Early in the evening of 30 September 1955, young movie actor James Dean was driving his Porsche Spider car with his friend, Rolf Wutherich, on their way to a car race in Salinas, California. The future seemed bright for the 24-year-old who rocketed to fame when his first film, East of Eden, was released on March 9 of that year.
All that bright promise abruptly ended when a car coming from the opposite direction suddenly turned left directly into the path of Dean’s car. The two vehicles collided head-on, and Dean died within ten minutes of massive injuries, including a broken neck. His life and career were over. His legacy had just begun.
James Dean has become such a fixture in American culture as the prototypical rebellious youth, it is hard to believe he only made three movies in his lifetime. His portrayal of the character Cal Trask in East of Eden won him instant acclaim – but that was the only film released while he was alive. Shortly after finishing that film he played his second and most famous character, Jim Stark, in the film Rebel without a Cause, which was released less than a month after Dean’s death.
He completed his scenes in his third and final film, Giant, right before his accident (the film was released in 1956). Dean had a fondness for motorcycles and fast cars, and had begun competing in races such as the Palm Springs Road Races right after East of Eden was released. His studio, Warner Brothers, prohibited him from racing while he was filming Giant, but after wrapping his scenes for that film Dean was itching to compete in another race.
That is what he was doing that fatal Friday night: heading north in his racing car for a road race scheduled for Sunday in Salinas.
The driver who cut in front of Dean, 23-year-old Donald Turnupseed, said he did not see Dean coming, which led to rumors that Dean was speeding at the time of the crash. Years later, one of the first police officers on the scene said that he estimated Dean was only going about 55 miles per hour. However, just two hours before the fatal accident, Dean was issued a speeding ticket for going 65 miles per hour – and the timing of that citation and the distance Dean traveled before he died indicate that he averaged 75 miles per hour for the rest of his drive, the last two hours of his life.
The impact of the crash hurled Dean’s Spider 150 feet down the road. Along with a broken neck, he suffered massive internal injuries, many broken bones, and numerous deep cuts. He was still alive when the ambulance arrived shortly after the accident, but died en route to a nearby hospital. His passenger Wutherich broke his jaw but survived, and Turnupseed only received minor cuts and bruises.
James Dean had striking good looks and remarkable talent, playing rebellious characters that defied authority and did things their own way. He lived fast and died young – and a legend was born.
The following three newspaper articles provide details about Dean’s fatal car crash and the reaction of his fellow actors. The fourth article provides the startling news that Dean received a speeding ticket just two hours before his crash.
Here is a transcription of this article:
Car Collision Kills Actor James Dean
PASO ROBLES, Calif. (UP). – James Dean, 24-year-old film star, was killed early Friday night in a head-on collision of his German sports car some 30 miles east of here.
Dean, who shot to prominence in the film version of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, died instantly when his Porsche racing car crashed into a sedan at a highway intersection near the small Central California community of Cholame.
The highway patrol said the driver of the second car, Donald Turnupseed, 23, of Tulare, Calif., attempted to turn left in front of Dean and the vehicles crashed head-on, some 150 miles north of Los Angeles.
The young bachelor and his mechanic Rolf Wutherich, 29, of Hollywood were traveling to road races at Salinas in Northern California.
They were taken immediately by ambulance to Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital.
Turnupseed received minor injuries.
A hospital doctor said Dean died instantly and put the time of death at about 5:40 p.m. He said the actor’s body was “terribly battered” by the impact and that he suffered a broken neck, numerous broken bones, and cuts and bruises.
The collision threw Dean’s sports car 150 feet down the highway, the CHP said.
Sanford Roth, a Warner Brothers still photographer, said he was following Dean’s car a few miles behind. He said neither he nor his passenger, Bill Hickman, of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, saw the actual crash.
“We came on the wreck after it happened,” Roth said. “Our only interest was to get an ambulance as fast as we could. It came fast – incredibly fast, but it didn’t do us any good.”
The photographer said he had recently finished a layout series on Dean for a national magazine as well as a series of special shots for the studios.
Dean had been working for several months on the as yet uncompleted “Giant” film version of Edna Ferber’s book about Texas.
In Hollywood, George Stevens, who directed Dean in the “Giant,” said the young actor’s death was “a great tragedy.”
“He had extraordinary talent,” the director said. “He was a boy cut right at the beginning [of his career].”
Elizabeth Taylor, one of Jimmy’s co-stars in the Warner studio film, was crying so hard she could only say, “I can’t believe it. I’m just stunned.”
Dean’s work in the picture was finished only a week ago. The studio had forbidden him to enter in any sports car races while the picture was in production.
“The accident happened on a highway and not at a race at all,” Stevens pointed out.
The director said Jimmy planned to drive his station wagon and tow the sports car to the race at Salinas. However, at the last minute he let friends drive the station wagon and decided to drive the sports car himself.
Miss Taylor, Rock Hudson and other members of the “Giant” company heard the news of Dean’s death as they were sitting in a studio projection room looking at the day’s “rushes.” Stevens said the entire group was “speechless and just sat there crying.”
Here is a transcription of this article:
Smash Kills Young Actor
HOLLYWOOD (INS) – James Dean, 24-year-old acting sensation who shot to stardom in his first picture, “East of Eden,” was killed Friday in a traffic accident.
While driving his recently-purchased Porsche Spider, he crashed head-on into another car and was killed outright.
The crash occurred at the junction of highways 41 and 466 – 31 miles east of Paso Robles. Paso Robles is midway between Hollywood and San Francisco.
The California Highway Patrol reported that Donald Gene Turnupseed, 23, of Tulare, Cal., made a left turn directly in front of the young star.
Dean Held Blameless
The patrol preliminary investigation indicated Dean was blameless in the crash.
Turnupseed escaped with minor injuries.
At the War Memorial Hospital, Dean’s companion was identified as his mechanic, Rolf Wutherich, about 27, of Hollywood. Wutherich was still in surgery, and the extent of his injuries were undetermined.
The actor was en route to Salinas to compete in a sports car race on Sunday. His Porsche had a reported [top] speed of 160 miles an hour.
Dean liked to ride motorcycles and drive fast cars and his studio – Warner Brothers – was fearful that he would meet the fate he met Friday.
The studio insisted that he take no chances while he was working in a picture. The star agreed to that but said that when he was not in a picture his life was his own and that he intended to live as he wished.
Here is a transcription of this article:
Jimmie Dean’s Death Is Shock to Hollywood
Hollywood, Oct. 1 (AP) – James Dean, the sensitive, young actor who could well become Hollywood’s first posthumous Academy Award winner, will be buried back home in Indiana.
Funeral Planned
From Paso Robles, Cal., near where the 24-year-old star was killed last night in his 150-mile-per-hour German sports car, his father announced these funeral arrangements:
Services will be at 2 p.m. next Saturday at Hunt’s funeral home in Fairmount, Ind. Burial will be in Grant’s Memorial Park in nearby Marion, Dean’s birthplace. The father, a dental technician, will leave tomorrow with the body.
Fairmount is the town where Dean was a farm boy and starred in basketball, track and debating at the local high school. In 1949, he won first place in the National Forensic League contest.
Here at Warner Brothers, the studio where Dean zoomed to stardom in “East of Eden,” it was as if a hurricane had ravaged the lot. Everybody was stunned, especially on the set of “Giant,” his last movie. Jimmy finished his scenes only the day before his death.
Four hours after the rest of the company had reported for work today, not a camera had turned. Elizabeth Taylor, his co-star, took it the hardest.
Crying unashamedly, she said: “I can’t believe it. I’m still stunned.”
Makeup men were unable to get her ready for shooting because of the tears. Dean, considered eccentric by some outsiders, was well-liked by the people with whom he worked. A nonconformist in the Brando tradition, he was hard to get to know. But those who knew him best all tagged him a nice fellow.
News of his death last night in a head-on highway collision spread quickly around town and chilled a plush Hollywood gathering at the annual deb star ball of the make-up artists, hair stylists and body make-up guilds.
By an ironic touch, Dean had taken out a full page ad in the ball program. It read simply: “Thanks, Hank. (signed) James Dean.” It was a touching and tragic tribute to Hank Villardo, Jimmy’s make-up man.
Not since the screen debut of Marlon Brando had any actor made such a bow as had Dean in “East of Eden.” Many critics tabbed it the male Oscar performance to beat.
Dean had burst on the local sports racing scene last spring at Palm Springs in what many thought was a publicity stunt. Driving like there was no tomorrow, he amazed thousands by winning the first race he ever entered.
As his fame for daring grew, his studio forbade him to enter any more races while working in “Giant.” He had intended to drive his station wagon north but changed his mind at the last minute and took the tiny racer. A friend said the studio ban had spurred him.
As he whizzed on State Highway 41, a 1950 Ford turned left off U.S. Highway 466. There was an almost head-on collision. Suffering from multiple arm fractures, internal injuries and a broken neck, Dean was alive when lifted into an ambulance but died en route to War Memorial Hospital in Paso Robles.
Here is a transcription of this article:
Dean Got Ticket Just before Death
Bakersfield, Cal., Oct. 2 (AP) – The State Highway Patrol disclosed today that Hollywood movie actor James Dean got a speeding ticket near here Friday less than two hours before he died in a head-on automobile crash near Paso Robles.
The citation, charging Dean with driving 65 miles an hour in a 45-mile zone of the winding grapevine grade ridge route road south of Bakersfield, apparently failed to slow him down.
Checking time of the citation with that of the fatal accident many miles to the north, officers reckoned the 24-year-old actor must have driven his Porsche Spider sports car all the way at an average speed of nearly 75 miles per hour.
Note: An online collection of newspapers, such as GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives, is not only a great way to learn about the lives of your ancestors – the old newspaper articles also help you understand American history and the times your ancestors lived in, and the news they talked about and read in their local papers, as well as our own time. Do you remember hearing the news of James Dean’s death? Please share your stories with us in the comments section.
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