Hollywood icon James Dean died at just 24 in a horrific crash behind the wheel of a sports car he had been warned was 'cursed'. The rising star had just completed work on his most significant film to date, which was released following his tragic accident.
Dean was the nation's most adored heartthrob throughout the 1950s, having captivated audiences in Rebel Without a Cause as a defiant teenager. Alongside his burgeoning career, his other great passion lay in race cars and motorsport.
Return to racing after filming
Throughout the filming of Giant, which proved to be a massive triumph, Warner Brothers had prohibited Dean from all racing activities for the entire summer – presumably to safeguard his wellbeing during production. Yet the moment filming concluded, the star wasted no time in getting back behind the wheel.
On September 21, as he was finishing his work on Giant, he opted to swap his Speedster for the considerably more powerful 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder. It was the car he had long wanted, and he promptly entered himself into the forthcoming Salinas Road Race scheduled for early October.
The fatal collision
During the process, Dean made an unusual yet amusing request to personalise the car, asking for the words "Little B******" to be painted on. The nickname had been bestowed upon him by stunt driver Bill Hickman, whom the actor had befriended on set.
In preparation for his upcoming race, he set off on the road alongside Hickman, photographer Sanford Roth, and Rolf Wütherich. On September 30, 1955, as the group travelled along U.S. Route 46 through California, they encountered a two-tone black and white 1950 Ford Tudor driven by 23 year old student Donald Turnupseed. The student was attempting to turn left onto Highway 41, directly in the path of the Porsche Dean was driving.
As the car crossed the centre line, Dean recognised the imminent danger and tried to avoid a crash using a 'side-stepping' racing manoeuvre. However, with insufficient time to react and no room to manoeuvre, the two cars collided almost head-on, fatally injuring the Hollywood star in the process.
Prophetic warning revealed
While the Porsche absorbed the worst of the impact, Dean suffered a broken neck, along with catastrophic internal and external injuries that proved fatal. Every other person involved in the incident walked away alive.
In a remarkable twist, it later emerged, decades afterwards, that another well-known figure had potentially foreseen these very events. In his 1985 autobiography Blessings in Disguise, British actor Alec Guinness revealed his prophetic warning about the young star's untimely death. According to him, he had forewarned Dean about what he considered to be the 'curse' surrounding his car the week before at a private dinner.
He recalled saying: "Please, never get in it. It is now ten o'clock, Friday the 23rd of September, 1955. If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week." The following Friday, he died behind the wheel.
Posthumous legacy
Following his tragic passing, the major films in which the young actor had taken on a leading role were subsequently released, cementing his legacy still further. His performance in East of Eden made him the first actor ever to receive a posthumous Oscar nomination for Best Actor. The year after, he was awarded a second nomination for his portrayal in Giant, the final film before his untimely death. This renders him the only actor in history to have received not one but two acting nominations after passing away.
