Rudolf Karl Wütherich (August 5,1927 – July 22, 1981) was a German mechanic and race car driver. The former skydiver was a personal friend of James Dean and became famous for being in the car with the actor in his fatal car crash on September 30, 1955. Wütherich, himself badly injured, received hate mail from Dean fans who blamed him for the actor's death. As a result of head injuries, treatments and the experience as a whole, he suffered from mental illnesses for the rest of his life. Wütherich himself died after a car crash in 1981 in Germany.
