ジェームズ・ディーンコミュの50TH ANNIVERSARY

はじめまして。
命日も知らなかったファンですが、子供の頃からずっと好きだったので、彼の死を思う時、自分の年が彼の生きた時間を過ぎた事に少なからず感慨を覚えます。
変わり者さんを真似て、今日は少し彼のことを考えて、寝る前にお空に向かって手をあわせてみようかな〜。

初めまして。中３の時からﾌｧﾝです。１１月５日に発売した50TH ANNIVERSARYのＤＶＤﾎﾞｯｸｽも買ぃました。

私の車には、ジミーのポストカードを飾っていて、毎年、命日には花を供えてました。

だいぶレスが遅れてすみません。

えっとこの記事'05 Sep 26,の National Postというカナダの全国紙に載っていた記事です。

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/index.html

記事が載ってるか調べてみましたが、見つけられませんでした。

記事全文載せておきます。

SPEED DIDN’T KILL DEAN: DOCUMENTARY

50TH ANNIVERSARY

New research shows actor was traveling 30 km/h slower than inquest finding.

BY OLGA CRAIG

LONDON For James Dean fans it has been the ultimate unsolved riddle. Just who was behind the wheel the day the actor, only 24, died?
For 50 years since his death in a car crash on Sept. 30, 1955, Dean has been portrayed as a daredevil driver whose speeding and recklessness on the road caused his own death. Now, new evidence has emerged providing that not only was Dean driving safety, but at a much lower speed than was believed at the time.

It has long been part of Hollywood lore that Dean, with his passion for fast cars and reputation for rebellious behavior, was driving his high-power Porsche Spyder 550 when he and Rolf Weutherich, a mechanic, smashed into another car on a California highway.

Now, a groundbreaking documentary by British television network has unearthed evidence that Dean, contrary to what was said at the inquest into his death, was traveling at just over 110 km/h, up to 30 km/h slower than was claimed. It reveals that Dean braked hard, trying to avoid the car that cut in front pf him, rather than using the throttle to accelerate around it, as was alleged at the time.

Using sophisticated computer technology, the makers of the Day That James Dean Died conclude that it was in deed Dean who was behind the wheel.

But while the evidence seems concrete, the last surviving witness to the crash, Don Dooley, still insists that it was Mr. Weutherich, the mechanic, who was driving, not Dean himself.

Dean, who died from a broken neck and massive internal injuries, had made just three films before he died and only East of Eden had been released. But his tragic death made him front-page news and when Rebel Without a Cause came out a month after his death he became – and American icon, his mood good looks and his rebellious disdain for authority defining the youth of post-war America. He died while still filming the movie version of Edna Ferber’s epic novel, Giant, but its release confirmed his star status.

Mr. Dooley, Now, 65, was 15 when he saw Dean’s frail Porsche demolished, leaving it little more than a mangled mass of metal. It was so badly damaged that police officers at the scene described it as “looking like it exploded.”

Mr. Dooley and his brother-in-low narrowly avoided being caught up in the crash. When Dean’s car finally came to a stand still Mr. Dooley ran over to help.

“James Dean was sitting on the left side facing us, in the passenger side,” he insists. “The man in the plaid shirt, the mechanic, was doing the driving.”

The documentary-makers, however, using sophisticated modern technology, have now determined that Dean’s body, which took the full force of the impact, was pushed into the passenger’s seat by the other car in the collision, Donald Turnupseed’s coupe.

At the inquest Mr. Dooley’s account was discounted; he was told he had an “untrained eye.” But despite the new evidence, he is still convinced it was not the Hollywood legend who was driving that day.

“That is what I saw,” he says. “The things I say, I say truthfully out of memory. I have nothing to gain by lying about it.”

The inquest findings were confusing, complicated by conflicting testimonies. But Mr. Trunupseed was exonerated, leaving Dean as the one who most likely caused the crash.

The one person who could have solved the enduring mystery, the mechanic Weutherich, was too badly injured to attend the inquest.

When he recovered, he returned to his native Germany and never spoke of the crash. He died in another car crash in 1981.

Dean’s death transformed his status from that of a promising young actor into an enduring icon. But he is often remembered as much for his reckless passion for speed as his film career.

Many at the time thought the Porsche Spyder was too high powered for him and indeed, days before he died Alec Guinness, the actor, had a premonition that he would die behind its wheel. Dean had bumped into Guinness at the Villa Capri, a Hollywood hangout.

He was so proud of the car that he insisted upon showing it to Guinness.
Dean, a self-confession speed freak, laughed off the suggestion. There was no way he could have known that Guinness’s warning would become a chilling reality.

あ、それと一番最初の書き込みに重要な内容は書きませんでした。

自分自身あんまり信じたくなかったもので．．．。

今日はJames Deanの命日ですね。