James Dean's Rebel New York

The Actor's Studio

Dean studied at the Actors Studio on West 44th Street. The Method acting he learned here transformed him from a shy Indiana kid into the icon of rebellion. The building still stands — unassuming, like Dean himself.

The Village Years

He lived in Greenwich Village when it was still scruffy. Walk Bleecker Street at dusk, past the jazz clubs and coffee houses where he'd chain-smoke and talk Kerouac. End at a dive bar on Macdougal — order a beer, keep it simple.