It Was 50 Years Ago Today: James Dean's Unfortunate Demise

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Our boy Big Rick Stuart of KFOG who we used to listen to on Live 105 back when we the were the young Bay Area collegiate type hipped us to the fact that today, in fact, is the anniversary of archetypical actor/gearhead James Dean's fatal run-in with Donald Turnipseed's Ford near tiny Cholame, California. If you're planning on being lonely and single like us tonight, skip playing that Silver Jews CD for the umpteenth time while drowning your sorrows in buttermilk and go out and rent Giant instead. Check out Dean's last performance as wildcat oilman Jett Rink, get googly over Liz Taylor's mad hotness, and scope the gorgeous Lincoln Capri droptop Dean's rollin' in at the end. If nothing else, the man was the ultimate example of Neil Young's dictum, "It's better to burn out than to fade away," Cobain be damned.

Related:
Li'l Bastard, Where Art Thou? Auto Museum Offers a Cool Mil for Dean's Porsche [Internal]