Family moved from Indiana to L.A.

Sent to live with aunt and uncle in Indiana after mother's death

Returned to California following high school graduation

Appeared in TV commercial for Pepsi Cola; also featured was Nick Adams

TV acting debut as John the Apostle in "Hill Number One"; aired on April 1

Screen debut (as extra) in "Fixed Bayonets"; also appeared as an extra in "Sailor Beware"

Moved to NYC (September)

Hired to pre-test the stunts for the TV series "Beat the Clock"

Delivered first on screen line ("Hey Gramps, I'll have a choc malt, heavy on the choc, plenty of milk, four spoons of malt, two scoops of vanilla ice cream, one mixed and one floating") in "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?"

Appeared on Broadway in "See the Jaguar"

Acted in numerous TV productions including "Kate Smith Hour: Hound of Heaven" (NBC), "You Are There!: The Capture of Jesse James" (CBS), and "Studio One Summer Theatre: Sentence of Death" (CBS)

Appeared in NYC production of "The Scarecrow"

Final Broadway appearance in "The Immoralist" portraying an Arab boy

Signed contract with Warner Bros. (April)

Co-starred with Mildred Dunnock in the TV presentation "Padlocks" (an episode of CBS' "Danger")

Portrayed a killer who runs afoul of a country doctor (Ronald Reagan) in "General Electric Theatre: The Dark, Dark Hours"

Starred opposite Natalie Wood and Eddie Albert in the TV production "I'm a Fool"

Final TV acting appearance in the "Schlitz Playhouse" presentation of "The Unlighted Road"

Achieved star status in "East of Eden"; earned posthumous Best Actor Oscar nomination

Killed when his Porsche Spyder sports car collided with another car; he had received a speeding ticket earlier in the day and a few days before had appeared in a safe-driving commercial for the National Highway Committee (September 30)

Last films, "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) and "Giant" (1956) released posthumously; garnered second Best Actor Academy Award nomination for the latter

Profiled in the documentary "The James Dean Story"

"James Dean", an NBC biopic with Stephen McHattie as the actor, aired

Received posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Subject of British made documentary "James Dean, the First American Teenager"

"Forever James Dean", a documentary screened as part of Cinemax's "Crazy About the Movies"

Disney Channel aired the documentary "James Dean: A Portrait"

Honored by US Postal Service with a commemorative stamp

Casper Van Dien portrayed Dean in the feature film "James Dean: Race with Destiny"

"James Dean", starring James Franco and directed by Mark Rydell, aired on TNT