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Is Jimmy Dean Dead?
So, did Jimmy Dean die on that fateful September day? Many back in the late 1950’s didn’t think so. Scandal/rumour magazines, popular in their time, spread lurid tales about a living James Dean locked away in some lost asylum or roaming the streets anonymously. Death cults arose, believing that either James Dean was alive but not well or communicating from beyond the grave [David Dalton’s excellent book, James Dean Revealed! has full magazine excerpts detailing the various responses to Jimmy Dean’s death]. Thousands flocked to Fairmount, Indiana, Jimmy’s home town, to bid farewell to their tragic hero. But in the midst of denial and tears, one fact remained: Jimmy Dean, actor, was dead. Death is an indefinable fact for most people. What happens after one dies is a great mystery. But the aftereffects of one’s death isn’t. Jimmy Dean may have died physically, but the spirit of his work has kept his spirit alive and strong in the hearts and minds of his fans. Death may of conquered Jimmy, but Jimmy certainly conquered Death.
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That’s
a big question if you think about it ... Back on September 30, 1955,
a young and talented spirit was killed on that highway near Cholame,
California, when Jimmy Dean’s Porsche Spyder unceremoniously
crashed into Donald Turnupseed’s Ford Sedan. That moment of
instant, tragic death caused minor ripples that quickly gushed into
a flood of astronomical proportions as movie-goers turned fans and
then frenzy with the release of 
Rather
than allowing their hero to ride off into the sunset like one of
Hollywood’s typically tragic young stars, fans of Jimmy Dean
latched onto the personification of his characters. Their identification
with what they considered to be Jimmy's symbols and adoration with
the actor who created them became like blood pulsing through one’s
veins – the very essence of life after death. Whether it was
through copying his mannerisms, his hair style, his gait, his slurred
"Brando-esque" speech patterns, his beatnik lifestyle,
learning to share Jimmy’s interests or hobbies, or even coping
bits and pieces of his characters or personality(ies), Jimmy Dean’s
fans kept Jimmy Dean alive. And as long as one remembers and admires
James Dean the actor or his characters, James Dean is not dead.
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Unless otherwise noted, all material Copyright © 1998-2001 M. Dawn Matonis. No part of this site may be reproduced in any form without permission. James Dean Is Not Dead is neither affiliated with CMG Worldwide nor James Dean, Inc.
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