West was practically unknown to the American public during his lifetime. On 22 Dec 1940, he and his wife Eileen McKenney were returning to Los Angeles from a hunting trip in Mexico to attend the funeral of his friend,
F. Scott Fitzgerald, when he ran a stop sign in El Centro, California, and hit another vehicle. He and his wife were killed. McKenney had been the inspiration for the title character in the play "My Sister Eileen", and she and West had been scheduled to fly to New York City for the Broadway opening on 26 Dec 1940. West was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in Queens, New York, with his wife's ashes placed in his coffin.