The Last Day of James Dean - Final Drive & Crash Site / 1955 Ride Route Locations From Los Angeles
James Dean Final Drive
Transcript
0:03
today's adventure begins in hollywood
0:03
california
0:04
right here on vine street on a very
0:06
mellow sunday morning as a recording of
0:08
this
0:09
august 1st 2021
0:13
and right in this very spot where i'm
0:16
standing
0:17
is where james dean picked up his sports
0:19
car
0:21
and went on his final ride
0:30
would have been parked right here
0:30
the building that once stood has been
0:32
replaced
0:33
but as you can see
0:38
it appears as if the one here on the
0:38
corner is either similar
0:42
or the new one is in the same format as
0:47
the original from 1955
0:50
corner of la mirada ave
0:54
what i'm referring to
0:58
is just past the car behind his
1:02
and the tow truck well the tow mechanism
1:05
is that little corner building right
1:08
there
1:10
now an antique pawn shop there also used
1:13
to be the ranch market
1:15
which was over at the office depot
1:23
on that side of the road sitting next to
1:23
him was his mechanic there was a group
1:24
of four that were heading
1:26
to northern california well north up in
1:30
to race a car this car number 130 the
1:33
spider
1:35
he just finished filming the movie giant
1:38
was not allowed to race the car during
1:40
filming and once that production wrapped
1:42
up
1:44
decided to take the car out for a spin
1:47
little did he know that would be the
1:49
last time
1:51
he would ever get behind the wheel
1:55
it's all started right here the car
1:57
behind his the station wagon
1:59
was driven by stuntman and photographer
2:03
so a lot of the
2:04
last photographs of this day were taken
2:05
from the station wagon
2:09
of james i believe this was also the
2:13
same
2:13
exact day as the other one i just showed
2:16
once again the car was parked right here
2:19
on vine street
2:25
originally he was going to have the car
2:25
towed but opted to drive it
2:32
for whatever reason he got behind the
2:32
wheel
2:34
departing from this very
2:37
spot with the ranch market
2:41
former ranch market over there across
2:43
the way
2:45
one other spot in la before heading
2:47
northbound now made it over to
2:49
sherman oaks and where this whole foods
2:52
market is
2:52
used to be a gas station
2:59
gas station has been bulldozed now
2:59
there's a grocery store
3:01
in its place welcome everyone
3:04
adam the woo here tagging along today
3:07
is natalie you have never been to the
3:10
james dean
3:10
last day spots either have you no this
3:14
is something i've wanted to do for a
3:15
heck of a long time have been to
3:16
fairmount indiana
3:18
his hometown as well as a few of the
3:20
other filming location spots for some of
3:22
his movies in passing
3:24
but never have done the drive you're
3:26
gonna be going out into the desert and
3:28
you were holding
3:33
a piece of paper that has the photograph
3:33
of
3:35
the former gas station that we were
3:38
hoping it would be here so we could
3:39
recreate this photo
3:41
the sad trombone moment is gone we will
3:44
not be recreating any photo
3:46
here of that that some say this is the
3:48
life hard to say but some say it's the
3:50
one of the last photos of james dean
3:52
ever taken
3:54
this one it's pretty popular the thing
3:57
is he has
3:58
a cigarette while pumping gas which is
4:00
something that is frowned upon
4:02
they always say they always say it's
4:04
frowned upon to do that or say
4:06
do not do that yeah i don't know if
4:07
there's any truth behind that but it's
4:08
probably not a good idea to have a
4:10
ignited cigarette had a gap yeah
4:15
i think that's a good lesson okay makes
4:18
sense
4:19
whole foods right up here was the gas
4:28
pumps
4:28
also we were talking on the way over a
4:30
little bit of a
4:31
manson tie-in as well
4:34
some say some say supposedly supposedly
4:38
the night of
4:39
sharon tate they cleaned up in was it
4:42
the restroom
4:43
restroom yeah and they filled up their
4:45
car here before returning oh they did
4:47
supposedly fill before okay before going
4:49
back okay so
4:50
they went there they didn't do it came
4:52
here this is all hearsay no one really
4:55
knows for certain
4:56
if it took place right here i don't want
4:58
to delve too deep into that because
5:00
this is all about james dean but you
5:01
know you have to mention that because
5:03
it's another
5:04
historical la dark day in la history
5:08
just like
5:09
the last day of james dean so we're
5:12
pretty much in the same spot right there
5:14
pretty much that's it probably was a
5:18
couple of feet that way
5:20
towards the corner over there
5:23
so we're gonna go from here we're just
5:24
gonna gonna hop in the car
5:27
rental car start heading northbound to
5:29
the spots i'm inviting you to join me
5:31
and natalie
5:37
even across the way some of the older
5:37
buildings that were over there
5:39
do not remain anymore new shopping
5:41
center
5:42
called oak ridge plaza
5:49
which is right over there
5:49
it was a little closer over to the
5:51
corner
5:52
probably kind of over in that area but
5:55
you'll notice
5:56
these are the same cars that's the same
5:58
station wagon
5:59
from over in hollywood when he picked up
6:01
the 130
6:02
sports car here and there is where
6:05
it was going to be towed but he opted to
6:08
drive it
6:15
i'm pretty sure yep he's got a little
6:15
a little one right there in the mouth
6:17
and he has removed
6:18
his the long sleeve shirt that he had on
6:21
earlier to be a little more comfortable
6:23
classic james dean casual
6:26
very casual guy the cross streets are
6:29
ventura
6:30
and tyrone
6:34
there's a very retro looking cadillac
6:37
sign up there from a cadillac dealership
6:39
this is looking the other way
6:41
so this eating area right here
6:44
would have been about where you know
6:46
interest in the whole foods is where it
6:48
was
6:55
there it is you also notice that this is
6:55
like a mile off the 101
6:58
possibly there were no other gas
6:59
stations before this one
7:01
current day there's a couple up that way
7:03
they're a little closer to the freeway
7:04
wonder why you chose this one
7:12
never know next stop will be up past the
7:12
grapevine about an hour from here
7:14
but i'm noticing there is a mural of
7:16
james
7:17
right here next to where the gas station
7:19
was at this vintage clothing store
7:22
check that out it's just about 100 yards
7:26
from where the gas station was
7:28
kind of wonder if this clothing shop has
7:30
any idea that
7:31
the last gas station he stopped at one
7:33
of the last photos was taken just
7:35
a few feet from this etching
7:48
took the five northbound and veered off
7:48
onto the 99 freeway
7:50
and have exited off of an access road
7:54
and heading back towards la
7:57
for about a quarter of a mile trying to
7:59
find a pole here
8:01
where james dean got a ticket from an
8:04
officer
8:05
for going 10 miles over the speed limit
8:09
right up here on september 30th of 55
8:13
around 3 30 p.m highway patrolman
8:18
pulled him over right here next to this
8:20
pole
8:26
from what i heard there used to be like
8:26
a little stand up
8:27
of james and some other items but over
8:30
time they have been removed
8:32
also the only reason i even know about
8:36
is scott michaels from dearly departed
8:39
mentioned one time
8:40
years ago he was out here and kind of
8:43
showed this angle
8:45
and didn't exactly pinpoint where it was
8:48
as you can see
8:50
very difficult to figure it out based on
8:53
the
8:53
exact you know every pole looks the same
8:58
but after watching his video from years
9:00
ago
9:01
notice that across the way you can see a
9:05
few power poles
9:06
and through this section using some
9:08
satellite view
9:10
matched up the power poles over there
9:13
with this
9:14
power pole
9:22
which has some lettering that has been
9:22
placed on the side
9:24
i tried to figure out what this stands
9:27
for
9:29
jdld now
9:32
jd would be james d wouldn't you say
9:34
that would be james dean
9:36
any cl any opinions on what the ld
9:41
might stand for is it is not the
9:43
initials of anyone else in his party
9:46
if you had to guess yeah of course i was
9:48
thinking
9:54
yeah i'm really drawing a blank on that
9:54
unless this has to do with
9:56
someone else but it would be a
9:58
coincidence
9:59
having the the jd for james dean there
10:03
however you'll notice right here very
10:06
faintly and weather worn there is an in
10:09
an a there an e and a d
10:14
spelling out dean right here on this
10:19
where he got the speeding ticket and the
10:21
speeding ticket is on record
10:23
and there are photos of it online
10:27
it was supposed to appear in court a few
10:29
miles up in the next town down the way
10:32
a couple weeks after he got the ticket
10:35
as we all know
10:37
he would not make it to court this would
10:39
be his final day
10:46
right here next to the freeway on this
10:46
little access road
10:48
still trying to figure it out
10:55
jdld so if you're looking for this
10:55
it's power pole 2917
10:59
just off the five freeway on the 99
11:02
the grapevine as they call it
11:06
it's over in that direction now there
11:08
are no documented photos at least what i
11:11
could find
11:11
of the traffic stop even though the
11:13
photographer
11:15
and the stunt driver behind him in the
11:18
they also got a ticket as well
11:21
and what are we gonna do with this photo
11:23
the la
11:29
i'm photo put it over there near the
11:29
pole somewhere i should have brought
11:30
some either masking tape
11:32
or duct tape or something could have
11:35
taped it around
11:36
i wasn't really thinking it through
11:37
however we shouldn't leave this here
11:39
there are a couple rocks
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maybe put some
11:57
that kind of works that could work a
11:57
little bit better
11:58
stick it down in there
12:05
does it rain a lot in this area so it
12:05
would it could last a little while
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yeah let me press it down in there a
12:08
little bit more
12:11
as far as it's gonna go
12:36
a good strong wind going through here
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might end up you know pulling this out
12:39
of where it's kind of stanchioned into
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i think that'll work for a little while
12:44
you could also leave a photograph at a
12:46
couple of the other spots as well these
12:47
are just
12:48
you know screen captures that i got when
12:50
doing the research just to give a little
12:51
frame of reference
12:53
for the video i'm still really confused
12:56
on what those other letters are aren't
12:57
you
13:05
there's a button up there oh
13:05
oh there sure is yeah good eye on that i
13:08
wouldn't even have noticed that
13:11
it's kind of facing the road that is
13:13
awesome look at that
13:20
that is so cool and all weather worn out
13:20
here
13:21
whoever places here good idea to kind of
13:23
staple
13:24
the word dean in there that's gonna last
13:27
a lot longer than my temporary
13:30
photo here another if you're looking for
13:33
it too it's also exit three
13:39
and then you go up to that exit and it's
13:39
about a half a mile back
13:41
back track over to here but we almost
13:43
took that that little
13:45
rope down there that blue rope and tied
13:47
it around and
13:48
natalie went to grab it and said i don't
13:50
touch that anymore
13:51
yeah i changed my mind i'm not touching
13:53
that so probably a good call
13:55
so we ended up wedging it he ended up
13:57
wedging it
13:58
i think that worked totally i think that
14:00
works yeah
14:02
i think that's good a little homage to
14:05
where he got the what if the traffic
14:08
ticket ever got paid by someone else or
14:09
if they just tossed it out
14:11
after the tragic end ah you also notice
14:16
that right over here yeah you're
14:17
noticing a lot of things i didn't see
14:19
okay there we go so that says
14:23
has his name and then up here it says
14:27
last something
14:36
can't tell what that is it says last oh
14:36
last autograph because he signed the
14:39
ticket he signed the traffic ticket
14:42
so that's what that is you can barely
14:43
see it someone has said
14:45
last autograph i do have a
14:48
sharpie in the car we should like we
14:50
should describe something here letting
14:51
everyone else know
14:52
what this spot is this might be a little
14:55
difficult to see as well but i also says
14:57
dean inscribed on there
14:59
i don't want to write over what anyone
15:01
else has inscribed so i think i'm going
15:03
to utilize this one
15:05
right down here or i could put it right
15:07
across the one that i
15:08
stuck the paper in where we kind of
15:10
shoved the paper down in there
15:40
okay move on to the next spot
15:40
the next spot would be probably
15:44
have to look it up i think it's
15:45
blackwell corner which is where he
15:46
stopped and
15:48
some say he got an apple a little snack
15:49
so maybe we could stop there
15:51
and get a little snack it's quite a bit
15:54
of it's pretty long drive out here we
15:55
got a long way to go so
15:57
we got to stay nourished oh yeah before
15:59
moving on wanted to show the notice to
16:01
appear
16:02
ticket as well as inscribed up there
16:05
with the date friday september 30th
16:10
1955.
16:25
as stated last autograph
16:25
that he ever gave okay moving on about
16:28
another hour to the next spot
16:34
even the car title there well not title
16:34
but the
16:36
55 porsche it was a brand new car
16:39
1955 and it was a 55 porsche
16:46
the officer's name there hunter was his
16:46
last name
17:23
whoa there's a porsche with a number on
17:23
the side of it
17:25
what are the odds here at blackwell's
17:29
wow now i cannot confirm that he
17:32
fueled up here i cannot get a 100
17:35
confirmation on that but did stop for a
17:38
bite to eat a little snack
17:40
before getting back on the road i
17:42
however did need fuel
17:45
and there is a possibility even though
17:46
it wasn't really documented
17:48
might have topped off the the tank on
17:50
the sports car
17:53
as well this place has changed a lot
17:56
over the years has grown considerably
17:59
from the
18:00
little place it once was but this was
18:02
the last spot
18:04
that he stood outside of the vehicle
18:08
before the wreck just down the ways a
18:11
bit
18:12
and they have documented
18:22
james right here his rebel without a
18:22
cause
18:22
outfit and pose
18:31
with the artist's name down here in the
18:38
back in august of 11 august of 2011
18:38
i'm guessing is when this is placed here
18:40
8 11.
19:03
there you go yeah it's that way well how
19:03
tall are you
19:05
you're five five so this is probably
19:08
at least there you go this is at least
19:11
20
19:12
at least 20 feet maybe 25 feet so take
19:15
you five five
19:17
one two three
19:20
four of you so at least 20 feet tall
19:29
and inside i believe i've never been
19:29
inside here before but they're
19:31
seeing some photos online there is some
19:34
memorabilia inside there's also another
19:37
james dean head down there at the end
19:40
and go check that out too
19:41
also interesting that there is a truck
19:43
pulling
19:45
another sports car with a number on the
19:47
side pulling into the gas station
19:50
as well just like james dean
19:53
would have done except he chose to drive
19:55
his after stepping inside i could safely
19:58
say they have really
19:59
they really themed the place out with a
20:01
lot of photographs
20:03
a little bit of history some merchandise
20:06
a lot of photos on the wall from the
20:09
three films it's amazing to think about
20:10
that he was only in
20:11
three feature films that has become
20:15
quite an iconic movie star
20:18
in the grand scheme of things
20:32
i was kind of noticing inside the the
20:32
photograph while we were both kind of
20:33
noticing
20:34
you said he was what was the terminology
20:36
about removing the cigarette
20:38
oh it was well disney he was walt he was
20:40
walt disney
20:41
which anyone that knows anything about
20:44
walt he was a smoker
20:45
and the whole two-finger point people
20:48
will say they're doing that not to
20:49
offend anyone
20:51
but in reality they are they
20:54
photoshopped
20:55
out walt's cigarettes and they've done
20:58
the same thing
20:59
with over there the the rebel without a
21:03
on the far end they have removed the
21:05
cigarette so it just looks like
21:07
he's pointing like this
21:10
just come get some gas come over and get
21:12
some gas
21:13
so that's how you've been you've been
21:15
disney if you remove a cigarette from
21:18
the fingers and mr dean also
21:31
he has been as well
21:31
i think on the back side of this there's
21:33
like a little placard which gives a
21:35
little information also
21:51
after putting the coordinates into the
21:51
maps
21:52
26 and a half miles
21:55
is the distance
21:58
from his last stop to his end
22:08
what'd you end up getting roasted salsa
22:08
cashews
22:09
roasted salted cashews
22:12
oh and on the front of it so a lot of
22:13
the items in there had
22:15
all this in the in the little
22:18
i guess you'd call this a yeah the label
22:20
there of blackwell's
22:23
all right little snack for the 26 mile
22:26
commute to the next spot pulled over to
22:29
the side of the road exactly two miles
22:32
from the crossroads this would be the
22:40
final
22:41
descent
22:54
now
22:54
nice
23:02
now where the crash happened was a
23:02
little farther up near that blinking
23:04
light where everyone is waiting to turn
23:05
left to go towards fresno
23:12
he was coming down the hill you see
23:12
straight ahead
23:14
lots of signage up now not only the
23:16
blinking light but this do not enter
23:17
wrong way from this direction
23:19
so this is all newer since 1955
23:23
right in here the impact is about a
23:26
hundred yards
23:27
that way however
23:31
this has become the makeshift memorial
23:34
right over here when in fact
23:43
when i've read it's it's a little bit up
23:43
that way
23:44
when before the road was redone
23:48
just a few feet though
24:13
it's a radiator here with some cigarette
24:13
butts in it
24:19
it's very windy i apologize for the wind
24:21
it is very gusty out here
24:23
here on the open plains
24:48
quite a few bouquets of flowers some
24:51
sunglasses
24:53
cigarette packs got some camels and
24:55
marlboros down there
24:56
oh even an apple down there
25:11
and looking at this diagram shows
25:14
exactly where dean was in the sports car
25:16
going down that very hill
25:20
which at the time was highway 466
25:24
so as he was cruising down the hill it
25:26
was speculated
25:27
that he was not speeding but as i was
25:30
going down the hill it's very easy to
25:32
not really tell
25:33
how fast you're going because you get
25:34
the dissension so you're moving very
25:36
quickly
25:38
once i got over here
25:42
turnip seed was the last name of the guy
25:45
that hit him
25:46
approaching the intersection they
25:48
crashed right there
25:50
at the center point at the fork in the
25:52
road
25:53
which is right over there unlike where
25:57
it has been
25:57
you see how busy it is how the new road
26:00
here has been fixed
26:01
so the impact happened right there
26:04
and the car james dean's car after it
26:08
hit in the impact went over to the side
26:12
and those photos of his car next to the
26:16
telephone pole
26:17
or the power pole power pole
26:20
according to my assumption would have
26:22
been right there right about
26:24
there as well
26:31
and turnip seeds car sat right in the
26:31
middle of the road right at the cross
26:33
streets
26:36
until the ambulance arrived right over
26:37
there now as you can tell with the
26:39
wreckage here
26:40
you see the mountain range at the back
26:42
the hills in the back and you can see
26:44
the road that goes over to fresno which
26:47
is where the cross streets of
26:50
where the intersection was where the
26:51
impact took place
26:53
you could kind of match up you could see
26:55
the road there below the
26:58
below the hills that would be right over
27:01
there so that's the
27:02
photo they took looking from this angle
27:07
so yeah just about about another hundred
27:09
yards
27:11
down that way so just imagine where all
27:13
those cars are turning and that light is
27:16
just about in here like i said all just
27:21
my own assumptions and speculation but
27:24
since they've redone the road
27:26
it's a lot safer to have the
27:29
monument the makeshift memorial over
27:34
wow
27:42
the end of the legend right here
27:42
and then turnip seed's car would have
27:45
been
27:46
in the middle of the road there you can
27:47
see kind of the mountain range and the
27:48
hills
27:50
behind him power poles have changed now
27:53
light boy it is yeah it is very very
27:57
busy but that's the angle there
27:59
this is a very busy and pretty dangerous
28:02
intersection to be honest
28:16
just about a mile up the way is jack
28:16
ranch cafe
28:19
which is where the cars were brought
28:21
after the wreck
28:31
there is this tribute here
28:31
february 1931 is when he was born
28:35
september 30th
28:38
at 5 59 p.m according to this
28:42
this metal object here wrapped around
28:44
the tree 1955.
28:47
this is passing oh i'll believe it over
28:49
here too
28:50
there's some inscriptions
28:59
this walkway
29:10
oh yeah very hard to read his name
29:10
his name was james byron dean
29:13
he was an actor just before sundown on
29:18
when his porsche collided with another
29:20
car and the fork of the road
29:22
not 900 yards
29:27
east of this tree long known as the tree
29:30
of heaven well that is very difficult to
29:31
read
29:33
kind of sun bleached out there
29:39
this little monument was placed here on
29:39
the anniversary september 30th same day
29:42
but of 1977
29:55
just realized that the cafe the jack
29:56
closes at 1 p.m so they are closed was
29:59
not able to get a meal whoever did let
30:01
us go inside
30:02
walk around just check out some of the
30:03
items that are not only on the walls but
30:07
you know the the photographs a little
30:08
bit of information above the booths
30:10
and also merchandise that is for sale
30:13
and mugs
30:14
t-shirts pictures things like that
30:17
postcards and whatnot that's going to do
30:20
it for
30:20
today i should also mention paso robles
30:23
which i'm not sure if i'm pronouncing it
30:24
right is that how you pronounce the town
30:27
paso paso robles about a half hour from
30:30
here is the hospital he was taken to
30:32
ambulance driver said that he passed
30:34
away in route
30:35
again all speculation whether it
30:37
happened at the scene or enroute
30:39
and he stayed in that town for three
30:41
days
30:42
until his body was taken back to
30:46
for the funeral
30:50
thanks for watching see you next video
30:52
the vlog
30:54
is over