March 15, 1955.  At 7:30 a.m., I was cruising west on Sunset Boulevard, heading for Life magazine’s photo lab on the Strip.  Coming down Laurel Canyon was a crazy motorcyclist who was driving through a red light.  We were on a collision course.  We both braked and careered through the intersection.  I came close to killing him — just inches saved his life.  I stuck my head out of the window, screaming profanities, as he got up off the bike with a dopey grin on his face.  It was James Dean.  We ended up having a two-hour breakfast at Schwab’s Drug Store, and I invited him over to the Guys and Dolls set, where I had a still gallery rigged to shoot Brando and Sinatra.  Dean was fascinated by cameras, and came along.   

—Phil Stern