However, contrary to popular belief, this is not the actual intersection where the accident occurred. Turnupseed was a 23 year old college student at Cal Poly State University when driving eastbound on Route 466 (later renamed Route 46) when attempting to. According to the postmortem report, it is believed that Dean's head impacted with the front grill of the other car. At, Regarding the James Dean crash: My father with the attending physician for, James Dean's last words: "That guy's got to stop! An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. "That's something that bothered him his whole life. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Behind is the Ford station wagon and trailer that carried Bill Hickman and Sanford Roth The above photo is supposedly the last photo of James Dean before the crash. Today, the intersection has been widened and theres a left-turn lane to access Highway 41 requiring a stop and a 90-degree turn. Dean became a cultural icon immediately after his death. Details of James Deans last hours on earth have been well documented but are worth revisiting. Donald Turnupseed. In it, Dean fiddles nervously with a rope lasso and ends the spot by saying, Take it easy driving the life you save may be mine. Stephanie survived. Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? Hickman and Roth arrived at the scene approximately ten minutes after the crash. Turnupseed's car crossed into Dean's lane while making a left turn. As the best I remember at the Highway 41/46 split Turnipseed had the rightof way and Dean had an arterial stop sign. Hickman, following the Spyder in Deans Ford woodie station wagon pulling the trailer, was also ticketed for driving 20 mph over the limit, as the speed limit for all vehicles towing a trailer was 45 mph. ____ in a ____ zone? I wonder if I am the only one laughing at that parenthetical comment. Donald Turnupseed continued to live a relatively normal life after the accident. He died while still filming Giant but its release confirmed his star status. As I remember the Highway 41/46 junction. They stopped at a nearby Mobil station on Ventura Blvd. Don witnessed the tragic crash alongside his brother-in-law, and said: "James Dean was sitting on the left side facing us, on the passenger side" but . The simulation appeared to me to be using the highway layout as itexisted in 1955, as compared to contemporary photographs. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. The James Dean car accident occurred on September 30, 1955, when James Dean was driving his Porsche 550 Spyder to a race in Salinas, California. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. The fates of race car mechanic Rolf Wutherich, college student Donald Turnipseed, and a Porche Spyder 550 A all converged about a mile East of Cholame, California, at 5:30 p.m. on I would have loved to have known him more. Would you expect any less from Obi-Wan Kenobi? Some claim that the source of that curse was none other than iconic Pop Culture car creator known as the King of the Kustomizers, George Barris. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. The Porsche crested Polonio Pass and headed west down Route 466s long Antelope Grade, passing cars along the way while heading straight toward the junction of Route 41. Dean and Wtherich weren't as lucky as Turnupseed. Two Friendly Ghosts: Directed by Parker Ellerman. Donald Trump famously said he borrowed just $1m from his father to get started in business - the NYT says he received more than $400m Oops, something didn't work. The road shimmers along this route, making it hard to tell where the road ends and the horizon begins. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Mr Dooley, now 65, was 15 when he saw Dean's frail Porsche demolished, leaving it little more than a mangled mass of. In fact, the new recreation of the crash has determined that Dean's body, which took the full force of the impact, was flung into the passenger seat by the other car in the collision. See Photos of Your Favorite Stars Going Topless, Lets Go to the Beach! at the very same intersection where the accident occurred. Dean was the unwilling recipient of a steering wheel and dash, while his luckier passenger was ejected from the car. . . 90 Day Fiance Stars Weve Lost Over the Years, Still Together? A week after that dinner at the Villa Capri, James Dean was dead. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. While it wasn't technically seen in any movies, actor James Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder (affectionately known as Little Bastard) could be the most iconic, and cursed car Hollywood has ever seen. See Photos of Joy-Anna Duggars Baby Bump as She Expects Baby No. Dean was traveling at a moderate speed estimated to be around 55-60 mph on this isolated road, with the sun in his eyes. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. This evidence consists of where> the cars came to rest, and the level of damage they sustained in the> collision. 23-year-old Donald Turnupseed, the driver of the Ford Tudor, had been traveling east on Highway 466 and was attempting to make a left turn onto Highway 41. He left Blackwells Corner with Rolf Wtherich, the Porsche mechanic, and sped away, leaving his mates behind. When he reached the Route 41 junction, he went to take a left turn - not noticing the small silver Porsche headed in the opposite direction. The accident scene is approximately 100 feet to the south of the current intersection, where the road used to be. 'Our father was the attorney for Donald Turnupseed. Barris welded aluminum sheet metal over the caved-in left front fender and cockpit. Dean and Wtherich traveled in the same ambulance to the Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital, 28 miles away. The impact sent the Ford almost 40 feet down the road and ejected Wtherich from the Porsche. Thanks for your help! "Ididn't see him coming," Turnupseed said. Guinness and Moss followed Dean to the restaurant, but before they reached the door, Dean stopped and said, Id like to show you something. Years later, Guinness recalled There in the courtyard of this little restaurant was this little silver thing, very smart, all done up in cellophane with a bunch of roses tied to its bonnet. The young method actor told his new British star, Its just been delivered, said Dean I havent even been in it at all. Guinness thought the car looked sinister. "They had a chance to fix it beforedown time.". 46 toward the junction. At the end of the 1955 interview, Dean said, "Take it easy on the highway, the life you save may be mine." Martin Luther King You're disagreeing with Exponent's findings based on something thatdidn't happen at the scene, viz., that Dean had gotten a speedingticket two hours (not one hour) before. Like many a Hoosier youth, I too had my James Dean phase. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. It just died. He and his passenger, mechanic Rolf Wtherich, slammed into the Ford driven by 23 year old Donald Turnupseed. This display is what disappeared supposedly after returning from a Miami show in 1960. Despite a million-dollar reward for information being offered in 2005, Little Bastards whereabouts remain unknown. It didnt slow Dean down one bit. "It was never establishedwhose fault it was. In order for > James Dean to be moving at any significant speed he had to have run the stop > sign and then into the right side of Turnipseed's car.> > Later, the intersection was realigned to make the Highway 46 straight > through and at present Highway 41 has a left turn lane directly facing the > oncoming Hwy 46 traffic. Mildly customized 1950 Ford owned by Donald Turnupseed. PARTII, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Curse of James Dean. Hunter at Mettler Station on Wheeler Ridge, just south of Bakersfield, for driving 65 mph in a 55 mph zone. James Dean Crash site 'Red Ruby Da Sleeze' Lyrics, 'Teen Mom' Alum Ryan Edwards Has a Long Criminal History: Timeline, Is Kim Zolciak-Biermann's Mansion in Foreclosure? The fates of race car mechanic Rolf Wutherich, college student Donald Turnipseed, and a Porche Spyder 550 A all converged about a mile East of Cholame, California, at 5:30 p.m. on September 30, 1955. . There are no volunteers for this cemetery. memorial page for Barbara Lee Hoffman Turnupseed (9 Mar 1933-18 Apr 1977), Find a Grave Memorial ID 26766722, citing Tulare Cemetery, Tulare, Tulare County . I do think a look at the level of damage sustained by the cars doeslead away from the old story that Dean was doing 100 or more at thetime of the crash. There is a problem with your email/password. This is a carousel with slides. I drove that intersection many times as I made the trip. My new vlog YouTube link is in the bio. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. One shot is of Turnupseed's wrecked Ford Tudor sedan, which collided with Dean's car almost head-on; the other two show the shattered remains of Dean's 1955 Porsche . Donald Turnupseed, the Tulare man who quietly built a family businessand endeavored to maintain his privacy after being involved in the caraccident that killed actor James Dean four decades ago, has died at age63. The driver of that car was a college student by the name of Donald Turnupseed and he was only injured in the crash. which presents an alternative history that tells us what might have happened if Dean had survived the crash. The day was beginning to fade, and only a black-and-white Ford Tudor car, driven by Donald Turnupseed, a 23-year-old student, was traveling in the opposite direction on 466. 131, A charged debate: Battery maintenance tech explained. 1128138816.@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com, 1128163290.@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Its driver, 23-year-old Navy Veteran and Cal Poly student Donald Turnupseed, suddenly turned in front of the Porsche to take the left fork onto Route 41. Dean was driving directly intothe sun. . It is a small chunk of aluminum, a few square inches in size, that was allegedly pried off and stolen from an area near the broken windscreen while the Spyder was being stored in the Cholame Garage after the crash. Allegedly, James Deans last words, uttered right after Wtherich warned Dean to slow down as the Ford Tudor rolled into their lane just before the impact were, That guys gotta stop Hell see us. Copyright 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. To use this feature, use a newer browser. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. He then beat on the aluminum panels with a 24 to try to mimic collision damage. . It is not known exactly how Barris knew Eschrich, but in late-1956, Barris announced that he would rebuild the Porsche. At the Pomona Sports Car Races on October 21, 1956, Eschrich, driving this car, was involved in a minor scrape with another driver. Turnupseed kept a low profile after the accident. Turnupseed was only slightly injured with facial bruises and a bloody nose. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Required fields are marked *. PARTI. The Roloff Familys Bathing Suit Photos, Meet Return to Amishs Sabrinas Newborn: Cutest Photos of Baby No. "You could never get close to Don." James Dean and Donald Turnupseed, the man whose car killed Dean, meet again for the first time . "You've got to stop," James Dean told Weuterich when he saw Ford's maneuver. The car landed in a crumpled heap with Dean still inside. We didnt like him because he had all of the girls in the room fawning all over him and we couldnt get a dance. they said.