Choose either wool/nylon or cotton/

spandex. Assorted
colours. eacupr. 1.44
MEN'S TUBE SOCKS

Cotton/nylon blend, White with stripes,

101013, EACH PR. 1 44

Men’s & boy’s wear’.

BOVS SORT SOCKS

navy of brown,

Sizes9-10, seacher. 1.44
MEN'S WORK SOCKS

100% unknown fibers,

Greyheather only. eacHPr. 1.44

m MEN'S SPORT SOCKS

Black, b .
Sizes10-12,seacHPr. 1.44
BOY'S SWIM SUITS:

each 1.44

100% nylon. Red, blue or
navy: Sizes: B 10 16
Qtorl 44

BOY'S COWBOY HATS
Black, red or
green, S-L.

MEN'S BOXER SHORTS
Plain or fancy.
Sizes $
Boy's T-SHIRTS

. Beige, brawn,
novyorgreen., Stes Sl. EACH | AA

MEN'S T-SHIRTS
EACH 1 44

White, blue or skin
cach 1.44

BACH | 44

cach 1.44

MEN'S T-BIRD BRIEFS
White, navy, or skin
color. Sizes: S-L,

BOY'S BRIEFS.

White, denim blue or
denim brown. Sizes S-L.

Ladies
Rainbow
Thongs

with nylon straps

ou

. colours,

Shoes for the family

LADIES HOUSE SLIPPERS
Open toe in assorted styles and colours,

S-MeL, EACH PR. 1 44
LADIES BAMBOO THONGS
Solt, padded uppers, foam rubber soles,

S-MeL EACH PR. 1 44
SHOE LACES

12 pair per package in assorted colours
end

2 pka. 1.44

sizes.
FAMILY BEACH THONGS

Foam rubber soles. As- 2 or 1 44
ES /LADIES E
pile uppers, Assorted colours.
. Linens.& beddi
VINYL CARPET PROTECTOR
69cm wide. :
ACCENT RUGS 2
cnx each 1.44
Machine weshabte, Muli
lachine washable, julti-
cach 1,44
PHENTEX YARN
Machine washable. Stoln resistant. Colour
Boz,
NORDIERE SAYELLE YARN
100% acrylic, Knitting’ worsted. Assorted
SOUTH-MAID CROCHET COTTON
100% cotton. Assorted
cach 1.44
FLANNELETTE
wide, meter 1.44.
FASHION FABRIC
Cotton and polyester blends, Assorted prin-
15cm wide.
THREAD
Great assortment of colours to choose
6 tor 1.44
SCISSORS .
Stainless steel blades with
orange or greenhandies. EACH | 44
Stutt cushions and, pillows. Great also for
ts, te 18.
White. tib.bog” cach 1,44
100% cotton. Assorted
colours, 1S'x28"size, 2 for 1.44
DISHCLOTHS
eacuexc. 1.44
ae
Ye in, Ass!
colours, 1212" sie,, 2 for 1.A4
100% . Assorted
colours, z0"xd0'size, «EACH 1 AA
PILLOW PROTECTORS
lours.
21a?" size. cach 1.44
MATTRESS COVERS
size only, White. cach 1.44
Jewellery, clocks,
Brightly coloured with children’s patterns
thom. Ztorl 44
LADIES PIERCED EARRINGS
silver. ._ cacnpr. 1.44
LADIES FASHION, PENDANTS
Ce ”
aru paees cach 1.44
Brightly coloured feathers to help brighten
Wardrobe. cach 1.44
4 styles. 6
pkgeaold separately EACH TAA
LAMP SHADES
Clip on style in assorted
colours.
WOOLCREST FRAMES

sorted colours & sizes,
ul SLIPPERS
eacupr: 1.44
Gold, ciear or belge.
siem 1,44
Assorted colours.
coloured. 53cm x 8icm.
fast, Assorted colours.
cach 1.44
50 grams. 2 tor 1 44
colours, 550 yds.
100% cotton. Assorted colours and prints.
115m
ts. and solid colours.
3s and sol . ever 1.44
FOAM CHIPS
TEA TOWELS
100% cotton. Assorted colours, 14"x14"
size.
4:per package.
BATH TOWELS
100% cotton. Rust proof zipper. Assorted
Vinyl. Twin or double
CHILDREN'S CHANGE PURSE
Hype-allergenic. Assorted colours plus
or 18" chain,
FEATHER PINS & EARRINGS
GLASS STEMWARE
Lamps-pictures
Chodse.cither "x7"

cach 1.44
cach 1.44
Ziorl 44

Assorted sizes and
colours to choose from,

Fish Fertilizer

Greenleaf. All-purpose for
indoors and outdoors, 2 litr

-Carry-Out Foods”

CHOCOLATE DRINK
Mixes instantly into a hot or cold drink,

20 oz.

size, 2 pkg. 1.44
CHEESE

Colby, brick,
mozzarella,
mild or medium.

HAWAIIAN PUNCH DRINK
Assorted flavours, Vitomin C enriched;

Mak
Squats: each 1.44
| * ‘Horticulture.
WONDA.-GROW POTTING SOIL
Storilzed, specially blended forall house
Li

rite each 1 44
TROPICAL PLANTS :
Large assortment of as-

sorted 4” house plants. 2 for 1 44

Grille Feature

17 litre size, :

HOT BEEF SANDWICH

From 11:00 a.m.

Tender slices of beef served between
bread topped with own gravy,
served with french: fried potatoes
and peas,

COMPLETE 1 44

BREAKFAST FEATURE

9:340 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Bacon and eggs, served with hot but-
tered toast, your choice of tea or cof-

| 44

WOOLCO COOKIES
Asst. flavours,
700 gram size.
NEILSONS BROKEN BARS
Chocolate coated nuts and coramel
eachexc. 1.44

WOOLCO JELLY CANDY
Choose from lemon slices, orange slices or
cuit jellies.

ib, package. cachpxe, 1.44
ALLAN'S TAFFY
There is peanut butter, strawberry yogurt

,or sale water tulfy 2 pkg. 1 44

to salect from.
Great for toasting on camp fire or just

MARSHMALLOWS
Sree bey 2 bags 1 44

11 oz. bag.
A great any time snack, Blanched ond

WOOLCO PEANUTS
30 or, bag. EA 44

cu |
HOSTESS TWIN PAK POTATO CHIPS

Assorted flavours plus tortillas

cheese

or tac 2 boxes 1.44
Hardware - tools

WOOLCREST BATTERIES
4-D-size bait

per package, 2 pkg. J 44
HAPPY HOME GARBAGE BAG:

2 pkg. 1.44

44

Twin pack. Choose
sither 40 60 100 watt

Insecticide
Sprays -
Black Fla

Assortet
390 gr.

944

Qozs. 1.44.

each 1.44,

. WE RESERVE THE RIG

SCOTCH TAPE :
Stor 1.44

ds. and :
snvelopesperbox. 4 boxes 1.44

PHOTO ALBU: é
PHO TG tauees — cacn 1.44

WOOLCREST SANDWICH BAGS
er .

package. 2 pkg. 1.44
WOOLCREST NAPKINS
60 per

2 tor 1.44
Plastic, Setting

a ae
of 8 per pkg. SB pkg. 1.44
WOOLCREST GLASSES

eacnexc. 1.44
Disposable, 2 pkg. 1.44

ROYAL PAPER TOWELS
2 roll package. zacnexc. 1.44
WOOLCREST ALUMINUM FOIL

12" 25" i
cutterbox. tor 1.44
NESTER GARBAGE BAGS
Scented ~ 12 bags per package. Unscented -
gs
2 tor 1.44

per package.
WOOLCREST WAXPAPER

package.
FIESTA CUTLERY

Non-breakable.

CROSSWORD PUZZLES
96 pages of large, easy to read type.

choose trom. Stor l 44
Ceadasorinect rac 1.44
Kawealttes
cal 5
gaines or toys. 2 for J 44
DISNEY: PUNCH BALLS
un for
Z Stor 1.44

all ages,
QUTDOOR TOYS

Your cholce power boats;
woterpiatcleandmore. EACH 1.44

_- Wallpaper nt |

TPV WALLPAPER

Pre-pasted ond washable. Many patierns to
choose from. Pre-packaged in double rolls

for your
‘convenience. sincierou 1,44

SELF-ADHESIVE VINYL
ideal for lining shelves, cupboards and

2 yds.
terre cach 1.44

18" roll
Choose from masking tape, brushes and

PAINTING AIDS
hi
tems. cach 1.44

¢ Smoke shop ;

WOOLCO CIGARETTE TUBES

bes

per box. 3 boxes 1.44
tochoose from. 2 tor 1 44
BIC LIGHTERS

PLAYING CARDS
Assorted potierns
Keeps lighting for months 2 for 1.44

| Automotive-centre—
Protects and beautifies vinyl, leather, fiber-
gloss and rubber.
4 per customer. EACH 1 44
SANDABLE PRIMER PAINT
, 19 oz, size,
Timité percustomer, _-eacH 1.44
ean a
cle, 50:1 motor oil.
cl 2 for 1 44
#Pets-supplies —
Flavours of beet stew, beef chunks or liver
n’ beet.
3 tins 1 44

ARMOR ALL PROTECTANT

4oz. size, Limit

ideal primer base for any metal. Red oxide
VALVOLINE OUTBOARD

Limit 4 per customer.

OR. BALLARD'S DOG FOOD

l4oz. size.

TOP CHOICE DOG FOOD

Beal flavour.
pouches perpkg. « eacneKc. 1.44

Fabric
Softener

Staticfreeclothing,
128 oz. size,
each

24

LIMIT QUANTITIES.

Sporting goods- hobbies

MAXIMA FISHING LINE
Choose either 8-10 of 20 Ib, test. Bulk only,

spottotiiting, — TOO yas. 1.44

spool for filling.
WEDDING RING LURE
ular

Kokonee lure. 2 tor 44
KWIKFISH LURE
Assorted sizes ond
éclourstochooretrom. cacH 1.44
ENGLISH DRY FLIES
Mand tied in popular patterns and sizes
fond 14, Stor 1.44
RENFOLD SOLE BALLS

all,
Sperpackoye._eacnexc. 1.44
IMPORT WET FLIES
12 per pkg. eacnexc. 1.44

SWIFT-ELYTE TENNIS BALLS
Yellowonly. EACHPKG. 1.44
~ Cameras- music

SYLVANIA BLUE DOT

MAGIC CuBEs

ickage.

‘figsher percube, EacHeKe. 1.44
pPHOTO ENLARGEMENTS:

havesar' pint, 2 for 1
BLANK 8-TRACK or
CASSETTE TAPES

ite 8-ti t A

Searettes perpockoge. EACH 1.44
RECORDED 8-TRACKS & L.P.

Good selection of titles &

artists tochooretrom. EACH 1 .A4

Householdneeds ___
WORDEN WARE
i. a
bev ond motes eoch 1.44
‘UPS AND

2designs ‘ 2 tor 1.44
AIR FRESHENER

ie yrembiocks 4Atorl 44
CLING-FREE FABRIC SOFTENER

New fresh fragrance.
24 sheets per pkg. EACH PKG. 1 44

BLEACH
Pepsin 2 tor 1.44
JETS STEEL WOOL

5 eT
fan Zperpkg oO pkg. 1.44
repat

¥ © .
Disinfecting. 14 oz. abel 4 for 1 44
STERILITE PLASTICS

rom. 2 torl 44

DOVE LIQUID DETERGENT

dishes.
Somsken  — Dtor 144
WINDOW CLEANER
EACH 1 44

With ammonia.
each 1.44

pxc. 1,44

RAI
Holds 9 pairs
of shoes.
CLOTHES HANGERS
Choose either clip-on or
regular hangers,

SPONGES

SHORT & SASSY
SHAMPOO or
CONDITIONER.
FRESH DEODORAI

me 2 tor 1 44
1D SPICE A tor .44
SMOOTHSHAVE. 2 for 1.44
LADY TRAC II
‘OR. _EacHPKG. 1.44
ELASTOPLAST BANDAGES
per

EACH PKG. 1 44

package.
PERSONAL TOUCH
cach 1.44

es
RUBBERGLOVES. 2 pair 1.44
GILLETTE RIGHT GUARD
DEODORANT

7

Isize. EACH 1 44
GOODNEWS DISPOSABLE RAZORS

ack 4 pkg. 1.44

package.
WOOLCO TOOTHPASTE
100 mis

2tor 1.44
2 tor 1 44

size.
AIRWICK TWIN AIR
FRESHENERS.

Kleenex
Tissue

Small boxes,

6 7 dikes :

due care and

Castlegar detachment of
the RCMP reported a moder-
ately quiet holiday weekend.
Police also charge five per-
sons with impaired driving,
while eight drivers lost their
licences under 24-hour sus-
pension.

5 Woto

DEPARTMENT STORES

‘A DIVISION OF F.W.WOOLWORIH CO. LTO.

WANETA PLAZA SHOPPING CENTRE |

HWY. 3 TRAIL

Woolco Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Thursday and Friday: 9:30 a.m. té 9:00 p.m.

,

read

Par He t
; he >

CASTLE

NEWS

‘MID-WEEK

CASTLEGAR NEWS, July 6,.1980

Good Sports Begin Here...

© Baseball
eed
“'s Teams & Club
Uniforms
SETH MARTIN

SPORTS LTD.
907 Rossland Ave., Trail Ph: 964-1757

+ © JOGGING SHOES .
© SPORTS CLOTHING

“Those Who Died Young"

Part One

James Dean

“Rebel without

died young

Cause”

Eden,” he. was at once a legend, a
superstar, an international youth hero.
Thore has always been some con-
y.as to wh Dean relished the
switchover or whether it infuriated him,
and the truth probably lies somewhere

Though Hollywood represents instant success and fan-
_tasy fulfillment for young adults of talent and good looks; it |
“ean be a deadly dream. Per capita, the niortality rate of*
Hollywood stardom rivals such callings as motor racing and
war. This series profiles five of Hollywood's brightest stars
who died young, and the legends that live after them.

(From THOSE WHO DIED YOUNG by
Marianne Sinclair. Copyright© 1979 by
Plexus Publishing Limited. Published by

Penguin Books, Distributed by the Los

Angeles Times Syndicete.}"
* * *

He’ was born on Feb. 8,
1931, in a small town about
50 miles from indianapolis
and he was named James
Byron Dean. His. middle
name, chosen by his mother
Mildred, reflects her cultural

. preoccupations, and she
Essai up her only son to
-appreciate literature, music
and.art.

"The family moved to Los
Angeles, but unfortunately
Mildred Dean died of cancer

‘in 1940 when James was
nine, and although his father
had tried to prepare him for
the shock, the boy was un-
deubivaly profoundly affec-
ted.

However, the tragedy was
more than cushioned by the fact
that James was sent back to live
on the family farm in Fairmount,
Indiana. There it was his good
fortune to find a stable, ready-
made home with his grandparen-

ts, uncle and loving aunt, who did
all she could to become his sub-
stitute mother, |.

Between the ages of nine
and 18,.Jimmy Dean ied a
pl at, itful existence on
the farm, helping with chores,
shooting rabbits and keeping
pets. At school, he was well-
adjusted, got good grades and
was a sports enthusiast.

_It wasn’t until he went back to
California to live with his father and go
to college that he began seriously to
think about becoming an actor. Jimmy
wanted to study dramatic arts at UCLA
but his father d |

so evident that this lean period could not
last for very long. He was taken cn by
agent Jane Deacy who worked behind
the scenes to get him suitable roles,
especially the many TV dramas in which
he appeared.

Most of Dean's TV performances
have not survived; in those days, even if
a print existed it was soon lost or
destroyed by the TV studios. :

But It was in: these plays, made in
1952, 1953°and 1954, that Jimmy
developed his unique image of the

rebel, His exp face and

"James Dean was well-
served by the three films he
de during those 16 short

PP! A
his son to take a physical education
course at Santa Monica instead. It was
only a yeor before Jimmy actually got
his own way but in the meantime an
immovable wedge had been driven bet-
ween father and son.

By 1951 he had dropped out of
college but he stayed on in Los Angeles
for a time to try his luck as an actor. He

* did not get anywhere beyond appearing

In a Pepsi Cola commercial and doing a
little work as a film extra, :

Hollywood may have been the
movie capital of the world, but New
York was ‘the Mecca which beckoned
anyone with aspirations to serious ac-
ting, with its promise of actors’ studios
and quality plovs on and off Broadway.

When he was 20, Dean left Los
Angeles:‘and went to seek his fortune in
the Big Apple. it was there that he found
himself truly alone for the first time.
Before then he had indeed been
something of a loner within the crowd,
but the crowd had been ready to include
him if he would make the effort to leave
his shall. ;

During the early months of his stay
in New York, his Isolation was complete
and the experience jolted him badly.
The awtul loneli: and inner confi
of this period would later Kelp him to
portray enely. confused young men.

At first, his ctempts to get work as
an actor were as fruitless or frustrating
as they had been in Los Argel

months of stardom before he
died. He: was a mythological
American hero in all of
them, as well as encapsu-
lating the preoccupations of -
peut. both in’ the ‘50s and
later.”

neurotic acting style lent themselves
perfectly to the character of "a terribly
upset, psyched-out kid, a p to
the hooked generation of the ‘60s, the
type that became part of the drug/rock
culture,” as Rod Serling, the writer of
one of those dramas, described it.

By 1953, Dean was an established
TV star who could afford to turn down
film offers until the right role should
come along. Elia Kazan, who was
equally at home in the film and the
theater world, was looking for someone
to play the plete! part of Caleb Trask in
his next film, “East of Eden.” He had
disliked Dean's manner when he had
met him at the Actors’ Studio, but he
was shrewd enough to see that the very
things he disliked about the young actor
would make him a pertect Cal.

The screen tests of Jimmy contir-
med this, and It was obvious from the
start that Dean would probably become
9 major new film star. But no one quite

ici d what an incredible hit he

ie
only acting jobs he got, if they could be
called acting, were being a stooge for
the TV program “Beat the Clock” and a
few TV walk-on parts. The rest of the
time he survived on loans and odd jobs.
Most of his life during the winter of 1951+
52 was spent going to casting sessions
and being turned down, or waiting for
offers of work which never came,
Yet Jimmy's talent was so real and

would turn out to be with the young. As
Elia Kazan recalled, at a Hollywood
preview: “The balcony was full of kids
who had never seen Jimmy before and
the moment he came on the screen they
began to screech, they began to holler
and yell and the balcony was coming
down like a waterfall.”

Before “East of Eden,” Dean had
been a successful actor. After “East of

in b Dean's fans have always

revelled in their hero's proudly aloof,

non-conformist. image, conveniantly

forgetting that the image was cultivated

and perfected by Jimmy himself, who

realized he had. much to gain. from
U how different,

_ Sonal and original.

‘there Is ‘also something mysterious,
even unfathomable,
emoticnal life of James Dean, who has
been love's young dream to so many
millions of adolescent girls.

While in New York he showed that
he was capable of | term F
ts in his relationships first with Elizabeth
(“Dizzy”) Sheridan, and then with
another young actress called Barbara
Glenn; this latter affair was the longest
lasting and did not come to an end when
he left for California, long after he had
become a national idol. He was siill
writing to Barbara and telling her how

. desperately he missed he:

iT.
Lator in Hollywood he fell in love

“swith the young talian actress, Pier
jos!

Angeli. But he lost each of the girls in
turn when they married other men and
in both’ cases he seems to have been
genuinely and deeply upset.

*. But there was also something in
Dean's nature which made him feartul of
emotional commitment. Perhaps John

‘ Howlett was right to say in his biography

of Dean that this reluctance lay rooted in

Jimmy's early loss of his mother, a loss

which made him feel all deep attach-

ments were too risky because they

would cause intolerable grief if they

were severed. He preferred to remain
hor’ di din his ret

ships with women.

(There has even been some conjec-
ture about his heterosexuality. Indeed
the appeal of Dean to fans of both sexes
may be rooted in his own bisexuality,
which has been hinted at but never
clearly corroborated.)

James Dean was well-served by the
three films he made during those 16
short months of stardom before he died.

He was a mythological American
hero in all of them, as well as encap-
sulating the. preoccupations of youth

both in the ‘508 and later. As William”

Zinsser, critic for the New York Herald
Tribune, described him in “East of Eden":
“Everything about Dean suggests the

lonely, misunderstood 19-year-old. Even -

from a distance you know a lot about
him by the way he walks — with his
hands in his ets and his head down,
slinking like a dog waiting for a bone.
When he talks, he stammers and
pauses, uncertain of what he is trying to
say. When he listens, he is tull: of
restless energy — he stretches, a small
boy impatient with his elders’ chatter.”

Uncertointy, restless energy and
impatience with elders’ chaiter are all
qualities which will help the rebel hero
in his typically American quest for self-
betterment.

As Jim Stark in “Rebel Without a
Cause,” he is in revolt against the
alienation of middle-class lite and the
fatal path of criminality represented by
the delinquent gang he encouters, and
against the dehumanized brutality of

d society, rep d by the
cops who senselessly shoot down a sick,
frightened boy.

-In “Giant,” he stars as the heroic ar-
chetype of the independent cowboy who
starts out with only his lassoo and his
Stetson hat to call his own but ends up a
multimillionaire through his own resour-

about the +

cefulness and tenacity, though he
bi bittered and disill di

the process.

The nature of Dean's impact on the
screen can never be satisfyingly put into
words. It is too visual, too emotional.
Those who want to understand its

. mystery must see his films and draw
their own conclusions. But it is like love
a first sight: either you feel it or you

lon't. :

When he died at the wheel of his
sports car on his way to a race mesting
, on Sept. 30, 1955, James Deanbecamea

"'Rebel Without a
Cause’ opened just four days
after the crash (which took
James Dean’s life) and Jack
Warner soon discovered how
wrong he had been in his
assumption that Dean’s two
unreleased movies would
flop because ‘no one will go
to see a corpse.’ "

mythological hero. He was 24. ;

The cult of James Dean which came
Into being after his death began slowly
but soon gained momentum.

"Rebel Without a Cause” opened
just four days after the crash and Jack
Warner soon discovered how wrong he
had been in his assumption that Dean's
two unreleased movies would flop
because “no one will go to see a cor-

se.” On the contrary, the success of this
film and subsequently of “Giant” wos
guoranteed by Jimmy's death and all
three of Dean's films continue to make
money for his studio a quarter of a cen-

_ tury later.

indeed, Dean's fans would have
paid a fortune to see his real corpse. As
it was, a great many paid 25 cents just to
look at the wreck of his Porsche Spyder
and 50 cents to sit in the driver's seat
where he had died. They were ready to
poy good money for chewing-gum en-
velopes supposedly from gum chewed
by Dean.

Three thousand people attended
the funeral in Fairmount, indiana, While
in sheer numbers this may not compare
with Valentino's previously or Presley's

bseq: ly, it was an tribute
to an actor who at the time had only
been seen in one major film, and who
was still being described os a
“newcomer,”

It was after “Rebel” and “Giant” had
reached mass audiences that the post-
h hii hed vast and

ero ip
often bizarre proportions.

At one point, 3,800,000 people in
the United States alone were paying
mambers of Dean fan-clubs created af-
ter his death and given such titles as
“Lest We Forget,” "Dedicated Deans”
and "Dean’s Teens.” Records like “Jim-
my Dean's First Christmas in Heaven,”
"the Ballad of James Dean” and “His
Name Was Dean” all did excellent
business.

Even the patently fabricated ac-
count of Dean's spirit life, “Jimmy Dean
Returns,” which purported to be “His
own words from the Beyond,” sold half a
million copies, so great was the hunger
for cnything touching on the dead star's
memory.

Hundreds of thousands wrote to him
as if he were still alive. During the three
years following his death, letters ad-

‘di J to Dean dto b
the fan mail of any living star.

NEXT: Valentino's death at 31.