Timelines for year 1955

Rochelle Hudson

Abandoned Hollywood for a time after playing Natalie Wood's mother in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) to run a 10,000 acre ranch in Arizona. She later moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma and worked for a petroleum refinery. Missing California, she returned in 1963 and, briefly, restarted her career, but left Hollywood for good in 1967. She moved to Palm Desert where she found success in real estate.

Johnny Unitas

Was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1955 and released. Hitchhiked home from training camp even though the Steelers had given him bus fare.

James Dean

Was the first actor to receive an Academy Award nomination posthumously, for his role in East of Eden (1955). However, he did not win.

East of Eden (1955) was the only one of the three movies in which he had major roles to be released while he was alive.

Elia Kazan, in his 1988 autobiography "A Life", says that during the production of East of Eden (1955), he had to have Dean move into a bungalow near his on the Warner Bros. lot to keep an eye on him, so wild was his nightlife.

Had a fondness for auto racing and had purchased the 1955 Porsche Spyder sports car, one of only 90 made of that year model, planning to participate in the upcoming races in Salinas, CA on Oct 1, 1955.

Received posthumous Oscar nominations for his his first and last ever screen performances: East of Eden (1955) and Giant (1956).

His final screen test for East of Eden (1955) was shot with Paul Newman, who also was in the final running for one of the roles. Originally, director Elia Kazan had considered casting Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift in the roles of the two brothers, but they were too old to play teenagers as they were both in the their 30s in 1954. Newman's age, 29, also put him at a disadvantage. Dean, 23 years old and Richard Davalos, aged 19, were cast as the fraternal twins.

According to Marlon Brando, Dean would often call him, leaving messages with Brando's answering service. Brando would sometimes listen, silently, as Dean instructed the service to have Brando call back. Brando, disturbed that Dean was copying his life-style (motorcyle, bongo drums) and acting techniques, did not return his calls. The two met at least three times: on the set of East of Eden (1955); on the set of Desirée (1954) and at a party, where Brando took Dean aside and told him he had emotional problems that required psychiatric attention.

His performance as Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) is ranked #43 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

Was originally considered for the leading role in Oklahoma! (1955).

At the time of his death, he was signed to play in "The Battler" on the "Playwrights '56" (1955) television series. The role went instead to Paul Newman.