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ALS signed twice, “Jim,” one page both sides, 6.25 x 10.25, no date but postmarked May 19, 1954. Handwritten letter to his girlfriend, Barbara Glenn, in New York, sent a month after the young actor left NYC for Hollywood. In full: "I haven't written because I have fallen in love. It had to happen sooner or later. It's not a very good picture of him but that's 'Cisco the Kid,' the new member of the family. He gives me confidence. He makes my hands and my heart strong. He's a very spirited horse but well trained. That's my trainer in the picture. Throughbred Palomino (black main and tail)…He shakes hands and everything. May use him in the movie. I'm very lonely. Your card smelled so good, please don't do that (dirty tricks, I'm still a Calif-virgen. I hate this place. Kazan and everybody but Cisco can go fuck themselves. Don't call because I haven't got a place of my own yet. Just keep writing. Honey those are the nicest, sweetest letters in the world. Oh the terrible doubts an artist is given to!…Maybe you can come see me sometime." He adds a handwritten postscript, also signed "Jim," in full: "P.S. send the picture back. By that time I will have had some good ones taken." In fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, addressed in Dean's own hand, as well as the referred-to candid snapshot photograph of his new horse.
Written just a month after James Dean arrived in Hollywood to begin filming East of Eden, this intimate and emotionally raw letter to Barbara Glenn offers a window into the young actor's vulnerable state during a pivotal moment in his life and career. Cast by Elia Kazan in his film debut as Cal Trask, Dean was on the brink of stardom, yet here reveals a deep loneliness and artistic self-doubt. His affectionate reference to a newly acquired horse named Cisco—"the new member of the family"—and his profane dismissal of Kazan and others suggest his yearning for authenticity within an impersonal Hollywood system. The letter captures a candid and conflicted figure: James Dean at the threshold of fame, still emotionally tethered to the East Coast and to the woman he left behind.
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