The talk and existence of the curses are nothing new, but something as mysterious as a car curse is definitely something that’s unique. Everyone is aware of the name James Dean, an American actor who captured eyes with his utterly beautiful features and had his admirers intrigued by his love for cars. His magnificent career ended shortly when he passed away in a brutal car crash. He is remembered for his roles as Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and Jett Rink in Giant (1956). After his death, he became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role in East of Eden. Years later, he also got nominated for his role in Giant and became the only actor with two posthumous acting nominations. He was young and gained so much freedom in just the early days of his career, and almost all of the audience started admiring his work.
James Dean’s Early Life
James was the only child of his parents, Mildred Marie (Wilson) and Winton Dean. James was enrolled in the Brentwood neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, but was transferred to McKinley Elementary School. He was very close to his mother, who died of Uterine Cancer when he was only nine years old; he was unable to care for his son, so he sent him to live with his uncle and aunt on their farm in Fairmount, Indiana. His father served in World War II and later remarried. James Dean was an exceptional student throughout his school life and was a popular student. He played baseball and varsity basketball teams, studied drama, and competed in public speaking through the Indiana High School Forensic Association. After graduation, he moved back to California and started living with his father and stepmother.
He enrolled at Santa Monica College to major in pre-law but later transferred to UCLA and moved his major to drama. While at UCLA, Dean was picked from a group of 350 actors to portray Malcolm in Macbeth. Later, he dropped out of UCLA to pursue a full-time career as an actor.
James Dean Death: A cursed car?
In 1955, on September 30th, James Dean was driving his brand new Porsche 550 Spyder to an auto rally in Salinas, California, when he got involved in a head-on collision that cost him his life when he was only 24 years old. They were driving westbound on Highway 466 when a 1950 Ford Tudor pulled out in front of them; the driver, a 23-year-old Donald Turnupseed, attempted to make a left turn onto Highway 41 but unfortunately, Turnupseed had already started to make his turn before he saw the Porsche traveling quickly toward him. Without any time to process what was actually happening, the two cars had a head-on collision.
In the accident, Turnupseed only suffered from minor surgeries, while Rolf Wuetherich, the passenger in the Porsche, was lucky to be thrown from the Porsche but suffered from serious head injuries and a broken leg, but he survived the car crash. However, James Dean lost his life at the time of the wreck.
Curse or Coincidence?
When James Dean bought his Porsche 550 Spyder and went to show it to his friend Alec Guinness in Los Angeles. James came to visit him one week before the accident; after the accident, he wrote in his diary that Little Bastard (the name that James Dean called his Porsche 550 Spyder) looked sinister to him, exhausted, and hungry despite Dean’s kindness. He also wrote that he couldn’t recognize his own voice when he said that he would be found dead by this time the next week if he sat in that car and warned Dean about it, but he laughed it off. Unfortunately, a young talent froze when James Dean passed away in a fatal car crash the very next week. Most people presumed that it was a mere coincidence and could happen to anyone.
Until after, CHP didn’t need the car anymore for the display and decided to sell it partially. He sold the engine and the chassis to the two doctors who were racing enthusiasts; the two tires were sold to a young New Yorker who was also a racing enthusiast. On October 21, 1956, the doctors decided to test their race car that was carrying the engine and shared the same fate; the incident wasn’t as spooky until the New Yorker who bought tires died when the tires blew up, and that car ended up in an eerily similar way to James Dean’s death car.
