James Dean accident 9-30-1955 at the intersection of Highway 41 and 446.Photo by Sanford Roth, courtesy Seita Ohnishi
I attended the 50th anniversary of the fatal crash September 30, 2005.
It was a surreal scene, replica cars, a James Dean impersonator and the actor’s fans arrived at the memorial in Cholame then drove to the remote intersection where the accident took place.
Rick Young of Los Angeles closes one eye and tries to line up a photographic transparency of the James Dean accident with the hills above James Dean Junction. This was the 50th anniversary of the fatal crash. David Middlecamp 9-30-5
Fans walked along with little children on the busy highways trying to get closer to an icon who had died before many of them had been born. Dean had made only three movies and would become an icon in the years after the accident. One fan had made a transparency of the accident photo and tried to line it up with the hills. The actual accident site on September 30, 1955 is today a ranch field, the highway has been realigned for decades.
When the time of the accident was at hand a replica car drove west on Highway 46 to the junction with Highway 41. The low slung silver Porsche reflected the sky blending with the roadway, almost invisible to my eyes. Sunlight was almost straight in the Porsche driver’s eyes has the car came downhill to the anticipated relief of shade in the valley floor.
In today’s celebrity culture the story would have a more prominent piece of real estate on the front page. Mixed in on A-1 with 14 other stories, weather, events calendar and a photo was the result of the investigation into the accident that killed James Dean.
The story contains an error, Donald G. Turnupseed was the driver of the car that collided with Dean’s.
Jury Finds
Dean Death
Accidental
October 11, [1955]
PASO ROBLES, Oct. 11– After deliberating only 24 minutes a verdict of “accidental death with no criminal intent” was returned in the coroner’s inquest into the death of movie star James Dean here this morning.
Returning the verdict was Don Orcutt Sr., foreman.
The Jury went out at 12:27p.m. to deliberate after hearing testimony of California highway patrolman O. Hunter of Bakersfield. Hunter made the arrest of Dean near Bakersfield on highway 99 for speeding at 3:30 p.m., two hours before the fatal accident occurred.
Hunter fixed the distance from the place where he had given Dean a speeding ticket to the intersection of highway 41 and 466 where the movie star collided with the car of Harold Turnupseed, 24-year-old Cal Poly student of Tulare, at 108 miles.
Tom Frederick of Shandon told of driving in back of the Turnupseed car which was coming off highway 41.
Fredericks, a Shandon bee keeper and his brother-in-law, Donald Dooley, were traveling east when Turnupseed passed them at 60 miles an hour, the testimony brought out. Turnupseed slowed down to less than 40 miles an hour before he came to the intersection where the accident occurred.
Fredericks said that Turnupseed appeared to attempt to get out of the path of the oncoming sports car.
Dooley, who took the stand at his own request and Fredericks testified that Wuetherich had been the driver of the car. They said that Wuetherich had on a red tee shirt while Dean was wearing a white tee shirt.
Wuetherich, now in a Glendale hospital, is unable to speak English but his statements were taken through an interpreter the Rev. M.J. Galle of the First Mennonite church of Paso Robles.
Wuetherich said they had stopped at Blackwell’s corner for a soft drink and an apple while coming over 466 from Bakersfield. He said they stopped for Approximately 15 minutes.
According to the coroner’s inquest this fixed the speed of Dean’s car at 85 to 86 miles per hour.
You’ll have to look up the rest of the story on microfilm…it jumps to page 2 at this point.
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Another great post David,
I was 7 years old and living in Morro Bay at the time of the accident. I dont remember anything about it at the time, but I do remember seeing the tangled mass of aluminum a year or two later at the (then)County fair in Paso Robles. The CHP was touring the wreck around to all the county fairs and Im sure other public gatherings to emphasize “Speed Kills.” Didn’t seem to do much good as we continued to loose 50K plus per year in the US for many years, although safety equipment and education has gotten it down to the 35K level in present day.
Sadly, the car, like its enigmatic owner, seems to have dissappeared also. Depending on the story you read, it came up missing from an owners garage, or, my favorite, dissappeared from the inside of a closed transporter while in transit to a new owner in 1989.
Joe Dunlap
To David Middlecamp, re James Dean Crash:-
The mention of Rolf Wuetherich (Dean’s co-driver when he died) brought back a local connection. The late Dr. George Nedleman who retired to Cambria in 90s (and joined our local OFBC bicyle club) recounted that while he was at Dental School in L.A., Rolf was brought into the Oral and Maxillofacial unit for treatment of the head and facial injuries he sustained.
He remembered Rolf’s limited english and his face injuries made for difficult patient/doctor
communications…thks for your article..Peter Chaldecott
Thanks for sharing the information Peter and Joe.
Sadly we still get speed related accidents on that road over 50 years later. Safety equipment and medical advances have improved the traveler’s odds but accidents on that road still tend to be the worst kind.
Whatever happened to the 50 ford of Turnupseed? Why isn’t there more information on this guy and how the accident changed his life????
Here’s the findagrave memorial page for Mr. Turnupseed;
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10990655
James Dean was not speeding. He was only doing about 55 miles an hour. Turnupseed was at fault, trying to make a left turn while wavering around. Turnupseed admitted, shortly before his death, that HE DID SEE Dean’s Porsche, but he was distracted and dreaming about Doris Day while listening to her singing a song on his car radio ! Dean’s last words were— ” He’s got to see us ! ” And, THIS took away the beautiful, gifted, irreplaceable Jimmy Dean ! ARRGH !!!!!!!!!!!
Don Turnupseed was a Cal Poly student heading home to see his wife when the crash occurred. He gave one published interview, when a reporter from his hometown paper interviewed him. After authorities completed their accident report and the wrecks were towed west to Cholame, Turnupseed was on his own — literally on the side of the road at the junction of Highway 41 and then Highway 466. He threw out his thumb and caught a ride home. Former Tribune reporter Carol Roberts interviewed the driver who gave Turnupseed a lift. The Dean crash is a pretty sad tale. Dean died. And Turnupseed will forever be linked to the crash and Dean’s death. The fallout of that accident still casts a shadow over his name.
As previous poster Antoinette has said, Turnupseed was responsible for the collision. The speed ‘guestimates’ made at the time were laughable, based primarily on the assumption that James Dean had to be speeding because he ‘had a previous ticket’ and was driving a ‘flimsy’ foreign Porsche. Whereas Turnupseed, by comparison, in his sturdy, down-to-earth all-American Ford coupe was obviously driving sensibly. Such a waste of a great embryonic and charismatic talent.
As tragic as this crash was, is there anyone who can look at the condition of that Porsche after the crash and still believe that it was traveling at 55 mph? Even a head on with a turning car wouldn’t cause that much damage, unless the Spyder was travelling much faster than 55.
As an example of crash damage based on speed of impact, two cars travelling at 50 mph in a head on would be the equivalent of a single car going into a brick wall at 100 mph. Depending upon the angle of incidence at the time of impact between two ‘differently’ weighted and constructed vehicles, I have no problem whatsoever in believing that the damage was consistent with the speed of impact which occurred.
From the original story, “According to the coroner’s inquest this fixed the speed of Dean’s car at 85 to 86 miles per hour.”
Turnupseed was turning, unlikely he was traveling at 50 mph on the primitive highway though his heavier Ford would have more mass in the collision.
Again from the original story, “Turnupseed slowed down to less than 40 miles an hour before he came to the intersection where the accident occurred.”
Guessing from the photo there were two impacts, the first with the truck and the second with the utility pole.
Those witnessed the a replica car at the junction on an anniversary at the same time as the accident can see how hard the low slung Porsche is to locate visually. The sun is low, directly in the eyes of a westbound driver creating the worst visual conditions for the Porsche driver. I am inclined to agree with the jury. Jay Thompson wrote and extensive series of articles marking the 50th anniversary of the accident. I’ll work on republishing those soon.
About 12:30 p.m. on on 9/30/1955 I was driving my 1941 Chevrolet westward on that highway after exiting Hwy 99 as I headed to my hometown Watsonville from Pasadena. I had finished up 3 semesters at The Art Center School in L.A. after studying photography, but ran out of money. It was later that I heard James Dean was behind me 4-5 hours on that same intersection – killed on his way to a Salinas sports car race that weekend, blinded by the setting sun. Then in 1964-68 I became a T-T news photographer, driving my 1962 Porsche for pleasure and work. A fact that means nothing. Too bad I wasn’t near there at that very hour…he’d had to slow down for my little old Chevy going the same way at about 55 mph, and maybe would have had a longer life.
even though the article may not be accurate i looked up Turnupspeed on the link you posted. if you click on the pix there is another picture of the crash from the opposite direction. my question is, is that supposed to be Dean’s body on the ground? if so it certainly gave me goosebumps!!! i did not read if perhaps dean was split? sorry to use a harsh word, but the pic is very chilling. i continued looking and other people saw what i saw but in the pic you posted in between the legs of the man in the black shirt.
Amanda, where is the other picture that you’re talking about? I can see what you are talking about in the one on this page, but I can’t see what you’re talking about on the other page.
James Dean was not ejected from his Spyder. His mechanic, Rolf Wuetherich, was.
that’s not Dean on the ground. That’s his German mechanic. The mechanic lived. Dean was still in the car slumped over onto the passenger side and out of the camera view.
The photo Amanda is referring to on the Turnupseed link is not taken from the other side. It’s a reversed image.
And yes, that’s Dean’s mechanic on the ground.He was thrown out of the car. Dean was pinned in the car. His foot was caught in one of the pedals and he laying towards the passenger side.
I have seen one photo taken at night from the passenger side of Dean’s car when it was being loaded on a flatbed truck. I came across it on one of the related Dean websites about six months ago.
Regardng Turnupseed, it’s interesting that he was never charged with vehicular manslaughter. All reports of the accident would certainly indicate he was clearly at fault.
Another point of interest is when he was interviewed, he never expressed any particular remorse as to what happened.
The other thing that seems odd is he remained in Tulare the rest of his life. As he never wanted to talk about the accident, you would think he’d have wanted to leave the area or at least change his last name.
That’s a hell of a thing to go through life always being known as the man responsible for the death of James Dean.
My understanding his kids live in the same area. Sadly, they too will have carry that burden around about their father’s “claim to fame”.
Regarding Joe’s comments about the disappearance of Dean’s Spyder. . .
Most of the major mechanical parts were sold off not long after the accident. (The motor and transaxle are presently accounted for) Famed auto customizer George Barris, ended up with the body. While it’s true he sort of patched it up and toured the “James Dean Death Car” around the county fair circut for a few years.
As he always liked to get as much publicity as possible, he fabricated many of stories about the car. The “disappearance” of the car was just another of those stories. As of the early 1970′s Barris still had the Spyder body. He may still have it though by now it’s likely been destroyed.
Interesting how everyone has their own ideas about how and why the accident happened. The latest Wikipedia “James Dean” has very factual and updated account of the accident on 9-30-55 at the CA 46/41 Junction east of Cholame. And also discredits much of the ‘cure of the Little Bastard’ after Dean’s death. Here’s somethings to think about: What was the actual route Dean took….thru Bakersfield or the short cut ‘racers road 99 to 133 to 466 at Blackwells Corner? 2. who was driving? How fast was Dean and Don Turnupseed going? Who was at fault? Should Don Turnupseed been charged with vehicular manslaughter? Who actually purchased the wrecked Spyder after Dean’s death. Did George Barris make up stories about the ‘curse’ and disappearance of the Spyder? Check Wikipedia out. Also take a looke at “James Dean At Speed..which is the foremost authority on James Dean’s racing and his death. Lee Raskin, James Dean and Porsche historian and author.
I have a question. It was said that the photo on the Find A Grave link was a “reversed photo” of the one included in this article and not a photo from the other side. My questions is, wouldn’t you be able to see the mechanic’s face in pic #1 (pic in this article and the mechanic being the one on the ground), like you can in pic #2 (the one on Turnupseed’s memorial) but the face would appear to be looking the other way? And I noticed that the man on our left, leaning into the car appears to be standing up more. The medic in the dark shirt is bent over the gurney in pic 1 while he is more erect in pic 2. While I think it is reversed, I believe that it is another photo in succession. Again, I am not “questioning” anyone, I am honestly asking a question. And Amanda, I thought the same thing when I first looked at the photos. Funny thing about “optical allusions”. Thanks.
Interestingly, every year on Sept. 30th — James Dean devotees gather at the Cholame Monument and at the James Dean Memorial Junction to commemorate the death of James Dean at 5:45 p.m. However, in 1955, California did not have Daylight Savings Time. So, the actual time of the James Dean/Donald Turnupseed accident on today’s clock would really be — 6:45 p.m. DST….when the sun is lower in the western sky, casting a shadow over the hillside onto the 46/41 Junction — exactly how it was when James Dean’s Spyder came roaring through the Polonio Pass and down the long grade to the valley floor — on the road to Salinas.
Lee Raskin, James Dean/Porsche historian and author, James Dean At Speed (Amazon.com)
To answer Linda’s question. Yes, photographer Sanford Roth, who was accompanying James Dean on the trip to Salinas in Dean’s Ford station wagon — arrived at the 466/41 Junction approximately 10 minutes after the accident. Roth took many B&W photos in succession. In this photo, Dean’s passenger, mechanic Rolf Wutherich, is lying injured on the ground next to James Dean’s bucket seat which broke loose from it floor mounting. Paul Moreno (white shirt) and ‘Buster’ Davidson (‘polo’ shirt) are the two ambulance attendants next to the gurney. Individual standing next to Wutherich in jeans and black tee-shirt is a witness to the accident, Donald Dooley — not Donald Turnupseed as often reported. The person removing items from the wrecked Spyder is Jerry Chesbrough, a motorsports journalist that was driving with Johnny von Neumann, the owner of Competition Motors; both were on the same 466 route — going to the Salinas races. They stopped to take out personal items from the Spyder. This photo is under copyright and should be credited to Sanford Roth/Seita Ohnishi. Lee Raskin, James Dean/Porsche historian
[...] route took a speeding Dean through some beautiful rural areas of California. It would be Dean’s last drive. At about 5:45 [...]
“That’s a hell of a thing to go through life always being known as the man responsible for the death of James Dean.”
Not really. If you know it was an accident, and that Dean was going 80-85 mph (and he was), you get on with your life. Turnipseed inherited his family’s electrical business and built it into a multimillion dollar enterprise. Good for him. I’m sorry so many of you people would rather it had been a farmer killed instead of James Dean, but that’s the way it goes.
And this…
“Turnupseed admitted, shortly before his death, that HE DID SEE Dean’s Porsche, but he was distracted and dreaming about Doris Day while listening to her singing a song on his car radio !”
…is pure insanity.