Items signed by James Dean, including the 1954 studio contract that made him a star, go up for auction on May 25, Nate D. Sanders Auctions announced on Tuesday. The document, which secured Dean his brief, era-defining acting career, is appropriately described as “one of the most important acting contracts in the history of Hollywood.”
The Warner Bros. contract, dated April 7, 1954, was for Dean’s first film, Elia Kazan’s “East of Eden.” It gave the studio the option to extend Dean’s contract for several more films. Sadly, his tragic death at age 24 meant he only made two more features, 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause” and 1956’s “Giant,” which permanently cemented his status as a movie icon on par with Marilyn Monroe.