Shortly after completing work on his third starring feature film, producer-director
George Steven’s Giant (1956), actor James Dean and his passenger, mechanic
Rolf Wutherich, started out on a trip to Salinas, California in Dean’s silver Porsche
(above) to compete in a sports car rally. As Dean was traveling down the highway,
he crashed almost head-on into a Ford sedan (shown below) that had crossed into
Dean’s lane in an attempt to turn at an intersection in the highway. Dean was killed instantly. Wutherich and the driver of the other vehicle, 23-year-old college student
Donald Turnupseed survived. Dean was only 24.

Junction of US Highways 46 and 41 near Cholame, CA. (2007)

The remains of Dean’s Porsche

The 1950 Ford Custom sedan, driven by Turnupseed 

      
       
     Gene Autry  (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998)

Gene Autry gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on radio, in the movies
and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s. His
signature song was "Back in the Saddle Again”, but he is best known today
for his Christmas songs, “Here Comes Santa Clause”, “Frosty the Snowman”,
and his biggest hit, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.

Autry was also the owner of the Los Angeles/California Angels Major League
Baseball team from 1961 to 1997, a television station and several radio stations
in Southern California. On September 1, 1962, he bought Portland’s KEX radio 
from the Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. as part of his company, Golden West 
Broadcasters, Inc. He is a member of both the Country Music and Nashville Song 
writers halls of Fame and was recently made a member of the Baseball Hall of 
Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Jim Abbott and Gene Autry in the Angels dugout in 1990 

Brigitte (Anne-Marie) Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress
and singer, and animal rights activist. In her early life, Bardot was an
aspiring ballet dancer. She started her acting career in 1952. Bardot
retired from the entertainment industry in 1973. During her show career in
show business , Bardot starred in 47 films, performed in numerous musical
shows, and recorded 80 songs. She has since established herself as an
animal rights activist.

2009 release

(1949)

Singer and actress Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge, England
and raised in Australia. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has
made five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two
No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. She co-starred with John Travolta in
the film version of the Broadway musical, Grease, which featured one
of the most successful film soundtracks in the history of Hollywood.