Pier was insanely beautiful. James Dean was totally in love with her, but there was one big problem: Her mother
Pier came from an extremely strict Catholic upbringing and her mother hated Jimmy. She couldn't find an ounce of good in him. He wanted to marry Pier and he even said that he would convert to Catholicism, but apparently that wasn't enough. The strain from her mother's constant disapproval was too much for Pier, so she broke up with Jimmy but kept seeing him off and on behind her mother's back. Even though she was doing this, she was also seeing Vic Damone on the side. Eventually she married Vic. He was a very good Catholic boy from an Italian family. Her mother was extremely pleased to say the least. I don't think there was much knowledge of their relationship because Jimmy was shocked by the news and he was crushed to pieces. It took him a long time to get over it. What I think is funny...if that's the word...is that he DID love her - immensely - in return. She just couldn't see it.
But, hindsight is 20/20, they say, and maybe later in life she realized how much James Dean meant to her, or maybe she realized the mistake she made, OR...maybe she was in love with the past and the fact that, when she committed suicide, James Dean was hugely popular and already regarded as an "icon". She, on the other hand, was broke, mostly unemployed and could only get cast in B-rated movies. I don't say that with malice, either. I can see her point and I've always respected her. I even named one of my cats after her