In January 1955, photographer Dennis Stock followed actor James Dean to his hometown of Fairmount, Indiana. Stock wanted to capture the private life of the rising star away from the bright lights of Hollywood. During this winter trip, the two men visited a local furniture store that also doubled as a funeral parlor. This was a common business arrangement in small towns at the time. Inside the shop, Dean spotted a display of wooden caskets.
Dean decided to stage a series of unusual photographs. He climbed into one of the open coffins and lay down, folding his hands over his chest. He grinned at the camera, treating the grim object like a piece of living room furniture. Stock captured several frames of Dean posing amusingly inside the casket. The actor appeared relaxed and playful despite the morbid surroundings. He seemed to enjoy the shock value of the moment.
The town of Fairmount provided a quiet backdrop for these famous images. Outside the store, the streets were covered in snow and the air was cold. Dean spent the rest of the trip visiting his relatives and walking through the fields of his youth. He spoke with old friends and revisited his boyhood home. These photos documented his last peaceful moments before his fame reached its peak.
The visit to the funeral parlor happened only seven months before Dean’s actual death. At the time of the photo shoot, Dean was a healthy young man with a promising career. He left Indiana shortly after the session to return to New York and then back to California. He never returned to Fairmount alive. On September 30, 1955, Dean died in a high-speed car accident near Paso Robles. He was eventually buried in Park Cemetery, located in the same town where he had once joked inside a coffin.
