Orson Welles

Among the most legendary and iconic filmmakers of all time, Orson Welles made his reputation as a young man by writing and directing Citizen Kane, still regarded by many as one of the greatest, or at one of the most influential, movies ever made. He was also a celebrated contributor to television, radio and the stage.

Fast Facts

1. Born: May 6, 1915 in Kenosha, Wisconsin
2. Died: October 10, 1985
3. Full name: George Orson Welles
4. Oscars: 1
5. Grammys: 3
6. Married 3 times, including a 5-year relationship with Rita Hayworth
7. Several of his films were never completed
8. Had wanted to portray Vito Corleone in The Godfather
9. Skilled magician, particularly adept at "fortune telling"
10. Final role: Narrator of Transformers: The Movie

Theater and Radio

As a teenager, Welles traveled around Europe, and started to work in the theater (initially by posing as an established Broadway star). Upon returning to New York City in the 1930s, he became a familiar figure in the local theater scene, and started to do some acting for radio. In 1935, he made his first film, an experimental short called Hearts of Age.

After taking a job with the Federal Theater Project, a Depression-era attempt to put unemployed actors back to work, he directed a revival of the Shakespeare play Macbeth featuring an entirely African-American cast. The play was a huge national success and made Welles famous at age 20.

After leaving the Federal Theater Project, Welles and John Houseman founded the "Mercury Theater Company", a group of actors with whom he frequently collaborated on stage and the radio. Their October 30, 1938 broadcast, a take-off on the H.G. Wells novel War of the Worlds, was so realistic, it fooled a number of listeners into believing the U.S. was really being invaded by extra-terrestrials.

Film

In 1939, Welles signed a two-film deal with RKO Pictures. He had initially hoped to make a big-screen adaptation of the Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness, but eventually settled on a drama about a William Randolph Hearst-inspired figure called American. In 1941, he released the film, retitled Citizen Kane.

This would be the last studio film on which Welles would retain creative control. Future projects such as The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady From Shanghai and Touch of Evil would be recut by studios, and Welles eventually earned a reputation as a maverick who was difficult to work with, severely limiting the types of projects he would be offered and his ability to get his own films made.

In addition to his own films, Welles worked frequently as an actor. His most celebrated performance, Charles Foster Kane aside, may be in Carol Reed's post-war thriller The Third Man, in which Welles portrays the shadowy Harry Lime.

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