Welles, (George) Orson (1915–1985)

US actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. His first and greatest film was Citizen Kane (1941), which he produced, directed, and starred in. Later work includes the films noirs The Lady from Shanghai (1948) and Touch of Evil (1958). As an actor, he created the character of Harry Lime in the film The Third Man (1949).

Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. A child prodigy, he made his acting debut at 16 in Dublin, Ireland. In 1937 he founded the Mercury Theater in New York with John Houseman; their repertory productions included a modern-dress version of Julius Caesar. Welles's realistic radio broadcast of H G Wells's The War of the Worlds (1938) caused panic and fear of Martian invasion in the USA. The next year he went to Hollywood. Using innovative lighting, camera angles, and movements, Citizen Kane is a landmark in the history of cinema. Welles's subsequent career, however, was dogged by studio interference – as on The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) – and he opted to work primarily in Europe, his ventures into Hollywood confined to acting roles in other people's films and a handful of directorial assignments. His films include The Stranger (1946), Macbeth (1948), Othello (1952), Chimes at Midnight (1966), and F for Fake (1973). He was the recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 1975.