Birth : 6 May 1915
Died : 10 October 1985
Nationality :
Hollywood Walk Star: Yes
Comment
Orson Welles was an actor, director and producer who changed the way films were made in the 1940's. He moved to Europe in 1948 wherre he continued to make films as well as working in theatre, radio and television and continued to be innovative especially in his television work. Citizen Kane is consistently ranked as one of the best films of all times. Orson Welles started his career as a stage actor and together with John Housemanfounded The Mercury Theatre and the The Mercury Theatre on the radio. Famously adapting The War Of The Worlds on the radio in 1938 which brought him fame. RKO gave him a two film contract allowing him to write, produce, direct and perform in them. The first of these was Citizen Kane and then The Magnificent Ambersons. The Stranger is a dark thriller and the first time actual footage of concentration camps being used. It was the first of his films that made a profit. Welles needed money for a stage play he was producing and was offered the money by Columbia Pictures if he direcetd The Lady From Shanghai which was a film noir script. He then turned to Shakespeare with Macbeth and then an adaptation Othello which he filmed in Europe. With Othello, he recorded the sound track and then the actors ha to lip syn as they acted the scenes. At this time he was still acting including The Third Man. Touch Of Evil is a complex film noir set amongst drug gangs on the Mexican / American boarder. This was the final film he made in Hollywood. The Trial is his adaptation of Kafka's novel. It was made on a limited budget and in an expressionist style. Chimes At Midnight is the story of Falstaff in the three different films he appears in.
Director
Other Side Of The Wind (1972)
Chimes at Midnight (1965)
The Trial (1962)
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice (1951)
Macbeth (1948)
The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
The Stranger (1946)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Producer
The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
Journey Into Fear (1943) - Uncredited
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) - Uncredited
Citizen Kane (1941)
Oscars
Won - Best Screenplay - Citizen Kane
Nomination - Best Actor - Citizen Kane
Nomination - Best Director - Citizen Kane
Quote
A movie is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the crowd.