James Dean

Many American teens at the time of Dean's major movies identified with Dean and the roles he played, especially in ''Rebel Without A Cause'': the typical teenager, caught where no one, not even his peers, can understand him. Joe Hyams says that Dean was "one of the rare stars, like [[Rock Hudson]] and [[Montgomery Clift]], who both men and women find sexy." According to Marjorie Garber, this quality is "the undefinable extra something that makes a star."<ref>Marjorie B. Garber, ''Bisexuality and the Eroticism of

Everyday Life'' (2000), p.140. See also "Bisexuality and Celebrity." In Rhiel and Suchoff, ''The Seductions of Biography'', p.18.</ref> Dean's iconic appeal has been attributed to the public's need for someone to stand up for the disenfranchised young of the era<ref>Perry, G., ''James Dean'', p. 204, New York, DK Publishing, Inc., 2005</ref>, and to the air of [[androgyny]]<ref>David Burner, ''Making Peace with the 60s'' (Princeton University Press, 1997), p.244.</ref> that he projected onscreen. Dean's "loving tenderness towards the besotted [[Sal Mineo]] in ''[[Rebel Without a Cause]]'' continues to touch and excite gay audiences by its honesty. The ''[[Gay Times]]'' Readers' Awards cited him as the male gay icon of all time."<ref name=WotherspoonAldrich105>Garry Wotherspoon and Robert F. Aldrich, ''Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History: from Antiquity to World War II'' (Routledge, 2001), p.105.</ref>