I was born February 8, 1931, in Marion, Indiana, to Winton and Mildred Dean. My father, a dental technician, moved the family to Los Angeles when I was five. I returned to the Midwest after my mother passed away and I was raised by my aunt and uncle on their Indiana farm. After graduating from high school, I returned to California where I attended Santa Monica Junior College and UCLA. I began acting with James Whitmore's acting workshop, appeared in occasional television commercials, and played several roles in films and on stage. In the winter of 1951, I took Whitmore's advice and moved to New York to pursue a serious acting career.