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Top 10 Amazing Facts about Orson Welles

George Orson Welles was born on May 6th, 1915. He was an American director, screenwriter, producer, and actor.

Orson Welles was one of the most admired actors and directors of the 20th century and is considered to be among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.

He also did innovative theatre work and radio works but, he is best known for his 1941 film, Citizen Kane. A film often cited as the greatest film ever made.

Here are the top 10 amazing facts about Orson Welles.

1. He was a magician

Harry Houdini – Wikimedia Commons

Welles developed a strong interest in magic, having been taught his first magic tricks when he was a young boy by Harry Houdini.

He performed his magic tricks in numeral films and TV programs like Follow the Boys show in 1944, Magic Trick in 1953, and Casino Royale in 1967. Welles had an unfinished television special the Orson Welles鈥� Magic show filmed between 1976 and 1985.

Welles was also a member of the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

2. Orson Welles gave away his Oscar

Oscar – Flickr

Welles鈥� best movie, Citizen Kane, was quite successful as it was nominated for nine Academy Awards and received numerous accolades. In 1941, Citizen Kane won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

However, Welles did not keep his Oscar for long. While filming another show in 1971, The Other side of the Wind, Welles could not afford to pay his cinematographer Gary Graver. He decided to give up his only Oscar as a means of payment to Gary, but the film was never finished.

3. His preferred means of Transport was an Ambulance

Ambulance – Flickr

Welles was a busy man with many radio shows in different parts of New York City. It was hard finding a way through the New York City traffic due to his busy schedule.

As a solution to his woes, Welles discovered that there was no law in New York City that specified someone has to be sick to travel in an ambulance.

Therefore, he took to hiring ambulances to get around the city, sirens blazing.

4. Welles had a chaotic love life

Orson Welles and Virginia Nicolson Welles with their daughter Christopher Marlowe Welles – Wikimedia Commons

Welles was a known womanizer. His love life was dotted with affairs with various women. He was married three times to Virginia Nicolson, Rita Hayworth, and Paola Mori and was unfaithful to all of them.

His first love was Virginia Nicolson, but his extra-marital affairs plagued the relationship before calling it quits in 1940. In 1943, He married Rita Hayworth but soon after he impregnated Italian actress Paola Mori who again split up with him in 1955.

He fathered a daughter from every marriage and an illegitimate son with one of his extra-marital affairs.

He later met Croatian actress Oja Kodar and became his partner for 26 years, but he never divorced Mori who they met often.

5. Welles had unfinished projects

Munich Film Museum – Flickr

After his demise in 1985 aged 70, Welles had completed 13 feature films in his career and had 15 more projects that were incomplete. Some projects date back to the 1930s and 1940s.

All of his unfinished projects were handed down to his long-term partner Oja Kodar. She donated some films to the Munich music museum for preservation.

The Munich Film Museum edited together the complete footage to a 27-minute cut, which was screened at many film festivals.

6. Welles has two stars in the Hollywood walk of fame

Orson Welles Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – Flickr

The Hollywood walk of fame is a historic landmark that consists of over, 2700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

Individuals with monumental accomplishments receive the upper hand in having stars in the Walk of Fame, and Welles had already earned his place there.

Welles has two stars, one is located on the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to radio and the second is located on the 1600 block of Vine Street for his work in film.

7. He knew how to lie

Peter Rabbit costume – Flickr

Welles wasn鈥檛 a star of the stage, but he was compelling enough to get the theatre to fall for his fib. He got his first job before turning 10 where he received $25 a day to dress as Peter Rabbit.

His breakthrough came while travelling through Europe aged 16. At the Gate theatre in Dublin, he proclaimed that he was a big Theater Guild star from New York. 

Welles landed a lead role and spent the entire season acting in Dublin鈥檚 biggest theatres thanks to his forged resume.

8. William Hearst wasn鈥檛 a fan

William Hearst – Wikipedia

Hearst was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician. From the movie Citizen Kane, the character Kane was loosely based on William Hearst, and the portrayal wasn鈥檛 exactly what anyone would applaud.

He tried blocking the movie from being aired, and his newspaper company refused to advertise, review or even mention the movie. Hearst’s press was under orders to disregard Welles, apart from a few articles pointing out that he is a threat to motherhood, freedom of speech, and assembly.

Hearst went to extreme lengths like offering to pay RKO pictures, the studio that released the film, to destroy the film, but the deal never went through.

9. Welles considered 鈥淭he Trial鈥� (1962) His Greatest work

Orson Welles and Anthony Perkins – Flickr

Welles might be well known for his movie Citizen Kane but, he has admitted to considering The Trial as his greatest work. He is quoted saying, 鈥渟ay what you will, but The Trial is the best film I ever made 鈥� I have never been so happy as when I made this film.鈥�

The film was an adaptation of Kafka鈥檚 novel about a prosecuted man awaiting trial, but he refused to call it so. He argued that it was a Wellesian project. He claimed the book inspired him but, the film was a separate genuine work of art.

10. His final movie came out in 2018

The Other Side of the Wind poster – Pinterest

In 2018, his final movie, The Other Side of the Wind, was produced. It was co-written, co-edited, and co-produced by Orson Welles and after more than forty years of development was released in 2018.

Shooting began in 1970 with an original plan of it being his comeback to Hollywood, but the project was filled with legal, financial, and political complications that delayed its completion.

Despite his death in 1985, rights were acquired by Royal Road in 2014 and the project was overseen to completion. The film premiered on August 31, 2018, and it holds the longest production time in history, a total of 48 years.