The Orson Welles Show

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Recommended: Theatre work of Orson Welles

Orson Welles’ career took place in the mid-thirties to late eighties in the twentieth century. He began his career at age fifteen, starting in Ireland, making his acting debut in the Gate Theater in Dublin. By eighteen, Welles started to appear in off-Broadway productions. It was then that he also launched his radio career. By age twenty, he had presented alternate interpretations of certain well-known plays and movies. At age twenty-two he was the most notable Broadway star from Mercury Theater and, because of this, BBC radio gave him an hour each week to broadcast whatever he pleased. That’s when, at age twenty-five, he broadcast War of the Worlds, which caused panic due to the “Martian invasions”. By the time he came into Hollywood, Welles could write, direct, cast, star, and edit movies without disturbance from the studios. It was during this time he created Citizen Kane- the only movie he completely finished. He retired from Hollywood at age thirty-three in 1948, but still continued to create his own films.
Welles was noted for producing many films that fit in several musical styles; however, dramatic event, mystery/crime, love story, and film noir were his main writing styles. His radio program called The Orson Welles Show aired poetry, history, dramatic adaptations, music, comedy, and a commentary segment.
Through these extensive genres, Welles made a brand of himself. He was known for playing in theaters, receiving the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the D.W. Griffiths Award, and was named number sixteen on the Fifty Greatest Screen Legends List of the American Film Institute. In Welles films, famous actors like Everett Sloane and Joseph Cotton made constant appearances. His filmin...

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...ght have opened doors and shed light to options he may have never imagined.

Works Cited

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0506.html http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000080/bio http://www.popmatters.com/feature/175397-orson-welles-and-film-noir-style-in-the-1940s/ http://www.cracked.com/funny-4387-orson-welles/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Welles http://cinearchive.org/post/40093156105/all-the-essential-documentaries-on-orson-welles http://www.ifc.com/fix/2009/11/war-of-the-welles http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/29/orson-welles-criticism-hollywood-stars-tapes http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue9/wellesperformance.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQCnrPr3qIA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXIr1P9Fm5A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaC3Hp36wXY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dAGcorF1Vo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfNsCcOHsNI

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