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Orson Welles

Orson Welles

Born: George Orson Welles

Director of Citizen Kane and architect of the War of the Worlds broadcast. Welles transformed radio drama into an art form through the Mercury Theatre on the Air.

Born
1915
Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Died
1985
Hollywood, California, USA
Career
1931–1985
Radio Credits
4 shows
Biography
George Orson Welles was born May 6, 1915 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. A prodigy who was reading Shakespeare at age three and directing stage productions by sixteen, he was one of the highest-paid radio performers by 1935. In 1937 he voiced The Shadow on the Mutual Broadcasting System. In 1938 he founded the Mercury Theatre on the Air for CBS, premiering July 11, 1938 with a dramatization of Bram Stoker's Dracula. His War of the Worlds broadcast on October 30, 1938 -- performed in a fake-newscast format -- caused widespread panic and made him internationally famous at age 23. Campbell Soup immediately sponsored the series, renamed The Campbell Playhouse. Welles signed with RKO in 1939 and directed Citizen Kane (1941), widely considered the greatest American film ever made. He was classified 4-F in WWII due to flat feet and asthma, compensating with patriotic radio programs and war bond broadcasts. He died October 10, 1985 in Los Angeles at age 70.
Radio Credits — In Our Archive
Other Radio Work
The Shadowas Lamont Cranston
1937-1938
Mercury Theatre on the Airas Host / Director
1938
Film Credits
Citizen Kaneas Charles Foster Kane / Director / Producer / Co-writer— #1 greatest film (AFI)
1941
The Magnificent Ambersonsas Narrator / Director
1942
Touch of Evilas Hank Quinlan / Director
1958
Quotes

“I started at the top and worked my way down.”

— Orson Welles

“The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.”

— Orson Welles

“The radio was the theater of the mind.”

— Orson Welles
Awards & Honors

Academy Award — Best Original Screenplay (Citizen Kane, 1941)

AFI Lifetime Achievement Award (1975)

Citizen Kane voted #1 Greatest Film by AFI, BFI, Sight & Sound

Radio Hall of Fame (inducted 1988)

Personal Details
spouse
Virginia Nicholson (m. 1934, div. 1940), Rita Hayworth (m. 1943, div. 1947), Paola Mori (m. 1955, until his death)
children
Three — Christopher, Rebecca, Beatrice
education
Todd School for Boys; self-taught in theater
Did You Know?
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He signed with Campbell Soup to become The Campbell Playhouse directly after the War of the Worlds panic broadcast

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He was only 23 years old when the War of the Worlds broadcast made him internationally famous overnight

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He was classified 4-F (flat feet and asthma) in WWII -- he compensated with patriotic radio programs and war bond drives

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He voiced The Shadow on Mutual in 1937-38 before the War of the Worlds

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Adolf Hitler reportedly mentioned the War of the Worlds broadcast in a speech as an example of dangerous American propaganda

Known For

Mercury Theatre on the Air — War of the Worlds (radio, 1938)

The Shadow (radio, 1937-1938)

Citizen Kane (film, 1941)

Touch of Evil (film, 1958)

Suspense (radio, guest appearances)

Also Known As
The Boy Wonder