”He was not funny,” recalls Dennis. “I had no idea he was going to do that, and I’d never have suggested he do such things. It frightened me, and I know it frightened him, too. In retrospect, I think his way of dealing with fear was to make fun of it, to taunt it.”
The last picture Dennis took was of Jimmy sitting up in the coffin, hands clasped and staring directly into the camera, a lost expression on his face.
”Everything had gone out of Jimmy by then, all the showmanship, all the cuteness. There was nothing there other than a lost person who really doesn’t quite understand why he is doing what he is doing. That’s not a moment to underestimate.”
ireallylikejamesdean: Young Jimmy Dean with his father, Winton
Nowadays, he lives in a world we don’t understand too well, the actor’s world. We don’t see too much of him. But he’s a good boy, my Jim. A good boy, and I’m very proud of him. Not easy to understand, no sir. He’s not easy to understand. But he’s all man, and he’ll make his mark. Mind you, my boy will make his mark.
-Winton Dean, Modern Screen 1955
