James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film,
Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in
East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in
Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rest on his performances in only these three films.
Dean's premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status. He became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 17th best male movie star on their AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.
In 1954, Dean became interested in developing an auto racing career. He purchased various vehicles after filming for
East of Eden had concluded, including a Triumph Tiger T110 and a Porsche 356. Just before filming began on
Rebel Without a Cause, he competed in his first professional event at the Palm Springs Road Races, which was held in Palm Springs, California on March 26–27, 1955. Dean achieved first place in the novice class, and second place at the main event. His racing continued in Bakersfield a month later, where he finished first in his class and third overall. Dean hoped to compete in the Indianapolis 500, but his busy schedule made this vision impossible.
Dean's final race occurred in Santa Barbara on Memorial Day, May 30, 1955. He was unable to finish the competition due to a blown piston. His brief career was put on hold when Warner Brothers barred him from all racing during the production of
Giant. Dean had finished shooting his scenes and the movie was in post-production when he decided to race again.
Longing to return to the "liberating prospects" of motor racing, Dean was scheduled to compete at a racing event in Salinas, California on September 30, 1955. Accompanying the actor to the occasion was stunt coordinator Bill Hickman, Collier's photographer Sanford Roth, and Rolf Wütherich, the German mechanic from the Porsche factory who maintained Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder "Little Bastard" car. Wütherich, who had encouraged Dean to drive the car from Los Angeles to Salinas to break it in, accompanied Dean in the Porsche. At 3:30 p.m., both Dean and Hickman, who were driving behind the Porsche, were ticketed for speeding.
As the group traveled to the event via U.S. Route 466, at approximately 5:15 p.m. a 1950 Ford Tudor made a hesitant attempt to turn away from an intersection, placing him at the center of the road. Dean, unable to stop in time, slammed into the driver's quadrant of the Ford Tudor, and zipped across the pavement onto the side of the highway. The driver, Donald Turnupseed, exited his damaged vehicle with minor injuries. Wütherich had catapulted from the severely mangled Porsche, while a trapped Dean sustained numerous fatal injuries, including a broken neck. The accident was witnessed by a number of passersby who stopped to help. A woman with nursing experience attended to Dean and detected a weak pulse, but "death appeared to have been instantaneous". Dean was pronounced dead on arrival shortly after he arrived by ambulance at the Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital at 6:20 p.m.
Though initially slow to reach newspapers in the Eastern United States, details of Dean's death rapidly spread via radio and television. By October 2, his death had received significant coverage from domestic and foreign media outlets. Dean's funeral was held on October 8, 1955 at the Fairmount Friends Church in Fairmount, Indiana. The coffin remained closed to conceal his mutilated corpse. An estimated 600 mourners were in attendance, while another 2400 fans gathered outside of the building during the procession.
An inquest into Dean's death occurred three days later at the Paso Robles City Hall, where a coroner's jury delivered a verdict that he was entirely at fault due to speeding, and that Turnupseed was innocent of any criminal act. However, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times of October 1, 2005, a former California Highway Patrol officer who had been called to the scene, Ron Nelson, said the "wreckage and the position of Dean's body indicated his speed at the time of the accident was more like 55 mph".
