Quotes About James Dean

"Without James Dean, the Beatles would have never existed." John Lennon

"James Dean was a genius." Elvis Presley

"It's a good thing [James] Dean died when he did. If he'd lived, he'd never have been able to live up to the publicity." -- Humphrey Bogart

"All of us were touched by Jimmy, and he was touched by greatness." - Natalie Wood

"Jim Dean and Elvis were the spokesmen for an entire generation. When I was in acting school in New York, years ago, there was a saying that if Marlon Brando changed the way people acted, then James Dean changed the way people lived. He was the greatest actor who ever lived. He was simply a genius." - Martin Sheen

"He didn't show you very much. He'd challenge you to find him. Then when you'd found him, he'd still make you guess. It was an endless game with him. The thing people missed about Jimmy was his mischievousness. He was the most constantly mischievous person I think I've ever met. Full of tricks, full of magic, full of outrageousness." - Stewart Stern

"He was very afraid of being hurt. He was afraid of opening up in case it was turned around and used against him." - Elizabeth Taylor

"James Dean was the first guerilla artist ever to work in movies."- Denis Hopper

"The last scene I had with Jimmy Dean was down in the basement and he was drunk. We shot it. He left. That was that. Our work together was over. Then he was killed. The last think I ever said to him was, 'You know what, Jett- you're all through.'"- Rock Hudson

"Jimmy was something special to each person who knew him. So many people jumped on the bandwagon to say they knew the real Jimmy Dean. They didn't."-Sal Mineo

"I could not speak English well. Everyone was helpful, but when I met Jimmy, the first thing we did was to get into an argument about American music. Only then did I feel American. In Europe a woman does not argue with a man."- Ursula Andress

"Jimmy doesn't want to be talked about and I have to respect that. He is very weird when it comes to publicity. I don't want him to be angry with me."- Vampira