Well, then maybe there is no objective truth even what one says. I know that your book, based on what I have read, will attempt to shoot down egregious falsehoods and provide some truth. But irrespective, Dean’s art is alive and well and seems secure in the future.
Interesting, I think one can accept as fact that Bast was moving in with Dean prior to latter death. Dean may have been gay and recognized that fact. I don’t know why Bast would stick to the sanitized story of the 50s and 60s publicly in a 2010 email transmission. In email, he stated that he thought there was a fine line between gay and straight. But Dean also said and did things with women that show that he may have been bi or still searching. The list of women include teacher in hometown, Beverly Wills, Liz Sheridan, Betsy Palmer, Arlene Sachs, Geraldine Page, Vampira, Barbara Glenn, Connie who was waitress with Dean while he filmed RWAC, Ursula Andress, Pier Angeli, Mitzi McCall, Alice Dunham, Lili Kardell, Natalie Wood. I am sure there are others I am missing. I think it not right for fabrications by heterosexuals or gays to be perpetuated because they wish him to be what they want him to be as opposed to what he was. Thanks for response.
I couldn't tell you why he said two different things, but I can tell you that it is exactly the way every other person James Dean ever knew behaved. Pier Angeli said one thing in 1954 and the opposite in 1968. Liz Sheridan had at least three different stories, all different and incompatible. His first agent, speaking to two Dean biographers in the same year (1995), gave two mutually exclusive accounts. Vampira and Jonathan (John) Gilmore both changed their stories at regular intervals, with little regard for consistency. At a certain point, it becomes almost laughable, but also to the deep problems involved with human memory and motivated testimony.
My email from Bast was way later when he had no reason to shade the truth. Which he had to do up until revival of Dean beginning in approximately 1974. In court, documentary proof is favored over eyewitness testimony but some documentary proof can be from eyewitness testimony that was codified into a writing. No one or document will ever be able to determine what his sexual preference was. Of course people with agendas (not just authors (i.e Dean’s father and stepmother)can always give whatever qualities they chose to to Dean. But most authors are looking to sell books and will sensationalize to do so. It is to your credit that you are relying on documents and I look forward to reading your book.
Thank you. As I write in the book, we can never know what was in someone's heart, only what they said and did. When it comes to Bast, what he said changed depending on the audience. I was able to uncover Royston Ellis's notes in which Colin Wilson described his 1956 conversation with Bast, which Bast described in "Surviving James Dean." Wilson's version, related c. 1960, was much different than Bast's account c. 2006. Wilson said that Bast told him Dean was gay and had finally come to terms with his sexual orientation just before he died. By contrast, in 2006, Bast said he never discussed Dean's sexuality with Wilson. Piecing together various magazine stories attributed to a "friend" of Dean who must have been Bast, it became obvious that he was the main source for rumors about Dean's sexuality in the 1950s, though he not only insisted he was not but publicly attacked the very rumors it seems he was spreading.
I visited Fairmount in 1993 and spoke to one of Dean’s childhood friends who was adamant that Dean was not gay. He cited Dean and his personal knowledge of a heterosexual activity that Dean engaged in, in the town. I also met David of Dean Gallery. He was a very generous and gracious guy. He has dedicated his life to Dean despite some adversity he has experienced. He told me to visit Adeline Nall. I did not want to bother her. But he said she welcomes fans. I am sorry I did not go to see her.
I have an email from Bill Bast in which he discusses his view of Dean’s sexuality. In the email, he said that Dean was not homosexual. This is interesting in the context that they did have a sexual relationship on at least a few occasions (1954 when Dean was preparing for East of Eden.)and that if Dean had returned from race, they were going to live together. Bill was homosexual and lived with a partner for many years prior to his death. But he did date women in his early relationship with Dean. It seems to me that their relationship was very complex as friends, lovers and professional colleagues. Bill was Dean’s closest friend in the last five years of Dean’s life. I also have an email from Liz Sheridan in which she lashes out at Bast. How Dean would have turned out, is subject to conjecture since he died young and as many authors have stated, his sexual identity was probably in the formation stage, when he died.
Bill Bast, like nearly everyone who knew Dean, managed to be on both sides of every issue over the course of the decades. I don't think anyone told a consistent story, which is itself bizarre. Bast maintained Dean was straight for decades but his final published statement was that he had lied to "protect" Dean and that it was a "given" that Dean was either bisexual or gay. The inconsistency in everyone's testimony over the years is one reason I prefer to ground analysis in contemporary documents.
Wondering if you, Jason, have ever visited Fairmount, Indiana —for the Annual James Dean Festival — to celebrate the September 30th Anniversary, or to actually visit David and Lenny, the gay proprietors at the legendary James Dean Gallery?
Sadly, I have not been able to visit Fairmount--I don't really have a travel budget, and my work and family obligations keep me closer to home. But I do know David and have spoken with him many times. He generously gave me a copy of his autobiography and allowed me to use some photos from the gallery in my book. Truth be told, though, I find it a little weird to celebrate the day someone died as the high point of their lives, a kind of commemoration Dean shares with Jesus and Julius Caesar.
Well, then maybe there is no objective truth even what one says. I know that your book, based on what I have read, will attempt to shoot down egregious falsehoods and provide some truth. But irrespective, Dean’s art is alive and well and seems secure in the future.
Interesting, I think one can accept as fact that Bast was moving in with Dean prior to latter death. Dean may have been gay and recognized that fact. I don’t know why Bast would stick to the sanitized story of the 50s and 60s publicly in a 2010 email transmission. In email, he stated that he thought there was a fine line between gay and straight. But Dean also said and did things with women that show that he may have been bi or still searching. The list of women include teacher in hometown, Beverly Wills, Liz Sheridan, Betsy Palmer, Arlene Sachs, Geraldine Page, Vampira, Barbara Glenn, Connie who was waitress with Dean while he filmed RWAC, Ursula Andress, Pier Angeli, Mitzi McCall, Alice Dunham, Lili Kardell, Natalie Wood. I am sure there are others I am missing. I think it not right for fabrications by heterosexuals or gays to be perpetuated because they wish him to be what they want him to be as opposed to what he was. Thanks for response.
I couldn't tell you why he said two different things, but I can tell you that it is exactly the way every other person James Dean ever knew behaved. Pier Angeli said one thing in 1954 and the opposite in 1968. Liz Sheridan had at least three different stories, all different and incompatible. His first agent, speaking to two Dean biographers in the same year (1995), gave two mutually exclusive accounts. Vampira and Jonathan (John) Gilmore both changed their stories at regular intervals, with little regard for consistency. At a certain point, it becomes almost laughable, but also to the deep problems involved with human memory and motivated testimony.
My email from Bast was way later when he had no reason to shade the truth. Which he had to do up until revival of Dean beginning in approximately 1974. In court, documentary proof is favored over eyewitness testimony but some documentary proof can be from eyewitness testimony that was codified into a writing. No one or document will ever be able to determine what his sexual preference was. Of course people with agendas (not just authors (i.e Dean’s father and stepmother)can always give whatever qualities they chose to to Dean. But most authors are looking to sell books and will sensationalize to do so. It is to your credit that you are relying on documents and I look forward to reading your book.
Thank you. As I write in the book, we can never know what was in someone's heart, only what they said and did. When it comes to Bast, what he said changed depending on the audience. I was able to uncover Royston Ellis's notes in which Colin Wilson described his 1956 conversation with Bast, which Bast described in "Surviving James Dean." Wilson's version, related c. 1960, was much different than Bast's account c. 2006. Wilson said that Bast told him Dean was gay and had finally come to terms with his sexual orientation just before he died. By contrast, in 2006, Bast said he never discussed Dean's sexuality with Wilson. Piecing together various magazine stories attributed to a "friend" of Dean who must have been Bast, it became obvious that he was the main source for rumors about Dean's sexuality in the 1950s, though he not only insisted he was not but publicly attacked the very rumors it seems he was spreading.
I visited Fairmount in 1993 and spoke to one of Dean’s childhood friends who was adamant that Dean was not gay. He cited Dean and his personal knowledge of a heterosexual activity that Dean engaged in, in the town. I also met David of Dean Gallery. He was a very generous and gracious guy. He has dedicated his life to Dean despite some adversity he has experienced. He told me to visit Adeline Nall. I did not want to bother her. But he said she welcomes fans. I am sorry I did not go to see her.
I have an email from Bill Bast in which he discusses his view of Dean’s sexuality. In the email, he said that Dean was not homosexual. This is interesting in the context that they did have a sexual relationship on at least a few occasions (1954 when Dean was preparing for East of Eden.)and that if Dean had returned from race, they were going to live together. Bill was homosexual and lived with a partner for many years prior to his death. But he did date women in his early relationship with Dean. It seems to me that their relationship was very complex as friends, lovers and professional colleagues. Bill was Dean’s closest friend in the last five years of Dean’s life. I also have an email from Liz Sheridan in which she lashes out at Bast. How Dean would have turned out, is subject to conjecture since he died young and as many authors have stated, his sexual identity was probably in the formation stage, when he died.
Bill Bast, like nearly everyone who knew Dean, managed to be on both sides of every issue over the course of the decades. I don't think anyone told a consistent story, which is itself bizarre. Bast maintained Dean was straight for decades but his final published statement was that he had lied to "protect" Dean and that it was a "given" that Dean was either bisexual or gay. The inconsistency in everyone's testimony over the years is one reason I prefer to ground analysis in contemporary documents.
Wondering if you, Jason, have ever visited Fairmount, Indiana —for the Annual James Dean Festival — to celebrate the September 30th Anniversary, or to actually visit David and Lenny, the gay proprietors at the legendary James Dean Gallery?
Sadly, I have not been able to visit Fairmount--I don't really have a travel budget, and my work and family obligations keep me closer to home. But I do know David and have spoken with him many times. He generously gave me a copy of his autobiography and allowed me to use some photos from the gallery in my book. Truth be told, though, I find it a little weird to celebrate the day someone died as the high point of their lives, a kind of commemoration Dean shares with Jesus and Julius Caesar.