James Dean Obsession: 'Dotun And Dean'

Hollywood actor James Dean died in a crash sixty years ago, age 24. His early death immortalised him as the first American teenager - appealing to young people in the late 1950s. Fast forward to the 1970s and a young black boy in North London hears the term Rebel without a Cause and the love affair begins.
Broadcaster Dotun Adebayo was that boy. He tells of the lengths he could to become like James Dean both physically and in attitude. He reveals how this led him to become London's first black Teddy Boy and how his determination to rebel got him into trouble.

Following his hero's footsteps, Dotun joined the National Youth Theatre where he met the playwright Barrie Keeffe, famed for the Long Good Friday screenplay. They got talking and it turned out Barrie had shared the Dean obsession in his youth. This resulted in writing the play Killing Time about a young black boy's obsession with James Dean - incorporating some of Dotun's own feelings.