Orson Welles biography
Orson Welles was an American actor and filmmaker, born on 6 May 1915 in Kenosha, who died on 10 October 1985.
Orson Welles's screen career began in 1933 with Twelfth Night.
Orson Welles appeared in 154 films and 38 television or streaming titles between 1933 and 2020.
Honours include Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay, Palme d'Or and Academy Honorary Award.
- Also known as
- George Welles
- Born
- 6 May 1915
- Died
- 10 October 1985 (aged 70)
- Birthplace
- Kenosha
- Work
- Film director, Actor, Screenwriter, Film producer, Magician
- Film industries
- Hollywood and beyond
- Years active
- 1931 to 1985
- Awards
- Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay
- Palme d'Or
- Academy Honorary Award
- Golden Lion
- honorary doctorate from the University of Paris-VII
- AFI Life Achievement Award
Orson Welles filmography
154 films and 38 television or streaming titles, newest first.
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Hopper/Welles | Documentary film released posthumously | ||
| 2018 | The Other Side of the Wind | |||
| 2008 | Lucifer et moi | |||
| 2003 | Apple Jack | English | ||
| 2002 | Lost in La Mancha | English | ||
| 2001 | A Huey P. Newton Story | English | ||
| 1996 | The Battle Over Citizen Kane | English | ||
| 1995 | A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies | English | ||
| 1992 | Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio | English | ||
| 1991 | Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse | English | ||
| 1987 | Someone to Love | Danny's friend | Filmed in 1985; released posthumously (final film role) | |
| 1986 | The Transformers: The Movie | Unicron | Voice, recorded in 1985; released posthumously | |
| 1986 | The Enchanted Journey | Pippo | ||
| 1986 | Hot Money | Sheriff Paisley | ||
| 1985 | Almonds and Raisins | Narrator | ||
| 1984 | The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh | |||
| 1984 | The Road to Bresson | English | ||
| 1984 | Where Is Parsifal? | Klingsor | ||
| 1984 | The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail | Narrator | ||
| 1982 | Genocide | Narrator | ||
| 1982 | Butterfly | Judge Rauch | ||
| 1982 | Slapstick of Another Kind | Alien Father | ||
| 1981 | The Man Who Saw Tomorrow | English | ||
| 1981 | History of the World, Part I | Narrator | ||
| 1981 | A Gift of Harvest | Narrator | Short film |
Show all 154 films
| Year | Title | Role | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | The Secret of Nikola Tesla | J. P. Morgan | ||
| 1980 | The Greenstone | Narrator | ||
| 1980 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park | Narrator | ||
| 1979 | The Muppet Movie | Lew Lord | ||
| 1979 | The Double McGuffin | Narrator | ||
| 1978 | The Greatest Battle | Narrator | English-language version | |
| 1978 | Filming Othello | Documentary film | ||
| 1978 | Unsung Heroes | |||
| 1978 | Orson Welles's Jeremiah | |||
| 1978 | Mysterious Castles of Clay | Narrator | ||
| 1978 | CPR For Citizens | Narrator | Educational film | |
| 1977 | It Happened One Christmas | English | ||
| 1977 | Hot Tomorrows | English | ||
| 1977 | The Rime of the Ancient Mariner | Narrator | ||
| 1977 | The Lions of Capitalism: Some Call It Greed | Narrator | ||
| 1976 | Voyage of the Damned | Raoul Estedes | ||
| 1976 | F for Fake trailer | |||
| 1975 | Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? | English | ||
| 1975 | Rikki-Tikki-Tavi | Narrator | Animated short film | |
| 1975 | Bugs Bunny: Superstar | Narrator | ||
| 1974 | And Then There Were None | Mr. Owen | Voice | |
| 1973 | La Grande Bretèche | |||
| 1973 | F for Fake | |||
| 1973 | Who's Out There? | Narrator | Short film | |
| 1973 | Kelly Country | Narrator | ||
| 1973 | Battle of Sutjeska | Winston Churchill | ||
| 1972 | Treasure Island | Long John Silver | ||
| 1972 | Necromancy | Mr. Cato | ||
| 1972 | Get to Know Your Rabbit | Mr. Delasandro | ||
| 1972 | Flames of Persia | Narrator | ||
| 1971 | Malpertuis | Uncle Cassavius | ||
| 1971 | Ten Days' Wonder | Theo Van Horn | ||
| 1971 | Sentinels of Silence | Narrator | Short film | |
| 1971 | A Safe Place | Magician | ||
| 1971 | Freedom River | Narrator | ||
| 1971 | Directed by John Ford | Narrator | ||
| 1970 | Waterloo | Louis XVIII | ||
| 1970 | Catch-22 | General Dreedle | ||
| 1970 | Start the Revolution Without Me | Narrator | ||
| 1970 | The Kremlin Letter | Bresnavitch | ||
| 1970 | Salvador Dalí | |||
| 1970 | An Evening with Orson Welles | Six 30-minute recitations | ||
| 1970 | To Build a Fire | Narrator | ||
| 1970 | Salvador Dalí: A Soft Self-Portrait | Narrator | ||
| 1970 | Is It Always Right to Be Right? | Narrator | Animated short film | |
| 1970 | A Horse Called Nijinsky | Narrator | ||
| 1969 | Battle of Neretva | Chetnik senator | ||
| 1969 | Kampf um Rom II - Der Verrat | German | ||
| 1969 | The Southern Star | Plankett | Also director of the opening scenes (uncredited) | |
| 1969 | The Thirteen Chairs | English | ||
| 1969 | The Merchant of Venice | |||
| 1969 | Tepepa | Colonel Cascorro | ||
| 1969 | 12 + 1 | Maurice Markau | ||
| 1968 | House of Cards | Charles Leschenhaut | ||
| 1968 | The Immortal Story | |||
| 1968 | The Last Roman | Emperor Justinian | ||
| 1968 | Tetepango | Italian | ||
| 1968 | Kampf um Rom | German | ||
| 1968 | Oedipus the King | Tiresias | ||
| 1968 | Around the World of Mike Todd | Narrator | ||
| 1967 | Casino Royale | Le Chiffre | ||
| 1967 | The Sailor from Gibraltar | Louis of Mozambique | ||
| 1967 | Le Désordre à vingt ans | |||
| 1967 | I'll Never Forget What's'isname | Jonathan Lute | ||
| 1966 | Is Paris Burning? | Consul Raoul Nordling | ||
| 1966 | A Man for All Seasons | Cardinal Wolsey | ||
| 1966 | Chimes at Midnight | Also Costume designer | ||
| 1965 | Marco the Magnificent | Ackermann | ||
| 1965 | Chimes at Midnight | Sir John Falstaff | ||
| 1965 | A King's Story | Narrator | ||
| 1964 | The Finest Hours | Narrator | ||
| 1963 | The V.I.P.s | Max Buda | ||
| 1963 | Curd Cheese | Italian | ||
| 1962 | Ro.Go.Pa.G | Film Director | "La ricotta" segment | |
| 1962 | The Trial | Also Uncredited editor | ||
| 1962 | River of the Ocean | Narrator | ||
| 1961 | The Tartars | Burundai | ||
| 1961 | Lafayette | Benjamin Franklin | ||
| 1961 | King of Kings | Narrator | ||
| 1960 | David and Goliath | King Saul | Also director of his own scenes (uncredited) | |
| 1960 | Crack in the Mirror | Hagolin/Lamerciere | ||
| 1960 | Austerlitz | Robert Fulton | ||
| 1959 | Ferry to Hong Kong | Captain Cecil Hart | ||
| 1959 | Compulsion | Jonathan Wilk | ||
| 1959 | Masters of the Congo Jungle | Narrator | ||
| 1959 | High Journey | Narrator | ||
| 1958 | The Vikings | Narrator | Uncredited | |
| 1958 | Touch of Evil | |||
| 1958 | The Roots of Heaven | Cy Sedgewick | ||
| 1958 | The Long, Hot Summer | Will Varner | ||
| 1958 | South Seas Adventure | Narrator | ||
| 1957 | Man in the Shadow | Virgil Renchler | ||
| 1956 | Moby Dick | Father Mapple | ||
| 1955 | Mr. Arkadin | Also art director, costume designer, and uncredited editor | ||
| 1955 | Napoléon | Hudson Lowe | ||
| 1955 | Three Cases of Murder | Lord Mountdrago | ||
| 1954 | Royal Affairs in Versailles | Benjamin Franklin | ||
| 1954 | Trouble in the Glen | Sanin Cejador y Mengues | ||
| 1953 | Man, Beast and Virtue | Captain Perella | ||
| 1953 | Magic Trick | |||
| 1952 | Trent's Last Case | Sigsbee Manderson | ||
| 1952 | Little World of Don Camillo | Voice of Christ | Also dubbing director, English-language version | |
| 1951 | Othello | |||
| 1951 | Return to Glennascaul | English | ||
| 1950 | The Black Rose | Bayan | ||
| 1950 | Disorder | |||
| 1949 | Black Magic | Cagliostro/Josef Balsamo | Also director of his own scenes (uncredited) | |
| 1949 | The Third Man | Harry Lime | Also writer of some of his own dialogue (uncredited) | |
| 1949 | Prince of Foxes | Cesare Borgia | ||
| 1948 | Macbeth | Also uncredited set designer | ||
| 1947 | The Lady from Shanghai | |||
| 1946 | Tomorrow Is Forever | John MacDonald/Erich Kessler | ||
| 1946 | The Stranger | Co-written with Anthony Veiller andJohn Huston | ||
| 1946 | Duel in the Sun | Narrator | Uncredited | |
| 1945 | Mexico City, Old and New | Narrator | ||
| 1944 | Follow the Boys | English | ||
| 1943 | Show Business at War | English | ||
| 1943 | Journey into Fear | Director of additional scenes; co-written with Joseph Cotten | ||
| 1943 | Jane Eyre | Edward Rochester | Also associate producer (uncredited) | |
| 1943 | Know Your Ally: Britain | Narrator/Bob (helpful taxi passenger) | Short film (uncredited) | |
| 1942 | The Magnificent Ambersons | Also Uncredited cinematographer | ||
| 1942 | Tanks | Narrator | ||
| 1941 | Citizen Kane | Co-written with Herman J. Mankiewicz | ||
| 1940 | Swiss Family Robinson | Narrator | Uncredited | |
| 1940 | Citizen Kane trailer | |||
| 1938 | Too Much Johnson | English | ||
| 1937 | The Spanish Earth | Narrator | ||
| 1934 | The Hearts of Age | Scenario | ||
| 1933 | Twelfth Night | Dress rehearsal of Welles's Todd School stage production |
Television and streaming
| Year | Title | Role | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | King Lear | Test footage | ||
| 1985 | Scene of the Crime | Host | Series | |
| 1981 | Magnum, P.I | Robin Masters (voice) | Series: 5 episodes | |
| 1981 | Filming The Trial | |||
| 1980 | The Dreamers | |||
| 1980 | Shōgun | Narrator | Miniseries | |
| 1979 | The Orson Welles Show | Unsold pilot | ||
| 1979 | The New Deal for Artists | Narrator | ||
| 1978 | A Woman Called Moses | Narrator | NBC Harriet Tubman biopic miniseries | |
| 1976 | Orson Welles' Magic Show | |||
| 1976 | NBC, The First Fifty Years | Host | ||
| 1975 | Survival | Narrator | Episode: "Magnificent Monsters of the Deep" | |
| 1973 | Orson Welles Great Mysteries | Host | Series | |
| 1972 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Sheridan Whiteside | Episode: "The Man Who Came to Dinner" | |
| 1971 | The Silent Years | Host | Series | |
| 1971 | Night Gallery | Narrator | Segment: "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" | |
| 1968 | Vienna | Segment for the unfinished Orson's Bag TV special | ||
| 1968 | One Man Band | Also known as Orson Welles' London | ||
| 1967 | The Heroine | |||
| 1967 | The Deep | |||
| 1964 | In the Land of Don Quixote | Series • Filmed c. 1961 • Aired in 1964. | ||
| 1961 | Orson Welles on the Art of Bullfighting | Episode of UK series Tempo | ||
| 1960 | Orson Welles in Dublin | |||
| 1958 | The Fountain of Youth | Also Designer • Music arranger | ||
| 1958 | Portrait of Gina | Unsold pilot |
Show all 38 titles
| Year | Title | Role | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Don Quixote | |||
| 1956 | Out of Darkness | Narrator | Documentary | |
| 1956 | Ford Star Jubilee | Oscar Jaffe | Episode: "Twentieth Century" | |
| 1956 | Camille, the Naked Lady and the Musketeers | Also Designer • Music arranger • Unsold pilot • Lost | ||
| 1955 | The Land Of The Basques | English | ||
| 1955 | Around the World with Orson Welles | Series | ||
| 1955 | Orson Welles' Sketch Book | Series of commentaries | ||
| 1955 | Moby Dick, Rehearsed | Film version of Welles's London stage production | ||
| 1955 | "The Tragedy of Lurs" | |||
| 1953 | King Lear | King Lear | TV debut | |
| 1950 | An Evening With Orson Welles | |||
| 1942 | It's All True | Narrator | ||
| 1941 | It's All True |