In 2022, we know James Dean as a gifted performer who was extremely good-looking and died a horribly tragic death way too young. Because of this it would be hard to imagine him any other way, but there was a James Dean before he became a Hollywood star.

Prior to getting his big break in the movie biz, James Dean was a fairly normal guy. According to Stacker, he pursued an education, and while in both high school and college participated in theater and acting classes. He was also a pretty good athlete, as he played both basketball and baseball, and even set a county record in pole vaulting. Though he had a handful of different talents, one thing he wasn't always: the handsome stud that stole the hearts of America's teenagers. As a teen, Dean was both short and skinny, and he suffered from nearsightedness (per History). But before he hit puberty, there was another physical change he underwent in regard to his two front teeth.

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