Overview

• On Sept. 30, 1955, Dean, 24, died after his Porsche 550 Spyder collided almost head-on with a Ford when Donald Turnupseed turned left at Highways 41 and 466 near Cholame.
• He was pronounced dead on arrival at Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital; his passenger, mechanic Rolf Wütherich, survived with serious injuries, while Turnupseed had minor injuries.
• Dean was driving to a Salinas race, and witnesses at the scene said he was not speeding there, though he had received a speeding ticket earlier that afternoon in Bakersfield.
• The anniversary pieces revisit his brief filmography—East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, Giant—and his unprecedented two posthumous Best Actor Oscar nominations.
• Commemorations include ongoing preservation at the Fairmount museum and a recently refurbished monument near Cholame funded originally by fan Seita Ohnishi.