America's most enduring symbol of rebellious youth, James Dean has continuously held the world's fascination since his tragic death at the age of twenty-four more than forty years ago. In the first complete, fully documented biography of this enigmatic hero, internationally celebrated author Donald Spoto offers a startlingly revelatory look at the short, greatly misunderstood life of an icon who remains frozen in time.

Drawing on extraordinary mines of fresh material, including accounts of Dean's earliest television appearances and his on- and offscreen exploits while filming the classics East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, Spoto candidly explores Dean's years at the center of a group of actors who came to define the new generation of Hollywood idols and American ideals, including Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper and Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood and Pier Angeli, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson.

Here, too, is the story of Dean's convoluted sex life, which included simultaneous affairs with men and women. James Dean remains the eternal teenage rebel - tough but vulnerable, rude but tenderhearted, pained but brilliant. Based on a wealth of meticulous original research and new interviews, Rebel offers an illuminating perspective on the boy/man who has become the embodiment of rebellious youth - and on the American culture that has made him a living hero decades later.