Repairs to James Dean memorial are planned

Nearly seven decades ago, actor James Dean died in a fateful crash in a quiet part of San Luis Obispo County where Highways 41 and 46 meet.

The short-lived movie star’s legacy on and off the silver screen has endured since the Sept. 30, 1955,, crash, enshrined at the intersection known as the Cholame “Y.”

Dean’s life and death on the highway have been memorialized there since 1977, when a businessman spent $15,000 to erect a memorial marker near the site of the crash.

Now, as Dean fades into the memory of American popular culture, an effort to upgrade and update the 1977 memorial is getting underway. Neil Sheehan, a James Dean memorabilia collector, is spearheading the restoration effort.

Over its 47-year history, the memorial has simply worn down, with letters going missing from the sign and the materials being obscured from touching by hundreds of thousands of visitors, he said.

Sheehan said repairs will likely be complete by this time next year in time for the 70th anniversary of Dean’s death.

Jolie and 3 of her children attend New York film fest

It was a family affair for Angelina Jolie at the New York premiere of her latest movie Sunday.

The Oscar winner attended the New York Film Festival with three of her six children — Pax Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Jolie-Pitt and Maddox Jolie-Pitt —for a screening of “Maria.”

“You know, before you get out in these things, you’re as nervous,” she told Extra about having her kids show up to support her. “They just said, ‘No matter what, Mom, good luck and we know how hard you work and we love you.’ You know, you just have that moment where the people who are with you tell you, succeed or fail, they care about you.”

A Sex Pistol admits a personnel misfire

Paul Cook, the drummer of the punk band the Sex Pistols, recently admitted to a big regret.

Cook, 68, was a guest on “The Rockonteurs” podcast, and he opened up about the firing of bassist Glen Matlock back in 1977, describing the fallout as a messy one.

“The story around Glen leaving or departing or being sacked, whatever, is pretty messy,” Cook said.

Cook noted that lead singer John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) and Matlock “had fallen out for some reason,” which led Lydon to feel as if the group was turning against him.

Malcom McLaren, the band’s manager, took Lydon’s side and proposed Sid Vicious be the group’s newly appointed bassist.

“It was a stupid thing we could have done, getting rid of Glen,” Cook said. “We was all writing great songs together.”

— From wire reports