Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on May 6, 1915, which was the same day that Babe Ruth hit his very first home run, George Orson Welles was the only son of a well–to-do inventor and a beautiful concert pianist. In many ways, he was a child prodigy, gifted in the arts of magic, piano and painting. He was a cosmopolitan child, traveling around the world with his father after the death of his mother when he was nine years of age. His father died when he was fifteen, and he became a ward of Chicago’s Dr. Maurice Bernstein. In 1931 he graduated high school and subsequently turned down college offers for a sketching tour of Ireland.
By this time he knew that he wanted to act, but was unsuccessful in his attempts to enter the London and Broadway stages. Through recommendations from Thornton Wilder and Alexander Woollcott, he got into Katherine Cornell’s road company. In 1934 he made his Broadway debut as Tybalt. It was a good year for him as within its span, he married, directed his first short and appeared on radio for the first time. This would prove to be a very effective medium for the actor with one of the deepest, most recognizable voices in all of film, radio or television.
In the 1930s he worked at various radio stations, and he found it difficult to arrive at studios on time for his live shows because of heavy traffic. He found a loophole in the law about not needing to be sick to hire an ambulance and so he did just that. He instructed drivers to blare their sirens as they traveled throughout New York City so that he could be on time.
In 1937 along with John Houseman, Welles formed the Mercury Players and in 1938 the famous broadcast meant as a Halloween prank, H.G. Welles “The War of The Worlds”, was broadcast. It created quite a stir and many thought it was a real newscast, which was no small tribute to Welles’ abilities.
His first and most famous film was “Citizen Kane,” which he wrote, starred and produced at the tender age of 26 in 1941. He made many films, the most famous of which include “The Lady from Shanghai” (1947), which he made with his soon to be ex-wife, Rita Hayworth, “The Third Man (1949) with Joseph Cotton and “A Touch of Evil” (1958) with Charlton Heston. He was one of six actors to ever receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his very first screen appearance. He was married three times and had three children. Even as a master filmmaker and actor at the peak of his career, Welles maintained his membership in the Magician’s Union and regularly practiced sleight-of-hand magic.
He became obese in his 40s, weighing over 350 pounds toward the end of his life. It was said that his average dinner consisted of two steaks cooked rare and a pint of scotch. He was so big that when he dined out, he would often call ahead for a table for six. Restaurant personnel finally caught on when no one else ever showed up at his table, but celebrity has its persuasions and he did this often in the last years of his life.
He made a great contribution to the world of film. He considered black and white to be “the actor’s best friend”, because the medium helped to focus more on facial expressions and feelings than on extraneous color from hair, eyes and wardrobe. He died of a heart attack on October 10,1985, leaving a long legacy as a fine filmmaker and actor.
What are some of YOUR favorite Orson Welles’ performances? Please share.