James Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder crashed head on with another car on this day.

Dean and his mechanic (his passenger), Rolf Wutherich, died.

Dean, 24, was a promising actor who had just started to attract a wide following.

In his first three motion picture roles he played the loner/outsider, a role for which he would forever be remembered.

He had starred in only three movies:

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

East of Eden (1955)

Giant (1956)