When James Dean met Anna Maria Pierangeli

Few people knew at the time he was engaged to be married but was jilted at the peak of his success.

Just one year before his tragic death at the age of 24, Dean embarked on a whirlwind romance with Italian actress Anna Maria Pierangeli, who described them as being like “Romeo and Juliet”. Despite being deeply in love, the relationship ultimately failed, although insiders said neither of them ever got over it. Rumour has it Dean planned on proposing a second time to Pierangeli before he died in a horrific car accident.

James Dean life story

Dean shot to fame in an era when rock and roll, juvenile delinquency and gangs were among the pressing youth problems being targeted by the US government.

Born in the city of Marion, Indiana, in February 1931, he dropped out of the University of California in 1951 to pursue a full-time acting career. Earning roles in commercials, TV series and films from the outset, he shot to stardom at the age of 22, with his first major film role as troubled youth Cal Trask in the 1953 epic, East of Eden.

Immediately catapulted to iconic status, Dean had more than his fair share of opportunities for romance. His good friend, actress Elizabeth Taylor, reportedly said the star was “fascinated by women” and “flirted around”. Late actress Liz Sheridan, star of TV sitcom Seinfeld in the 1990s, wrote a biography, Dizzy and Jimmy, about dating Dean before he hit the big time.

However, he largely avoided being tied down, until one of Hollywood’s most famous meetings took place in May 1954.

First meeting

For Italian actress Anna Maria Pierangeli, James Dean was her soulmate. They first met at Warner Bros Studios in Los Angeles, where Dean was contracted, having just begun work on his second film, Rebel Without a Cause.

At 22, Cagliari-born Pierangeli had already made her film debut in the Italian melodrama, Domani è Troppo Tardi, in 1950, playing the leading role of student Mirella. The plot revolved around an innocent romance between two students, whose puppy love was misunderstood by school staff and almost ended in tragedy. She rocketed to success when Tomorrow is Too Late was released internationally.

After winning the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists’ Nastro d’Argento award for Best Actress, she was offered a contract with MGM Studios and made a series of high-profile films during the 1950s, including The Devil Makes Three with Gene Kelly and The Story of Three Loves opposite Kirk Douglas.

MGM lent her to other studios, and she first met Dean in 1954 while filming Warner’s historical epic, The Silver Chalice, co-starring Paul Newman. After Newman introduced her to Dean, it was said sparks flew immediately.

James Dean marriage proposal

Dean and Pierangeli often dined at local restaurants and were soon followed by the paparazzi, who speculated about a romance. Their reaction was to escape frequently to the California coast, where they hid at a remote seaside cottage.

In interviews some years later, Pierangeli spoke of their love, saying they would go for long walks on the beach, holding hands, not speaking because they had “complete understanding of each other”. She described them as being “like Romeo and Juliet, together and inseparable”. This was the first time either of the young actors had been in a serious relationship and they spoke of being “together forever”.

Sadly, storm clouds were brewing almost from the start, as Pierangeli’s mother, Enrichetta, was also her manager. She wanted to keep her daughter away from any potentially damaging relationships that could impact her career and Dean’s wild reputation meant he wasn’t the kind of boyfriend she wanted for Pierangeli. Enrichetta was also a practising Catholic and was unhappy about Dean’s admission he was an atheist.

He tried to win her over by dressing smartly for family visits, also renting out a tuxedo for Pierangeli’s film premiere. However, Enrichetta was still against the relationship, as a manager and a mother. She told her daughter to stop seeing Dean, but they continued their relationship in secret.

After courting for six months, Dean asked Pierangeli to marry him in November 1954 and she said yes. Breaking the news to Enrichetta wasn’t easy and consequently, the couple’s short engagement ended badly. Enrichetta refused to accept Dean as her future son-in-law and just two days later, Pierangeli told her fiancé she was unable to marry him after all and that she was never allowed to see him again.

Dean was devastated and even more so when the shock news broke that she had married Italian-American singer Vic Damone, a Catholic, just a few weeks later. It remained a mystery what had prompted the sudden wedding, but Dean threw himself into his career and his other passion, motor racing.

Although he had other short relationships, including one with actress Ursula Andress, who later found fame as a Bond girl, none matched the love he found with Pierangeli.

How did James Dean die?

Dean had a second career as a motor racing driver and spent his spare time at the track. After starting work on the sprawling Western Giant in 1955, he bought himself a sporty Porsche 550 Spyder supercar on 23rd September 1955.

Andress accompanied him to choose the racing car, with a top speed of 211mph. Described as being “like a rocket ship” by biographer Lee Raskin; the author of James Dean on the Road to Salinas said the actor was a “daredevil”, who was “all accelerator, no brakes”.

Dean and his mechanic, Rolf Wütherich, drove off to take part in the gruelling Salinas Road Race on 30th September 1955. However, they never completed the 300-mile drive, as the Spyder was involved in an 85mph collision with a Ford Tudor driven by Donald Turnupseed on Route 46. Dean was pronounced dead at 6.20pm at Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital. It was rumoured a letter to Pierangeli, proposing a second time, was found in the glove compartment of his car.

The James Dean car accident caused shockwaves through the industry. Pierangeli, who had given birth to her first child with Damone in August 1955, was devastated. She separated from her husband and lost custody of their son, later marrying composer Armando Trovajoli in 1962 and giving birth to a second son. This marriage also ended in divorce.

Pierangeli became depressed and underwent psychiatric treatment. In the summer of 1971, she wrote to a friend that she was “meant to live and die alone”, saying, “My love died at the wheel of a Porsche.” She was found dead at her Beverly Hills home on 10th September 1971, aged 39, from an accidental overdose of barbiturates.