It wasn’t just the tragic circumstances of James Dean’s death that made him a screen legend. He only starred in three major roles before his fatal crash, Giant (1956), Rebel Without A Cause (1955) and East of Eden (1955). But it was his iconic second role that cemented him in American culture, and his death transformed him into a cult object worthy of timeless fascination. Dean’s death symbolised amazing possibility, fatally snuffed out.