Orson Welles
Personal Info
Known For
Directing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1915-05-06
Place of Birth
Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Orson Welles
Biography
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio. Noted for his innovative dramatic productions as well as his distinctive voice and personality, Welles is widely acknowledged as one of the most accomplished dramatic artists of the twentieth century, especially for his significant and influential early work—despite his notoriously contentious relationship with Hollywood. His distinctive directorial style featured layered, nonlinear narrative forms, innovative uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro, unique camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots, and long takes. Welles's long career in film is noted for his struggle for artistic control in the face of pressure from studios. Many of his films were heavily edited and others left unreleased. He has been praised as a major creative force and as "the ultimate auteur." After directing a number of high-profile theatrical productions in his early twenties, including an innovative adaptation of Macbeth and The Cradle Will Rock, Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds performed for the radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was reported to have caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was occurring. Although these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to instant notoriety. Citizen Kane (1941), his first film with RKO, in which he starred in the role of Charles Foster Kane, is often considered the greatest film ever made. Several of his other films, including The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Touch of Evil (1958), Chimes at Midnight (1965), and F for Fake (1974), are also widely considered to be masterpieces. In 2002, he was voted the greatest film director of all time in two separate British Film Institute polls among directors and critics, and a wide survey of critical consensus, best-of lists, and historical retrospectives calls him the most acclaimed director of all time. Andrew Sarris in his influential book of film criticism The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968 included him in the "pantheon" of the 14 greatest film directors who had worked in the United States. Well known for his baritone voice, Welles was also an extremely well regarded actor and was voted number 16 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the greatest American film actors of all time. He was also a celebrated Shakespearean stage actor and an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety shows in the war years.
Also Known For
Citizen Kane
Apr 17, 1941
A Man for All Seasons
Dec 13, 1966
The Magnificent Ambersons
Jul 10, 1942
Chimes at Midnight
Dec 22, 1965
The Third Man
Aug 31, 1949
Touch of Evil
Mar 30, 1958
History of the World: Part I
Jun 12, 1981
The Trial
Aug 25, 1962
Twelve Plus One
Oct 07, 1969
The Transformers: The Movie
Aug 08, 1986
Moby Dick
Jun 27, 1956
Catch-22
Jun 24, 1970
The Lady from Shanghai
Dec 24, 1947
Is Paris Burning?
Oct 26, 1966
The Stranger
Jul 02, 1946
And Then There Were None
Sep 24, 1974
House of Cards
Sep 16, 1968
Journey into Fear
Jan 07, 1943
Treasure Island
Oct 01, 1972
The Deep
Jul 08, 2007
Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees
Dec 22, 1965
Jane Eyre
Dec 24, 1943
Don Quixote
Apr 20, 1992
According to Occam's Razor
Jan 01, 1999
Welles' Language
Jan 01, 1990
Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional
Jan 01, 1997
Casino Royale
Apr 13, 1967
Waterloo
Oct 26, 1970
Follow the Boys
May 05, 1944
The Battle of Neretva
Oct 07, 1969
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Jan 09, 1975
Macbeth
Oct 01, 1948
Butterfly
Feb 05, 1982
The Long, Hot Summer
May 17, 1958
Compulsion
Apr 01, 1959
Necromancy
Sep 22, 1972
The Vikings
Jun 11, 1958
F for Fake
Sep 01, 1973
Napoleon
Mar 25, 1955
The V.I.P.s
Sep 01, 1963
American: An Odyssey to 1947
Oct 20, 2022
The Black Rose
Sep 01, 1950
The Southern Star
Mar 04, 1969
Prince of Foxes
Nov 11, 1949
From Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight
Apr 09, 2023
Mr. Arkadin
Aug 09, 1955
Tomorrow Is Forever
Feb 20, 1946
Three Cases of Murder
Mar 15, 1955
The Kremlin Letter
Feb 01, 1970
Alfonso Sansone: Producer by Chance
Sep 10, 2014
Malpertuis
Jan 02, 1971
Othello
Nov 28, 1951
The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
Jan 09, 1981
Royal Affairs in Versailles
Feb 10, 1954
Orson Welles: The One-Man Band
Oct 08, 1995
The Biggest Battle
Feb 07, 1978
The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles
Apr 12, 2003
Tepepa
Jan 31, 1969
The Secret of Nikola Tesla
Feb 19, 1980
Slapstick of Another Kind
Dec 09, 1982
A Safe Place
Oct 01, 1971
Hot Tomorrows
Apr 01, 1977
Trent's Last Case
Sep 22, 1952
Ten Days' Wonder
Dec 01, 1971
The Immortal Story
Jun 01, 1968
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
Feb 21, 2019
The Late Great Planet Earth
Jan 17, 1978
Voyage of the Damned
Dec 22, 1976
David and Goliath
Jan 22, 1960
Black Magic
Aug 19, 1949
It's All True
Oct 17, 1993
Ferry to Hong Kong
Oct 29, 1959
Ro.Go.Pa.G.
Feb 19, 1963
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
Apr 23, 2021
Future Shock
Feb 22, 1972
Get to Know Your Rabbit
Jun 07, 1972
The Fountain of Youth
Sep 16, 1958
The Force Beyond
Dec 02, 1977
The Spanish Earth
Jul 10, 1937
The Witching
Nov 25, 1983
Marco the Magnificent
Aug 06, 1965
It Happened One Christmas
Dec 11, 1977
Filming Othello
Jul 10, 1978
Mysterious Castles of Clay
Jan 01, 1978
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
Dec 18, 1967
Trouble in the Glen
Jun 15, 1954
Where Is Parsifal?
Jan 01, 1984
Return to Glennascaul
Feb 01, 1953
It's All Brazil
Sep 18, 1997
The Road to Bresson
May 13, 1984
Parkinson at 50
Aug 28, 2021
Too Much Johnson
Oct 09, 2013
The Tartars
Apr 01, 1961
Is It Always Right to Be Right?
Oct 31, 1970
Hot Money
Jan 01, 1983
Man, Beast and Virtue
May 09, 1953
Someone to Love
Sep 11, 1987
The Fight for Rome
Dec 17, 1968
Magic with the Stars
Jan 17, 1982
The Cave: a parable told by Orson Welles
Jan 01, 1973
King Lear
Oct 18, 1953
Sentinels of Silence
May 01, 1971
The Greatest Adventure--The Story of Man's Voyage to the Moon
Jan 02, 1979
Orson Welles in the Land of Don Quixote
Nov 05, 2000
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Jan 01, 1977
Tall Tales: The Ireland of Orson Welles
Oct 17, 2021
Notre Dame de la Croisette
Feb 23, 1983
Othelo The Great
Sep 05, 2024
The Sailor from Gibraltar
Jan 01, 1967
The Dreamers
Feb 05, 1985
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
Aug 26, 2011
The Roots of Heaven
Oct 15, 1958
Crack in the Mirror
May 19, 1960
To Build a Fire
Jan 01, 1969
Orson Welles in Spain
Jun 01, 1966
Man in the Shadow
Dec 12, 1957
The Muppet Movie
Jun 22, 1979
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Feb 04, 2012
The Battle Over Citizen Kane
Jan 29, 1996
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
Jan 21, 1986
Looking Back Before You Leap
Jan 31, 2023
Ten Days That Shook the World
Jan 01, 1967
It's Pretty, but is it Art?
Mar 02, 2023
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Dec 12, 2014
Flame of Persia
Jan 02, 1971
The Other Side of the Wind
Nov 02, 2018
The Paranormal Peter Sellers
Jan 01, 2001
A King's Story
Jan 01, 1965
The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh
Jan 01, 1984
Upon This Rock
Jan 01, 1970
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
Nov 13, 2022
Tut: The Boy King
Jan 01, 1978
This Is Orson Welles
May 21, 2015
The Hearts of Age
Jan 01, 1934
Jodorowsky's Dune
Aug 30, 2013
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
Oct 27, 2022
Twelfth Night
May 15, 1933
The Shadow Knows
May 04, 2012
Vienna
Jan 01, 1968
Lucifer et moi
Feb 04, 2009
Swiss Family Robinson
Feb 08, 1940
The Merchant of Venice
Dec 01, 1969
On the tracks of a filmmaker
Jan 01, 1988
Who's Out There?
Jan 01, 1975
The Battle of Grovers Mill
Jun 08, 2024
A Step Away
Jan 02, 1980
The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail
May 09, 1984
Moby Dick
May 01, 2000
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
Apr 11, 1974
Orson Welles' Magic Show
Jan 24, 1985
Lafayette
Feb 16, 1962
Filming 'The Trial'
Feb 01, 1981
The Finest Hours
Sep 29, 1964
Portrait: Orson Welles
Jun 01, 1968
Directed by John Ford
Sep 06, 1971
Rita Hayworth: Dancing Into the Dream
Jan 01, 1990
Oedipus the King
Jun 01, 1968
Start the Revolution Without Me
Feb 04, 1970
Soft Self-Portrait of Salvador Dali
Dec 29, 1969
The Fight for Rome II - The Betrayal
Feb 21, 1969
Freedom River
Jan 01, 1971
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film
Feb 05, 1990
London
Dec 31, 1971
An Evening with Orson Welles: The Golden Honeymoon
Dec 31, 1970
A Huey P. Newton Story
Jun 18, 2001
The Well
Mar 11, 2005
From Fiber to Fabric: Wool's a Natural
Jan 01, 1977
Lost in La Mancha
Feb 11, 2002
Show-Business at War
May 21, 1943
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Aug 06, 1975
NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 3
Jan 01, 2001
Duel in the Sun
Dec 31, 1946
A Horse Called Nijinsky
Jan 01, 1970
The Orson Welles Show
Feb 01, 1979
Disorder
Dec 02, 1950
The Greenstone
Jan 01, 1980
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
Aug 31, 2018
The Quest for Fire Adventure
Jan 01, 1982
Working with Orson Welles
Jan 01, 1993
Filmmakers vs. Tycoons
Jul 17, 2005
Bugs Bunny Superstar
Dec 19, 1975
Enchanted Journey
Oct 10, 1981
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
Oct 24, 2000
The Eyes of Orson Welles
Aug 17, 2018
The Hitch Hiker
Aug 11, 2004
The Battle of Sutjeska
Jul 03, 1973
The Welles Raft
Jun 23, 2022
High Journey
Dec 31, 1959
Orson Welles: The Paris Interview
Apr 01, 2010
Around the World of Mike Todd
Sep 08, 1968
La Classe américaine
Dec 31, 1993
Battle for Survival
Jul 25, 1946
Orson Welles at the Cinémathèque Française
Feb 28, 1983
The Other Side of Welles
Jun 03, 2005
Hopper/Welles
Sep 09, 2020
The Cave
Jan 01, 1973
Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
Apr 02, 2018
The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art
Dec 05, 1974
The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Jan 01, 1998
Rosabella - La storia italiana di Orson Welles
Sep 08, 1993
Something Else
Genocide
Mar 14, 1982
Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina
Sep 01, 1958
Orson Welles' Sketch Book
Apr 24, 1955
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Michael Landon
Dec 07, 1984
The Psychic Connection
Aug 18, 1983
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
Dec 13, 1979
A Legend a Lifetime: Citizen Welles
Dec 01, 1974
King Penguin: Stranded Beyond the Falklands
Jun 22, 1983
Baryshnikov in Hollywood
Apr 21, 1982
Out of Darkness
Dec 02, 1956
The Battle of Austerlitz
Jun 17, 1960
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
Aug 16, 1982
Disorder Is 20 Years Old
Jun 06, 1967
Orson Welles - Das vermarktete Genie
May 11, 1975
Doug Henning's World of Magic
Feb 14, 1982
Let Poland Be Poland
Jan 31, 1982
The Magic History of Cinema
Aug 30, 2017
Embers & Dust
Nov 16, 2016
Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
Jan 27, 2020
South Seas Adventure
Jul 16, 1958
River of the Ocean
Dec 09, 1962
Mexico City, Old and New
Dec 01, 1945
Lords of the Forest
Nov 21, 1958
Know Your Ally: Britain
Jan 01, 1944
An Arabian Night
Jun 09, 1960
It's Not All True
Aug 22, 1986
The Lions of Capitalism: Some Call It Greed
Dec 03, 1977
To Try Again... and Succeed
Dec 04, 1979
The Enemy Before Us
Oct 16, 1970
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Nov 29, 1972
The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis
Dec 17, 1979
Kelly Country
Oct 01, 1973
The Double McGuffin
Jun 01, 1979
Power and Corruption
Dec 01, 1973
Search for the Titanic
Dec 03, 1981
In Our Hands
Feb 16, 1984
Magnificent Monsters of the Deep
Apr 27, 1975
Almonds and Raisins
Aug 09, 1985
NBC: The First Fifty Years
Nov 21, 1976
The New Deal for Artists
Jul 06, 1981
A Gift of Harvest
Dec 10, 1981
Wagner e Venezia
Dec 03, 1982
Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park
Dec 10, 1980
Jeanne Moreau : Vive le cinéma !
Mar 26, 1972
Brasil
Dec 05, 1981
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
May 05, 2010
Caesar's Guide to Gaming with Orson Welles
Jan 01, 1978
The Land of the Basques
Oct 07, 1955
The Blinding of Isaac Woodard
Mar 30, 2021
Beggars Would Ride
Dec 01, 1967
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
Jul 08, 1997
Night of 100 Stars
Mar 08, 1982
Magic Mirror Maze
May 10, 2012
Aliens Uncovered: Close Encounters
May 21, 2024
The Scorpion and the Frog
Jan 12, 2025
Lost in "The Thinking"
Oct 29, 2005
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
Oct 01, 1991
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
Feb 11, 2025
Americans on Everest
Sep 10, 1965
Orson Welles Talks With Roger Hill
Aug 15, 2005
Hi-Fi
Jan 01, 1999
The UFO Conspiracy
Apr 18, 2004
King of Kings
Oct 11, 1961
Moby Dick Rehearsed
Jun 16, 1955
Voyage of the Brigantine Yankee
The Orson Welles Story
May 18, 1982
Profile No. 6: Orson Welles
Jun 12, 1965
The Real Charlie Chaplin
Nov 19, 2021
A Mother's Tale
Jan 01, 1976
Moonlighting
Mar 03, 1985
I Love Lucy
Oct 15, 1951
Omnibus
Nov 09, 1952
The Merv Griffin Show
Oct 01, 1962
Night Gallery
Dec 16, 1970
The Ed Sullivan Show
Jun 20, 1948
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Dec 24, 1951
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Jan 22, 1968
Shōgun
Sep 15, 1980
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
Sep 01, 1973
The Steve Allen Show
Jun 24, 1956
Scene of the Crime
Apr 14, 1985
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Sep 14, 1973
Doug Henning's World of Magic
Dec 26, 1975
Talking Pictures
Jan 05, 2013
Around the World with Orson Welles
Oct 07, 1955
The Magic of David Copperfield
Oct 27, 1978
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Oct 01, 1962
In the Land of Don Quixote
Jan 01, 1964
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Apr 02, 1973
A Woman Called Moses
Dec 11, 1978
V.I.P. Schaukel
May 09, 1971
Orson Welles' Sketch Book
Apr 24, 1955
National Geographic Specials
Sep 10, 1965
Cinépanorama
Feb 04, 1956
Hollywood and the Stars
Sep 30, 1963
The Dick Cavett Show
Jun 06, 1968
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Oct 01, 1962
Magnum, P.I.
Dec 11, 1980
What's My Line?
Feb 02, 1950
Dinah!
Oct 21, 1974
Omnibus
Oct 13, 1967
Tempo
Oct 15, 1961
Colgate Theatre
Aug 19, 1958
Ford Star Jubilee
Sep 24, 1955
The Name of the Game
Sep 20, 1968
Survival
Feb 01, 1961
Tales of the Klondike
May 16, 1981
One Man Band
Dec 01, 1968
The Silent Years
Jul 01, 1971
Reflets de Cannes
Mar 25, 1954
