Heartthrob James Dean’s short stint in Mendocino — and the stories locals still tell

WHETHER YOU KNOW JAMES DEAN from his influential (and tragically short) movie career or from his name drop in a Taylor Swift song, he is undeniably a cultural icon. A year before his death in a car accident in 1955, Dean arrived in Mendocino to film “East of Eden.” Based on John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name, the film was directed by Elia Kazan, whose filmography also includes 1951’s “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

While the story is set in 1917 Salinas and Monterey, California, by 1954 Monterey looked too modern for the movie. The film moved up the coast to join the long list of Hollywood productions filmed in Mendocino for its historic appearance. In late May, 150-200 crew members arrived in town. Calls went out for locals to work as extras. One article in the Mendocino Beacon said that Assistant Director Don Page was casting “25 men who, to use the term loosely, are fat, and who can be ready for immediate work as extras.”