Barbara Glenn James Dean’s Girlfriend

Barbara Glenn

Barbara Glenn is a former actress and girlfriend of Golden Age Hollywood star, James Dean.

Dean died in a car accident in 1955 as he was poised for major stardom.

Born James Byron Dean on February 8, 1931; the Rebel Without a Cause actor, became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations.

When it came to women, Jimmy Dean allegedly had a number of girlfriends and lovers throughout the course of his short life.

He and UCLA roommate, William Bast, often had double dates with Beverly Wills, an actress with CBS, and Jeanette Lewis, a classmate.

At the time, he also had been in a years-relationship with New Yorker, Barbara Glenn.

According to her IMDb page, miss Glenn performed in movies such as Man Against Crime (1949) and East Side/West Side (1963).

About her relationship with Dean it’s been said it was her first serious, grown-up relationship and that she often remained his confidant even during some of them ‘off-again’ times.”

Barbara Glenn went on to marry Mark Gordon –an actor and stage director. The couple welcomed son, Keith Gordon on February 3, 1961. Keith (pictured below) grew up to become an actor and filmmaker.

Dean’s romance with Italian actress, Pier Angeli is also well remembered. He and Angeli met while shooting the 1955 film, The Silver Chalice.

Though some described their relationship as a publicity stunt, Angeli herself gave a detailed description of her romance with Dean, saying during an interview:

Sometimes on the beach we loved each other so much we just wanted to walk together into the sea holding hands because we knew then that we would always be together.

However, she went on to marry twice, none of them with Dean. Their relationship reportedly ended due to a number of reasons, including Dean’s lifestyle –which wasn’t at all accepted by Angeli’s mother.

Accoridng to Actress Liz Sheridan, she and Dean also were a thing back in the early 50’s. She published a memoir giving details of their romance.

Accoridng to biographer Darwin Porter, James Dean was also in a relationship with Ursula Andress –a Swiss actress –who also dated Marlon Brando.

Many of his romances can not be confirmed by the man himself for obvious reasons, but in 2011, handwritten letters by Dean to Glenn were sold at auction for $36,000.

The three letters were recovered from Glenn’s family archive. They were dated January 10, 1954; May 7, 1954.