GOLDEN BOY JAMES DEAN'S STAR HAS NOT DIMMED 50 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH.

Byline: - Daily News

The maxim ``Live fast, die young'' was invented for James Dean.

Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the pop icon's death in a car crash on a lonely stretch of highway about 30 miles east of Paso Robles. But as long as we have those black-and- white photos of the sultry-looking actor with the penetrating eyes, Dean will always be 24 and alive - at least in our fevered imaginations or anywhere cool is spoken.

``He's gorgeous and he's a mystery and we never got enough,'' noted Jerry Isenberg, professor of film and television production at the USC School of Cinema-Television, in a Daily News article in 2001. ``It's like falling head over heels in love and the person disappears.''

A rebel without a cause, Dean only made three movies, but his own life had the arc of a film script: The Indiana native had a tough childhood after his mother's death when he was 9. Then he found his own destiny in acting and succeeded on his own terms in Hollywood.

Finally, at the height of his fame, we see him in his sports car - a Porsche Spyder nicknamed ``The Little Bastard'' - with the top down. He's speeding down a rural highway, the speedometer climbing - 80, 90, 100 mph. We cut to a man in another car; he drives along, unaware of what's ahead. Then we cut back to Dean as he approaches the T where California highways 41 and 46 come together. The camera pulls back and we see the cars on their inevitable collision course. Then fade to black. There's no crunch of metal, no fatal ending.

Like the light from a long-extinct star in the night sky, he still shines.

Dean's list

We all know James Dean's career was brief.

``The Complete James Dean Collection'' includes two-disc special editions of the three films he made: ``East of Eden'' (1955), ``Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955) and ``Giant'' (1956), which was released posthumously.

There are a number of documentaries on Dean worth checking out, including ``James Dean - Forever Young'' and ``James Dean - Sense Memories (American Masters).'' In 2001, TNT did a biopic called ``James Dean'' starring James Franco as the mercurial star, and that film is also available on DVD.

After that,you can sing along to the Eagles' song with the refrain ``Too fast to live, too young to die.''

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Left: ``The Giant'' (1956)

(2) Below: ``East of Eden'' (1955)

(3) ``East of Eden'' (1955)

(4 -- 6) Scenes from ``Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955)

Box:

Dean's list (see text)