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Orson Welles | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 | |
| Born | George Orson Welles May 6, 1915 Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | October 10, 1985 (aged 70) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Ronda, Andalusia, Spain |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1931–1985 |
| Notable work | |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | Virginia Nicolson
(m. 1934; div. 1940) |
| Partners |
|
| Children | 3, including Beatrice |
| Signature | |
 | |
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre.[1][2] He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.[3]
At age 21, Welles was directing high-profile stage productions for the Federal Theatre Project in New York City—starting with a celebrated 1936 adaptation of Macbeth with an African-American cast, and ending with the controversial labor opera The Cradle Will Rock in 1937. He and John Houseman then founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941, including a modern, politically charged Caesar (1937). In 1938, his radio anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air gave Welles the platform to find international fame as the director and narrator of a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds, which caused some listeners to believe that a Martian invasion was in fact occurring. The event rocketed 23-year-old Welles to notoriety.[4]
His first film was Citizen Kane (1941), which he co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in as the title character, Charles Foster Kane. It has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest films ever made. He directed twelve other features, the most acclaimed of which include The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Stranger (1946), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Touch of Evil (1958), The Trial (1962), Chimes at Midnight (1966), and F for Fake (1973).[5][6] Welles also starred in films such as Jane Eyre (1943), The Third Man (1949), and A Man for All Seasons (1966).
His distinctive directorial style featured layered and nonlinear narrative forms, dramatic lighting, unusual camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots and long takes. He has been praised as "the ultimate auteur".[7]: 6 Welles was an outsider to the studio system and struggled for creative control on his projects early on with the major film studios in Hollywood and later in life with a variety of independent financiers across Europe, where he spent most of his career. Many of his films were either heavily edited or remained unreleased.
Welles received an Academy Award and three Grammy Awards among other numerous honors such as the Academy Honorary Award in 1970, the Golden Lion in 1970, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1975, and the British Film Institute Fellowship in 1983. In 2002, he was voted the greatest film director of all time in two British Film Institute polls among directors and critics.[8][9] In 2018, he was included in the list of the 50 greatest Hollywood actors of all time by The Daily Telegraph.[10] Welles had three marriages, including one with Rita Hayworth, and three children.
- ^ Buffum, Richard (20 October 1985). "Magic Loomed Large in World of Orson Welles" The Los Angeles Times
- ^ Naremore, James (2015). "Orson Welles: Director, Magician and Pedagogue". New England Review. 36 (2): 70–74. doi:10.1353/ner.2015.0061. JSTOR 24772596. S2CID 191069277. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
'My name is Orson Welles. I am an actor. I am a writer. I am a producer. I am a director. I am a magician. I appear on stage and on the radio. Why are there so many of me and so few of you?'
- ^ "Orson Welles is Dead at 70; Innovator of Film and Stage". The New York Times. October 11, 1985. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Bartholomew, Robert E. (2001). Little Green Men, Meowing Nuns and Head-Hunting Panics: A Study of Mass Psychogenic Illness and Social Delusion. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-7864-0997-6.
- ^ "List-o-Mania, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love American Movies". Jonathan Rosenbaum. June 25, 1998. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
- ^ "Great Movie: Chimes at Midnight". Roger Ebert. June 4, 2006. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
- ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (2007) Discovering Orson Welles. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-25123-7
- ^ "Sight & Sound |Top Ten Poll 2002 – The Directors' Top Ten Directors". BFI. September 5, 2006. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
- ^ "Sight & Sound |Top Ten Poll 2002 – The Critics' Top Ten Directors". BFI. September 5, 2006. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
- ^ "The 50 greatest actors from Hollywood's Golden Age". The Daily Telegraph. June 25, 2018. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
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