History Creator / OrsonWelles

** ''Falstaff'' is also tied up in rights issues, preventing people from seeing a damn good movie (bootlegs are available if you can find the right sites)

** And also one episode which focused on a ''TheWarOfTheWorlds'' television parody with The Brain as the narrator.

* CryingWolf: A few years after the ''WarOfTheWorlds'' broadcast, Welles was hosting a patriotic radio concert featuring poetry and music that was then interrupted with news that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Nobody listening believed it.

* {{Mockumentary}}: The TropeMaker, with his famous radio dramatization of ''TheWarOfTheWorlds''.

George Orson Welles (1915-1985) was an actor, writer, director, artist, young genius, sometime StageMagician, and patron saint of [[LargeHam Large Hams]].

Welles went on to try to film ''The Magnificent Ambersons''; he intended it to be an epic. This had a considerably higher budget than ''Citizen Kane,'' and great ambition. Unfortunately, he took too long, his AuteurLicense was revoked and ExecutiveMeddling came into play; about half the footage was cut out of the film and probably LostForever. The remainder of the film suggests what sort of greatness the complete work would've had, but didn't have the probable full measure.

* DyeingForYourArt: Redhead Rita Hayworth went blonde for ''The Lady From Shanghai''.

* TheFilmOfTheBook: ''The Magnificent Ambersons'', ''The Lady From Shanghai'', ''Touch of Evil'', ''The Trial''
* FilmNoir: ''The Stranger'', ''The Lady From Shanghai'', and ''Touch of Evil''.

* HallOfMirrors: The memorable climax to ''The Lady From Shanghai''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Was considered for the voice of [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]], passed over because his voice was "too recognizable" in favour of JamesEarlJones.

Actor, writer, director, artist, young genius, sometime StageMagician, and patron saint of [[LargeHam Large Hams]].

A great showman prodigy, praised as a natural genius in his youth, Welles started his career on the stage because of his confidence and chutzpah, creating ground-breaking new productions of Shakespeare that revitalised the plays and challenged the rules of what could be done in adaptation. From there, he went on to do the Mercury Theater on the Air with a regular troupe. The highlight of his career in radio was his 1938 broadcast of ''TheWarOfTheWorlds'', which was so convincing that people actually believed aliens had landed in New Jersey. (This story, albeit true, is often highly exaggerated. There were no riots.)

From there, he made his first movie for RKO Pictures, ''Film/CitizenKane''. He got [[AuteurLicense complete artistic control]]; he directed it, produced it, wrote at least some of it, and played the lead. ''Citizen Kane'' was a groundbreaking film, generally considered one of, if not the best of all time, [[KanyeWest OF ALL]] [[MemeticMutation TIME!]] - so much so that it's created HypeAversion. It's very enjoyable despite that.

Welles made several films after those two, including ''FForFake'', ''TouchOfEvil'', and ''The Trial''. Although nothing he did was as well known as ''Citizen Kane'', many of his movies were excellent and still remain worth seeing.

MauriceLaMarche can do a spot-on impression of him. Has also been played by actors [[FullMetalJacket Vincent D'Onofrio]] in ''Film/EdWood'' (with the voice dubbed over by [=LaMarche=]) and Christian [=McKay=] in the RichardLinklater film ''MeAndOrsonWelles''.

* AnimatedAdaptation: The Brain from ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' and ''PinkyAndTheBrain'', right down to one segment which parodied the infamous frozen pea commercial.
** And also one episode which focused on a WarOfTheWorlds television parody with The Brain as the narrator.

** An episode of HeyArnold parodied the ''War of the Worlds'' broadcast, and the scares surrounding same.
* BackhandedApology: When he apologized for War of the Worlds, he said he was stunned that people believed it was true. He basically called them stupid.
* BavarianFireDrill: As detailed in ''F for Fake'', Welles's first professional acting job was when he was touring Europe at age 16 and ran out of money in Dublin. He then entered the famous Gate Theatre and [[RefugeInAudacity demanded a part, claiming to be a famous American Broadway star.]] He [[CrowningMomentofAwesome got one.]]

* ''ILoveLucy'': Welles guest starred on an episode helpfully titled [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Lucy Meets Orson Welles"]], which among other things referenced his love of magic and his infamous ''WarOfTheWorlds'' radio broadcast. Welles was also contracted to a Desilu pilot which ended in creative differences between himself and Desi Arnez.
** This could be either HilariousInHindsight or a FunnyAneurysmMoment, depending on how you look at it: LucilleBall and Orson Welles were longtime friends from their mutual work in radio, and before making ''Film/CitizenKane'', Welles pitched a comic thriller based on the novel ''The Smiler With the Knife'' with Ball in the lead role, but it was vetoed due to the studio's belief that Lucille Ball was [[ItWillNeverCatchOn a washed-up B-actress with no comedic talent]].
-->'''Welles''': You mean all those stories of what she did (to celebrities) in Hollywood and Europe were true?
-->'''Ricky Ricardo''': Every one of them!
-->'''Welles''': Huh. And they call ''me'' a character!
* InkSuitActor: Teamed up (as himself!) with {{Superman}} in ''Superman'' #62 (1950).

** ''TheMagnificentAmbersons'': Welles' cut was changed drastically by the studio without his permission. To rub salt on the wound, they burned the footage they removed so Welles couldn't change it back. Editor Robert Wise insisted that the test audiences were literally laughing at how bad it was, ninety percent of the score cards calling it terrible... and the other ten percent calling the film as a masterpiece. The studio simply couldn't gamble that ninety percent of its audience were wrong. The destruction of the footage, however gives us one of the most maddening what-ifs of cinema history.

* PhonyNewscast: The first half of the ''WarOfTheWorlds'' radio dramatization involved one of these.

* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: Interesting aversion; his production of Theatre/{{Macbeth}}, set in a Hatian court invoking Voodoo and with an all-black cast, put him on the map as a theatrical prodigy.

** FunnyAneurysmMoment: Welles apparently had much trouble calling it "A Robert Wise Film", as Wise had been the one in charge of butchering ''TheMagnificentAmbersons'' and Welles had never forgiven him for it.
* ''TheShadow'': Welles played the voice of Lamont Cranston and the Shadow from 1937 until 1938.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Was considered for the voice of [[StarWars Darth Vader]], passed over because his voice was "too recognizable" in favour of JamesEarlJones.

*** In a similar vein Welles auditioned for the part of Vito Corleone in Film/TheGodfather but Coppola picked MarlonBrando instead. He felt so guilty about it that he offered Welles the part of Kurtz in Film/ApocalypseNow, but Welles turned it down.
** There was a hoax a few years back where somebody claimed they'd found footage of a Batman movie directed by and starring Welles in the 1940's; youtube has the full preview, cunningly edited together from other films and serials with a full ensemble cast of contemporary celebrities.

* Creator/WilliamShakespeare: Made his name in the 1930s with memorable stage adaptations of ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'' and ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''. After going into Hollywood he made similarly well-regarded films of ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' and ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' as well as ''Chimes at Midnight'', a reworking of the ''HenryIV'' plays.

Welles started his career on the stage because of his confidence and chutzpah, creating ground-breaking new productions of Shakespeare that revitalised the plays and challenged the rules of what could be done in adaptation. From there, he went on to do the Mercury Theater on the Air with a regular troupe. The highlight of his career in radio was his 1938 broadcast of ''TheWarOfTheWorlds'', which was so convincing that people actually believed aliens had landed in New Jersey. (This story, albeit true, is often highly exaggerated. There were no riots.)

After burning almost every bridge in Hollywood, he was reduced to doing mostly voiceover work... most infamously for a [[http://ubu.wfmu.org/sound/365/03/365-Days-Project-03-01-welles-orson-frozen-peas-spot.mp3 frozen peas commercial]]. His tagline in commericals for the Paul Masson winery, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpj0t2ozPWY We will sell no wine... before its time]]," became a meme in TheSeventies. A bit of a GrammarNazi.


The great showman prodigy, praised as a natural genius in his youth, died five days after finishing recording the voice of Unicron for the 1986 ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie''.[[note]]In that short span of time, he blasted the movie. "I play a big toy who beats up all the little toys"[[/note]]

He was rather overweight in his later years, leading to many jokes relating to the fact that his final role would be that of a planet. What's funny is that [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Unicron his last role really was a planet.]]

* FranzKafka: ''The Trial''. Still probably the best adaptation of a Kafka work.

Welles started his career on the stage because of his confidence and chutzpah. From there, he came to do the Mercury Radio Theater with a regular troupe. The highlight of his career there was his 1938 broadcast of ''TheWarOfTheWorlds'', which was so convincing that people actually believed aliens had landed in New Jersey. (This story, albeit true, is often highly exaggerated. There were no riots.)

* OneSceneWonder: His performance as Cardinal Wolsey in AManForAllSeasons used to be the TropeNamer, and any number of his character roles could fall into this trope.

He played Harry Lime, in ''TheThirdMan'', and he wrote the most memorable lines of the character.

** And then another one based on ''TheThirdMan''.

Actor, writer, director, artist, young genius, and patron saint of [[LargeHam Large Hams]].

The great showman prodigy, praised as a natural genius in his youth, died five days after finishing recording the voice of Unicron for the 1986 ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie''.[[hottip:*:In that short span of time, he blasted the movie. "I play a big toy who beats up all the little toys"]]

*** In a similar vein Welles auditioned for the part of Vito Corleone in Film/TheGodfather but Coppola picked MarlonBrando instead. He felt so guilty about it that he offered Welles the part of Kurtz in ApocalypseNow, but Welles turned it down.

* WilliamShakespeare: Made his name in the 1930s with memorable stage adaptations of ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'' and ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''. After going into Hollywood he made similarly well-regarded films of ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' and ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' as well as ''Chimes at Midnight'', a reworking of the ''HenryIV'' plays.

* WilliamShakespeare: Made his name in the 1930s with memorable stage adaptations of ''JuliusCaesar'' and ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''. After going into Hollywood he made similarly well-regarded films of ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' and ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' as well as ''Chimes at Midnight'', a reworking of the ''HenryIV'' plays.

** Pitched an adaptation of ''HeartOfDarkness'' as his film-directing debut before settling on ''Film/CitizenKane'', but RKO got nervous about the budget.

* InkSuitActor: Teamed up (as himself!) with ''{{Comics/Superman}}'' in ''Superman'' #62 (1950).

* PlatonicLifePartners: With Marlene Dietrich

* SherlockScan: Being a trained magician, he was very good at [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjPsnfysrp8 this.]]

Welles went on to try to film ''The Magnificent Ambersons''; he intended it to be an epic. This had a considerably higher budget than ''Citizen Kane,'' and great ambition. Unfortunately, he took too long, his AuteurLicense was revoked and ExecutiveMeddling came into play; about half the footage was cut out of the film and probably LostForever. The remainder of the film suggests what sort of greatness the complete work would've had, but didn't have the probable full measure.

Welles made several films after those two, including ''FForFake'', ''TouchOfEvil'', and ''The Trial''. Although nothing he did was as well known as ''Citizen Kane'', many of his movies were excellent and still remain worth seeing.

* BackhandedApology: When he apologized for War of the Worlds, he said he was stunned that people believed it was true. He basically called them stupid.

* MissingEpisode:

* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: Interesting aversion; his production of {{Macbeth}}, set in a Hatian court invoking Voodoo and with an all-black cast, put him on the map as a theatrical prodigy.

*** In a similar vein Welles auditioned for the part of Vito Corleone in Film/TheGodfather but Coppola picked MarlonBrando instead. He felt so guilty about it that he offered Welles the part of Kurtz in ApocalypseNow, but Welles turned it down.

** In addition he left many film projects incomplete at the time of his death, including a film adaptation of ''Literature/DonQuixote'' and a film starring his friend and fellow director Peter Bogdanovich
* WilliamShakespeare: Made his name in the 1930s with memorable stage adaptations of ''JuliusCaesar'' and ''{{Macbeth}}''. After going into Hollywood he made similarly well-regarded films of ''{{Othello}}'' and ''{{Macbeth}}'' as well as ''Chimes at Midnight'', a reworking of the ''HenryIV'' plays.

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He played [[MagnificentBastard Harry Lime]], in ''TheThirdMan'', and he wrote the most memorable lines of the character.

The great showman prodigy, praised as a natural genius in his youth, died five days after finishing recording the voice of Unicron for the 1986 ''TransformersTheMovie''.[[hottip:*:In that short span of time, he blasted the movie. "I play a big toy who beats up all the little toys"]]

*** In a similar vein Welles auditioned for the part of Vito Corleone in TheGodfather but Coppola picked MarlonBrando instead. He felt so guilty about it that he offered Welles the part of Kurtz in ApocalypseNow, but Welles turned it down.

* ''StarTrekTheMotionPicture'': Narrated the original trailers for the film.