“Goodbye” Orson Welles Died 10 October 1985
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked in theatre, radio and film. Some of his best known works are Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaptation of Julius Caesar; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the all-time greatest films.
After directing a number of high-profile 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’ novel The War of the Worlds performed for the radio anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It reportedly 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 notoriety.
His first film was Citizen Kane (1941), which he co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in as Charles Foster Kane. Welles was an outsider to the studio system and directed only 13 full-length films in his career. Welles followed up Citizen Kane with critically acclaimed films, including The Magnificent Ambersons in 1942, and Touch of Evil in 1958.