Orson Welles
An undeniable pioneer in both radio and film, actor-director Orson Welles used his bona fide genius to change the face of both mediums with imagination, ambition, and technically daring. Having started off as a performer on stage, most notably with John Houseman, with whom he formed the famed Mercury Theatre, Welles used his distinctive baritone voice to create innovative radio dramas. He became famous - notorious, even - following his 1938 broadcast of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds," which he presented as a real time news event, sparking panic among listeners who thought Martians really were invading New Jersey. The fame he achieved in the wake of the broadcast attracted RKO Pictures, where he made the most stunning directorial debut in the history of cinema with "Citizen Kane" (1941), long considered to be the greatest film ever made. Using innovative narrative and technological techniques, Welles singlehandedly changed the face of cinema, earning the nickname the Boy Wonder. He went on to direct "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942), though both films were financial failures that prompted his exit from RKO. After marrying Love Goddess Rita Hayworth and directing "The Stranger" (1946) and "Macbeth" (1948), Welles began a 10-year self-imposed Hollywood exile that saw him appear onscreen in movies like "The Third Man" (1949) while directing well-received films overseas like "Othello" (1952) and "Mr. Arkadin" (1955). He returned to Hollywood to helm "Touch of Evil" (1958), a classic film noir, while suffering a commercial drubbing with his adaptation of Franz Kafka's "The Trial" (1962). His take on Shakespeare's famed character, Falstaff, in "Chimes at Midnight" (1966) again earned international acclaim despite being largely ignored in the United States. Though he fell on hard times in the 1970s, Welles nonetheless remained busy with numerous projects in various stages of completion while appearing onscreen in a number of performances and using his distinctive voice in a variety of narrator roles. When he died in 1985, Welles left behind a legacy as a consummate artist and true auteur whose influence was profoundly felt by several generations of filmmakers.
Photos
Orson Welles
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
100% | No Score Yet | American: An Odyssey to 1947 | Self | - | 2022 |
88% | No Score Yet | Hopper/Welles |
Self, Director |
- | 2020 |
82% |
|
The Other Side of the Wind |
Director, Screenwriter, Film Editing |
- | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Merv Griffin Show - 40 of the Most Interesting People of Our Time | Self | - | 2006 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Searching for Orson | Unknown (Character) | - | 2006 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Brunnen (The Well) | Unknown (Character) | - | 2005 |
83% |
|
It's All True | Director | - | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Don Quijote de Orson Welles |
Unknown (Character), Director |
- | 1992 |
No Score Yet |
|
Hollywood Mavericks | Unknown (Character) | - | 1990 |
75% |
|
Someone to Love | Danny's Friend (Character) | $10.4K | 1987 |
62% |
|
The Transformers: The Movie | Unicron (Voice) | $5.8M | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Search for the Titanic | Narrator | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Greenstone | Narrator | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gold Lust | Narrator | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Way to Bresson | Self | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Where Is Parsifal? | Klingsor (Character) | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hot Money | Sheriff Paisley (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Zen Business | Sheriff Paisley (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Baryshnikov in Hollywood | Self | - | 1982 |
40% |
|
Butterfly | Judge Rauch (Character) | $15.4K | 1981 |
No Score Yet |
|
Genocide | Narrator | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Secret of Nikola Tesla | J.P. Morgan (Character) | - | 1980 |
100% | No Score Yet | The New Deal for Artists | Unknown (Character) | - | 1979 |
89% |
|
The Muppet Movie | Lew Lord (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Enchanted Journey | Pippo (Voice) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | It Happened One Christmas | Henry F. Potter (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Rime of the Ancient Mariner | Narrator | - | 1977 |
83% |
|
Voyage of the Damned | José Estedes (Character) | - | 1976 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Orson Welles' F for Fake Trailer |
Director, Writer, Producer |
- | 1976 |
No Score Yet |
|
Bugs Bunny, Superstar | Narrator | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet |
|
And Then There Were None | Voice of Tape (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet |
|
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi | Narrator | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Challenge: A Tribute to Modern Art | Narrator | - | 1975 |
88% |
|
F for Fake |
Self, Director, Writer, Film Editing |
- | 1973 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Witching | Mr. Cato (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet |
|
Treasure Island |
Long John Silver (Character), Writer |
- | 1972 |
60% |
|
Get to Know Your Rabbit | Mr. Delasandro (Character) | - | 1972 |
60% |
|
Ten Days' Wonder | Unknown (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Man Who Came to Dinner | Sheridan Whiteside (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet |
|
Malpertuis | Cassavius (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Legend of Doom House | Cassavius (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet |
|
A Safe Place | The Magician (Character) | - | 1971 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Enemy Before Us | Narrator | - | 1971 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Kremlin Letter | Bresnavitch (Character) | - | 1970 |
30% |
|
Waterloo | Louis XVIII (Character) | - | 1970 |
81% |
|
Catch-22 | Brig. Gen. Dreedle (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet |
|
Twelve Plus One | Maurice Markau (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | 12 + 1 | Markan (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet |
|
Blood and Guns | Colonel Cascorro (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Merchant of Venice |
Shylock (Character), Director |
- | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Southern Star | Plankett (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Battle of Neretva | Senator (Character) | - | 1969 |
92% |
|
The Immortal Story |
Mr. Charles Clay (Character), Director, Writer |
- | 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | House of Cards | Leschenhaut (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Oedipus the King | Tiresias (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Last Roman | Emperor Justinian (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A King's Story | Narrator | - | 1967 |
26% |
|
Casino Royale | Le Chiffre (Character) | - | 1967 |
No Score Yet |
|
I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name | Jonathan Lute (Character) | - | 1967 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Sailor From Gibraltar | Louis de Mozambique (Character) | - | 1967 |
75% |
|
Is Paris Burning? | Consul Raoul Nordling (Character) | - | 1966 |
89% |
|
A Man for All Seasons | Cardinal Wolsey (Character) | - | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Marco the Magnificent | Akerman (Marco's Tutor) (Character) | - | 1966 |
96% |
|
Chimes at Midnight |
Falstaff (Character), Director, Writer |
$123.4K | 1965 |
No Score Yet |
|
Buster Keaton Rides Again | Narrator | - | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Finest Hours | Narrator | - | 1964 |
0% |
|
The V.I.P.s | Max Buda (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | La Ricotta | Unknown (Character) | - | 1963 |
84% |
|
The Trial |
Albert Hastler (The Advocate) (Character), Director, Screenwriter, Film Editing |
$90.5K | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Lafayette | Benjamin Franklin (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet |
|
Rogopag | The "Director" (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Tartars | Burundai (Character) | - | 1961 |
No Score Yet |
|
David and Goliath | King Saul (Character) | - | 1960 |
No Score Yet |
|
Crack in the Mirror |
Hagolin/ |
- | 1960 |
40% |
|
Battle of Austerlitz | Robert Fulton (Character) | - | 1960 |
No Score Yet |
|
Ferry to Hong Kong | Captain Hart (Character) | - | 1959 |
100% |
|
Compulsion | Jonathan Wilk (Character) | - | 1959 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Roots of Heaven | Cy Sedgewick (Character) | - | 1958 |
97% |
|
Touch of Evil |
Police Captain Hank Quinlan (Character), Director, Screenwriter |
- | 1958 |
86% |
|
The Long, Hot Summer | Will Varner (Character) | - | 1958 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Masters of the Congo Jungle | Narrator | - | 1958 |
No Score Yet |
|
Man in the Shadow | Virgil Renchler (Character) | - | 1957 |
81% |
|
Moby Dick | Father Mapple (Character) | - | 1956 |
72% |
|
Mr. Arkadin |
Gregory Arkadin (Character), Director, Writer, Producer |
- | 1955 |
No Score Yet |
|
Around the World with Orson Welles |
Unknown (Character), Director |
- | 1955 |
No Score Yet |
|
Napoleon | Sir Hudson Lowe (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Royal Affairs in Versailles | Benjamin Franklin (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet |
|
Trouble in the Glen | Sanin Cejador y Mengues (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | King Lear | King Lear (Character) | - | 1953 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Orson Welles' Ghost Story | Narrator | - | 1953 |
No Score Yet |
|
Three Cases of Murder | Lord Mountdrago (Character) | - | 1953 |
No Score Yet |
|
Othello |
Othello (Character), Director, Producer |
- | 1952 |
No Score Yet |
|
Trent's Last Case | Sigsbee Manderson (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet |
|
Return to Glennascaul (Orson Welles' Ghost Story) (A Story That Is Told in Dublin) | Unknown (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Black Rose | Bayan (Character) | - | 1950 |
No Score Yet |
|
Black Magic |
Cagliostro (Character), Director |
- | 1949 |
No Score Yet |
|
Prince of Foxes | Cesare Borgia (Character) | - | 1949 |
99% |
|
The Third Man | The Third Man (Character) | $447.0K | 1949 |
No Score Yet |
|
Magia Negra | Unknown (Character) | - | 1949 |
87% |
|
Macbeth |
Macbeth (Character), Director, Writer, Producer, Costume Design |
- | 1948 |
85% |
|
The Lady From Shanghai |
Michael O'Hara (Character), Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 1948 |
97% |
|
Monsieur Verdoux | Writer | $60.6K | 1947 |
97% |
|
The Stranger |
Professor Charles Rankin (Character), Director |
- | 1946 |
60% |
|
Tomorrow Is Forever |
John Andrew MacDonald/ |
- | 1946 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Follow the Boys | Mercury Wonder Show (Character) | - | 1944 |
100% |
|
Jane Eyre | Edward Rochester (Character) | - | 1944 |
73% |
|
Journey Into Fear |
Colonel Haki (Character), Producer |
- | 1942 |
89% |
|
The Magnificent Ambersons |
Director, Producer, Screenwriter |
- | 1942 |
99% |
|
Citizen Kane |
Charles Foster Kane (Character), Director, Writer, Producer |
$977.3K | 1941 |
No Score Yet |
|
Too Much Johnson |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Film Editing |
- | 1938 |
80% |
|
The Spanish Earth | Narrator | - | 1937 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Hearts of Age |
Death (Character), Director, Screenwriter |
- | 1934 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 95% | Magnum, P.I. | Robin Masters (Voice) | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Name of the Game | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1970 |
No Score Yet | 97% | I Love Lucy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1956 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I've Got a Secret | Guest | 1956 |