Orson Welles
Directing • Born 1915-05-06 – Died 1985-10-10
Biography
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio. Noted for his innovative dramatic productions as well as his distinctive voice and personality, Welles is widely acknowledged as one of the most accomplished dramatic artists of the twentieth century, especially for his significant and influential early work—despite his notoriously contentious relationship with Hollywood. His distinctive directorial style featured layered, nonlinear narrative forms, innovative uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro, unique camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots, and long takes. Welles's long career in film is noted for his struggle for artistic control in the face of pressure from studios. Many of his films were heavily edited and others left unreleased. He has been praised as a major creative force and as "the ultimate auteur." After directing a number of high-profile theatrical 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's novel The War of the Worlds performed for the radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was reported to have 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 instant notoriety. Citizen Kane (1941), his first film with RKO, in which he starred in the role of Charles Foster Kane, is often considered the greatest film ever made. Several of his other films, including The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Touch of Evil (1958), Chimes at Midnight (1965), and F for Fake (1974), are also widely considered to be masterpieces. In 2002, he was voted the greatest film director of all time in two separate British Film Institute polls among directors and critics, and a wide survey of critical consensus, best-of lists, and historical retrospectives calls him the most acclaimed director of all time. Andrew Sarris in his influential book of film criticism The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968 included him in the "pantheon" of the 14 greatest film directors who had worked in the United States. Well known for his baritone voice, Welles was also an extremely well regarded actor and was voted number 16 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the greatest American film actors of all time. He was also a celebrated Shakespearean stage actor and an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety shows in the war years.
Filmography
333 credits
Citizen Kane
Movie • 1941
Charles Foster Kane
A Man for All Seasons
Movie • 1966
Cardinal Wolsey
The Magnificent Ambersons
Movie • 1942
Narrator (voice)
Chimes at Midnight
Movie • 1965
Falstaff
The Third Man
Movie • 1949
Harry Lime
Touch of Evil
Movie • 1958
Police Captain Hank Quinlan
History of the World: Part I
Movie • 1981
Narrator (voice)
The Trial
Movie • 1962
Albert Hastler
Twelve Plus One
Movie • 1969
Markan
The Transformers: The Movie
Movie • 1986
Unicron (voice)
Moby Dick
Movie • 1956
Father Mapple
Catch-22
Movie • 1970
Brigadier General Dreedle
The Lady from Shanghai
Movie • 1947
Michael O'Hara
Is Paris Burning?
Movie • 1966
Konsul Nordling
The Stranger
Movie • 1946
Prof. Charles Rankin
And Then There Were None
Movie • 1974
Voice on Tape
House of Cards
Movie • 1968
Leschenhaut
Journey into Fear
Movie • 1943
Colonel Haki
Treasure Island
Movie • 1972
Long John Silver
The Deep
Movie • 1970
Russ Brewer
Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees
Movie • 1965
Self - Narrator (voice)
Jane Eyre
Movie • 1943
Edward Rochester
Don Quixote
Movie • 1992
Self
According to Occam's Razor
Movie • 1999
Welles' Language
Movie • 1990
Self (archive footage)
Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional
Movie • 1997
Self
Casino Royale
Movie • 1967
Le Chiffre
Waterloo
Movie • 1970
Louis XVIII
Follow the Boys
Movie • 1944
Orson Welles (uncredited)
The Battle of Neretva
Movie • 1969
Četnik
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Movie • 1975
Narrator / Nag / Chuchundra (voice)
Macbeth
Movie • 1948
Macbeth
Butterfly
Movie • 1982
Judge Rauch
The Long, Hot Summer
Movie • 1958
Will Varner
Compulsion
Movie • 1959
Jonathan Wilk
Necromancy
Movie • 1972
Mr. Cato
The Vikings
Movie • 1958
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
F for Fake
Movie • 1973
Self
Napoleon
Movie • 1955
Sir Hudson Lowe
The V.I.P.s
Movie • 1963
Max Buda
American: An Odyssey to 1947
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
The Black Rose
Movie • 1950
Bayan
The Southern Star
Movie • 1969
Plankett
Prince of Foxes
Movie • 1949
Cesare Borgia
From Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight
Movie • 2023
Falstaff
Mr. Arkadin
Movie • 1955
Gregory Arkadin
Tomorrow Is Forever
Movie • 1946
John Andrew MacDonald
Three Cases of Murder
Movie • 1955
Lord Mountdrago ("Lord Mountdrago" segment)
The Kremlin Letter
Movie • 1970
Bresnavitch
Alfonso Sansone: Producer by Chance
Movie • 2014
Self (archive footage)
Malpertuis
Movie • 1972
Cassavius
Othello
Movie • 1951
Othello
The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
Movie • 1981
Presenter / Narrator (voice)
Royal Affairs in Versailles
Movie • 1953
Benjamin Franklin
Orson Welles: The One-Man Band
Movie • 1995
Self (archive footage)
The Biggest Battle
Movie • 1978
Narratore
The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles
Movie • 2003
Self (archive footage)
Tepepa
Movie • 1969
Colonel Cascorro
The Secret of Nikola Tesla
Movie • 1980
J.P. Morgan
Slapstick of Another Kind
Movie • 1982
Aliens' Father (voice)
A Safe Place
Movie • 1971
The Magician
Hot Tomorrows
Movie • 1977
Parklawn Mortuary (voice)
Trent's Last Case
Movie • 1952
Sigsbee Manderson
Ten Days' Wonder
Movie • 1971
Théo Van Horn
The Immortal Story
Movie • 1968
Charles Clay
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
Movie • 2019
(archive footage)
The Late Great Planet Earth
Movie • 1978
Self
David and Goliath
Movie • 1960
King Saul
Voyage of the Damned
Movie • 1976
José Estedes
Black Magic
Movie • 1949
Joseph Balsamo aka Count Cagliostro
It's All True
Movie • 1993
Self
Ferry to Hong Kong
Movie • 1959
Captain Hart
Ro.Go.Pa.G.
Movie • 1963
The 'Director' (segment "La ricotta")
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Future Shock
Movie • 1972
Narrator
Get to Know Your Rabbit
Movie • 1972
Mr. Delasandro
The Fountain of Youth
Movie • 1958
the narrator
The Force Beyond
Movie • 1977
Himself (archive footage)
The Spanish Earth
Movie • 1937
Narrator (voice)
The Witching
Movie • 1983
Mr. Cato
Marco the Magnificent
Movie • 1965
Akerman, Marco's Teacher
It Happened One Christmas
Movie • 1977
Henry F. Potter
Filming Othello
Movie • 1979
Host
Mysterious Castles of Clay
Movie • 1978
Narrator
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
Movie • 1967
Jonathan Lute
Trouble in the Glen
Movie • 1954
Sanin Cejador y Mengues
Where Is Parsifal?
Movie • 1984
Klingsor
It's All Brazil
Movie • 1997
Self (archive footage)
Return to Glennascaul
Movie • 1953
Narrator
Parkinson at 50
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
The Road to Bresson
Movie • 1984
Self
Too Much Johnson
Movie • 1938
Keystone Kop
The Tartars
Movie • 1961
Burundai
Is It Always Right to Be Right?
Movie • 1970
Narrator
Hot Money
Movie • 1983
Sheriff Paisley
Man, Beast and Virtue
Movie • 1953
Captain Perella, the Beast
Someone to Love
Movie • 1987
Danny's Friend
The Fight for Rome
Movie • 1968
Justinian
Magic with the Stars
Movie • 1982
Self - Host
The Cave: a parable told by Orson Welles
Movie • 1973
Narrator
King Lear
Movie • 1953
King Lear
Sentinels of Silence
Movie • 1971
The Greatest Adventure--The Story of Man's Voyage to the Moon
Movie • 1979
Narrator
Orson Welles in the Land of Don Quixote
Movie • 2000
Self (Archive footage)
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Movie • 1977
Narrator
Tall Tales: The Ireland of Orson Welles
Movie • 2021
Self
Notre Dame de la Croisette
Movie • 1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Othelo The Great
Movie • 2024
Self (archive footage)
The Sailor from Gibraltar
Movie • 1967
Louis de Mozambique
The Dreamers
Movie • 1985
Marcus Kleek
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
Movie • 2011
Self
The Roots of Heaven
Movie • 1958
Cy Sedgewick
Crack in the Mirror
Movie • 1960
Hagolin / Lamerciere
To Build a Fire
Movie • 1969
Narrator (voice)
Orson Welles in Spain
Movie • 1966
Himself
Man in the Shadow
Movie • 1957
Virgil Renchler
The Muppet Movie
Movie • 1979
Lew Lord
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Movie • 2012
(archive footage)
The Battle Over Citizen Kane
Movie • 1996
Self (archive footage)
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
Movie • 1986
Self (archive footage)
Looking Back Before You Leap
Movie • 2023
General Zaroff (voice)
Ten Days That Shook the World
Movie • 1967
Narrator
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Movie • 2014
Self - Filmmaker / Various Roles (archive footage)
It's Pretty, but is it Art?
Movie • 2023
Self (voiceover)
Flame of Persia
Movie • 1971
Narrator
The Other Side of the Wind
Movie • 2018
Journalist (uncredited)
The Paranormal Peter Sellers
Movie • 2001
Self (Archive footage)
A King's Story
Movie • 1965
Narrator
The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh
Movie • 1984
himself
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Upon This Rock
Movie • 1970
Michelangelo (voice)
Tut: The Boy King
Movie • 1978
Himself - Host
This Is Orson Welles
Movie • 2015
Self
The Hearts of Age
Movie • 1934
Death
Jodorowsky's Dune
Movie • 2013
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Twelfth Night
Movie • 1933
Narrator
The Shadow Knows
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
Vienna
Movie • 1968
Himself
Lucifer et moi
Movie • 2009
(archive footage 1982)
Swiss Family Robinson
Movie • 1940
Opening Narrator (uncredited)
The Merchant of Venice
Movie • 1969
Shylock
On the tracks of a filmmaker
Movie • 1988
Orson Welles
Who's Out There?
Movie • 1975
Host
The Battle of Grovers Mill
Movie • 2024
Radio Host (voice) (archival footage)
A Step Away
Movie • 1980
English Narrator
The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail
Movie • 1984
Narrator
Moby Dick
Movie • 2000
Captain Ahab / Starbuck / Ishmael (archive footage)
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
Movie • 1974
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Orson Welles' Magic Show
Movie • 1985
Self
Lafayette
Movie • 1962
Benjamin Franklin
Filming 'The Trial'
Movie • 1981
Self
The Finest Hours
Movie • 1964
Narrator (voice)
Portrait: Orson Welles
Movie • 1968
Self
Directed by John Ford
Movie • 1971
Narrator (voice)
Rita Hayworth: Dancing Into the Dream
Movie • 1990
Self (archive footage)
Oedipus the King
Movie • 1968
Tiresias
Start the Revolution Without Me
Movie • 1970
The Narrator
Soft Self-Portrait of Salvador Dali
Movie • 1969
Narrator (voice)
The Fight for Rome II - The Betrayal
Movie • 1969
Justinian
Freedom River
Movie • 1971
Narrator
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film
Movie • 1990
Self (archive footage)
An Evening with Orson Welles: The Golden Honeymoon
Movie • 1970
A Huey P. Newton Story
Movie • 2001
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Well
Movie • 2005
From Fiber to Fabric: Wool's a Natural
Movie • 1977
Narrator
Lost in La Mancha
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
Show-Business at War
Movie • 1943
Self
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Movie • 1975
Self (archive footage)
NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 3
Movie • 2001
Narrator
Duel in the Sun
Movie • 1946
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
A Horse Called Nijinsky
Movie • 1970
Narrator
The Orson Welles Show
Movie • 1979
Self
Disorder
Movie • 1950
Self
The Greenstone
Movie • 1980
Narrator (voice)
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
The Quest for Fire Adventure
Movie • 1982
Narrator
Working with Orson Welles
Movie • 1993
Himself (Archive Footage)
Filmmakers vs. Tycoons
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
Bugs Bunny Superstar
Movie • 1976
Narrator (voice)
Enchanted Journey
Movie • 1981
Pippo
Lon Chaney: A thousand faces
Movie • 2000
Self (archive footage)
The Eyes of Orson Welles
Movie • 2018
Self - Filmmaker / Various Roles (archive footage)
The Hitch Hiker
Movie • 2004
Ronald Adams
The Battle of Sutjeska
Movie • 1973
Winston Churchill
The Welles Raft
Movie • 2022
Himself (Archive Footage)
High Journey
Movie • 1959
Narrator
Orson Welles: The Paris Interview
Movie • 2010
Himself
Around the World of Mike Todd
Movie • 1968
Self - Narrator
La Classe américaine
Movie • 1993
Self (archive footage)
Battle for Survival
Movie • 1946
Narrator
Orson Welles at the Cinémathèque Française
Movie • 1983
Himself
The Other Side of Welles
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
Hopper/Welles
Movie • 2020
Self
The Cave
Movie • 1973
Narrator
Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
Movie • 2018
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art
Movie • 1974
Narrator
The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Movie • 1998
Self - Roaster (archive footage)
Rosabella - La storia italiana di Orson Welles
Movie • 1993
Something Else
Movie
Genocide
Movie • 1982
Narrator (voice)
Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina
Movie • 1958
Self - Host
Orson Welles' Sketch Book
Movie • 1955
Self - Host
King Penguin: Stranded Beyond the Falklands
Movie • 1983
Self - Narrator
The Psychic Connection
Movie • 1983
Narrator
Baryshnikov in Hollywood
Movie • 1982
Self - Narrator
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
Movie • 1982
Self
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Michael Landon
Movie • 1984
Self
Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
Movie • 2020
Self (archive footage)
Let Poland Be Poland
Movie • 1982
Self
Doug Henning's World of Magic
Movie • 1982
Self - Special Guest
Out of Darkness
Movie • 1956
Self - Narrator
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
Movie • 1979
Self
A Legend a Lifetime: Citizen Welles
Movie • 1974
Orson Welles - Das vermarktete Genie
Movie • 1975
Self
The Battle of Austerlitz
Movie • 1960
Robert Fulton
Disorder Is 20 Years Old
Movie • 1967
Self
The Magic History of Cinema
Movie • 2017
Embers & Dust
Movie • 2016
Professor Richard Pierson / Self (voice) (archive sound)
Know Your Ally: Britain
Movie • 1944
Narrator/Bob (helpful taxi passenger)
Lords of the Forest
Movie • 1958
Narrator (voice)
An Arabian Night
Movie • 1960
Storyteller
Mexico City, Old and New
Movie • 1945
Narrator
River of the Ocean
Movie • 1962
Narrator (English)
South Seas Adventure
Movie • 1958
Narrator
It's Not All True
Movie • 1986
Himself (archive footage)
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Movie • 1972
Sheridan Whiteside
In Our Hands
Movie • 1984
Himself
Magnificent Monsters of the Deep
Movie • 1975
Narrator
Power and Corruption
Movie • 1973
Himself
Wagner e Venezia
Movie • 1982
Richard Wagner (voice)
The Lions of Capitalism: Some Call It Greed
Movie • 1977
Narrator
To Try Again... and Succeed
Movie • 1979
Narrator (voice)
The New Deal for Artists
Movie • 1981
Narrator (voice)
The Double McGuffin
Movie • 1979
Narrator (voice)
Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park
Movie • 1980
Narrator
Almonds and Raisins
Movie • 1984
Narrator
The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis
Movie • 1979
Narrator
Search for the Titanic
Movie • 1981
Self - Host
The Enemy Before Us
Movie • 1970
Narrator
A Gift of Harvest
Movie • 1981
Narrator
Kelly Country
Movie • 1973
Narrator
NBC: The First Fifty Years
Movie • 1976
Self / Narrator
Jeanne Moreau : Vive le cinéma !
Movie • 1972
Self
Brasil
Movie • 1981
Self (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Movie • 2010
Genghis Khan / Bayan (archive footage)
Caesar's Guide to Gaming with Orson Welles
Movie • 1978
Himself
The Land of the Basques
Movie • 1955
Himself
The Blinding of Isaac Woodard
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Beggars Would Ride
Movie • 1967
Narrator
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
Movie • 1997
Self (archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars
Movie • 1982
Self
Magic Mirror Maze
Movie • 2012
Aliens Uncovered: Close Encounters
Movie • 2024
Self
The Scorpion and the Frog
Movie • 2025
Narrator (archive footage)
Lost in "The Thinking"
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
Movie • 1991
Self - Professor in War of the Worlds Broadcast (archive sound)
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
Movie • 2025
Narrator "The Scorpion and the Frog" (archive footage)
Americans on Everest
Movie • 1965
Narrator- Self
Orson Welles Talks With Roger Hill
Movie • 2005
(Self)
Hi-Fi
Movie • 1999
The UFO Conspiracy
Movie • 2004
Self (archive sound)
King of Kings
Movie • 1961
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Moby Dick—Rehearsed
Movie • 1955
An Actor Manager /Father Mapple /Ahab
Voyage of the Brigantine Yankee
Movie
Narrator
The Orson Welles Story
Movie • 1982
Self
Profile No. 6: Orson Welles
Movie • 1965
The Real Charlie Chaplin
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
A Mother's Tale
Movie • 1976
Narrator
The Shirley MacLaine Special: Where Do We Go from Here?
Movie • 1977
Self
WeirdWorld
Movie • 2025
Troy2000 (Archive footage)
Orson Welles at The Magic Castle
Movie • 1978
Self
Jim Henson Idea Man
Movie • 2024
Self (archive footage)
Citizen Kane Trailer
Movie • 1940
himself
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
Movie • 1983
Magician (uncredited)
Heart of the Festival
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood sul Tevere
Movie • 2009
Orson Welles Uncut
Movie • 2005
The Green Goddess
Movie • 1939
Rajah/Narrator
Orson Welles and People: Camille, the Naked Lady and the Musketeers
Movie • 1956
Self - Narrator (voice)
Five Columns on the Front Page: Hong Kong as seen by Orson Welles
Movie • 1960
Self (narrator)
The Merchant of Venice (Rushes)
Movie • 1970
Shylock
An Evening with Orson Welles: The Happy Prince
Movie • 1970
An Evening with Orson Welles: American Heritage, Vol. I – Selections from George Ade, Thomas Wolfe, Mark Twain
Movie • 1970
An Evening with Orson Welles: American Heritage, Vol. II – Clarence Darrow
Movie • 1970
An Evening with Orson Welles: Two Wise Old Men – Socrates and Noah
Movie • 1970
An Evening with Orson Welles: My Little Boy
Movie • 1970
One Man Band
Movie • 1999
Presenter / Various
The Movie Movie (An Excerpt)
Movie • 2002
Archival Footage
The Miracle of St. Anne
Movie • 1950
The Director
Moonlighting
TV • 1985
Orson Welles
I Love Lucy
TV • 1951
Orson Welles
Omnibus
TV • 1952
King Lear
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
Night Gallery
TV • 1970
Narrator
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Sheridan Whiteside
Shōgun
TV • 1980
Narrator
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
TV • 1973
Self - Host
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self
Scene of the Crime
TV • 1985
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
TV • 1973
Self
Doug Henning's World of Magic
TV • 1975
Self
Talking Pictures
TV • 2013
Self (archive footage)
Around the World with Orson Welles
TV • 1955
Host: Orson Welles
The Magic of David Copperfield
TV • 1978
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
In the Land of Don Quixote
TV • 1964
Himself
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV • 1973
Self
A Woman Called Moses
TV • 1978
Narrator (voice)
V.I.P. Schaukel
TV • 1971
Self
Orson Welles' Sketch Book
TV • 1955
Himself - Host
National Geographic Specials
TV • 1965
Narrator
Cinépanorama
TV • 1956
Self
Hollywood and the Stars
TV • 1963
Self (archive footage)
The Dick Cavett Show
TV • 1968
Self - Guest
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self - Guest Host
Magnum, P.I.
TV • 1980
Robin Masters (voice)
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self
Dinah!
TV • 1974
Self
Omnibus
TV • 1967
Self - Presenter
Tempo
TV • 1961
Self
Colgate Theatre
TV • 1958
Ford Star Jubilee
TV • 1955
Oscar Jaffe
The Name of the Game
TV • 1968
Narrator
Survival
TV • 1961
Narrator
Tales of the Klondike
TV • 1981
Narrator
The Silent Years
TV • 1971
Reflets de Cannes
TV • 1954
Self
American Experience
TV • 1988
Self (archive footage)
LIFE BEYOND
TV • 2019
Self (voice)
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self
Cérémonie des César
TV • 1976
Self - President