24-year-old actor James Dean is killed in Cholame, California. Dean’s passenger, German Porsche mechanic Rolf Wütherich was badly injured but survived. Only one of Dean’s movies, “East of Eden,” had been released at the time of his death (“Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant” opened shortly afterward), but he was already on his way to superstardom-- the crash made him a legend. This the car Dean was killed in and more then likely the mechanic that was with him Photo is a 1955 PORSCHE 550 SPYDER
