10.0
10.0
A Horse Called Nijinsky
1970
as Narrator
Orson Welles
Also known as: George Orson Welles, George Welles
Directing
Born:May 6, 1915
Died:October 10, 1985(aged 70)
Birthplace:Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Nationality:United States
Height:6'0" (183 cm)
Education:Todd Seminary for Boys, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
N/A
CommunityBiography
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 (259 movies)
10.0
10.0
WeirdWorld
2025
as Troy2000 (Archive footage)
10.0
10.0
Parkinson at 50
2021
as Self (archive footage)
9.0
9.0
The Orson Welles Story
1982
as Self
9.0
9.0
Tall Tales: The Ireland of Orson Welles
2021
as Self
9.0
9.0
The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail
1984
as Narrator
8.0
8.0
King Lear
1953
as King Lear
8.0
8.0
Citizen Kane
1941
Screenplay
8.0
8.0
Lords of the Forest
1958
as Narrator (voice)
8.0
8.0
The Merchant of Venice
1969
Producer
7.9
7.9
The Third Man
1949
as Harry Lime
7.8
7.8
Jodorowsky's Dune
2013
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
7.8
7.8
Touch of Evil
1958
Director
7.6
7.6
It's All True
1993
Director
7.6
7.6
To Build a Fire
1969
as Narrator (voice)
7.5
7.5
Crack in the Mirror
1960
as Hagolin / Lamerciere
7.5
7.5
Brasil
1981
as Self (archive footage)
7.5
7.5
The Fight for Rome II - The Betrayal
1969
as Justinian
7.4
7.4
The Trial
1962
Screenplay
7.4
7.4
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
2022
as Self (archive footage)
7.4
7.4
F for Fake
1973
Director
7.4
7.4
Genocide
1982
as Narrator (voice)
7.3
7.3
Othello
1951
Screenplay
7.3
7.3
The Lady from Shanghai
1947
Director
7.3
7.3
A Man for All Seasons
1966
as Cardinal Wolsey
7.3
7.3
The Magnificent Ambersons
1942
Screenplay
7.3
7.3
Filming Othello
1978
Writer
7.3
7.3
Bugs Bunny Superstar
1975
as Narrator (voice)
7.3
7.3
The Battle Over Citizen Kane
1996
as Self (archive footage)
7.2
7.2
Macbeth
1948
Screenplay
7.2
7.2
The Stranger
1946
Director
7.2
7.2
Chimes at Midnight
1965
Screenplay
7.2
7.2
This Is Orson Welles
2015
as Self
7.2
7.2
Ro.Go.Pa.G.
1963
as The 'Director' (segment "La ricotta")
7.1
7.1
The Transformers: The Movie
1986
as Unicron (voice)
7.1
7.1
The Immortal Story
1968
Screenplay
7.1
7.1
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
2018
as Self (archive footage)
7.1
7.1
Waterloo
1970
as Louis XVIII
7.1
7.1
Compulsion
1959
as Jonathan Wilk
7.1
7.1
Moby Dick
1956
as Father Mapple
7.1
7.1
The Long, Hot Summer
1958
as Will Varner
7.1
7.1
Lost in La Mancha
2002
as Self (archive footage)
7.0
7.0
The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
1981
as Presenter / Narrator (voice)
7.0
7.0
Filming 'The Trial'
1981
Producer
7.0
7.0
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
1974
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
7.0
7.0
Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
2018
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
7.0
7.0
The Eyes of Orson Welles
2018
as Self - Filmmaker / Various Roles (archive footage)
6.9
6.9
Mr. Arkadin
1955
Screenplay
6.9
6.9
Directed by John Ford
1971
as Narrator (voice)
6.9
6.9
Jane Eyre
1943
as Edward Rochester
6.8
6.8
The Road to Bresson
1984
as Self
6.8
6.8
Sentinels of Silence
1971
6.8
6.8
The Battle of Neretva
1969
as Četnik
6.8
6.8
History of the World: Part I
1981
as Narrator (voice)
6.7
6.7
Man in the Shadow
1957
as Virgil Renchler
6.7
6.7
Man, Beast and Virtue
1953
as Captain Perella, the Beast
6.7
6.7
Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina
1958
Writer
6.7
6.7
Embers & Dust
2016
as Professor Richard Pierson / Self (voice) (archive sound)
6.7
6.7
Catch-22
1970
as Brigadier General Dreedle
6.7
6.7
The Other Side of the Wind
2018
Director
6.6
6.6
The Battle of Austerlitz
1960
as Robert Fulton
6.6
6.6
The Black Rose
1950
as Bayan
6.6
6.6
Tepepa
1969
as Colonel Cascorro
6.6
6.6
It's Not All True
1986
as Himself (archive footage)
6.6
6.6
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
2022
as Self (archive footage)
6.5
6.5
Return to Glennascaul
1953
as Narrator
6.5
6.5
Orson Welles' Sketch Book
1955
Director
6.5
6.5
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
2000
as Self (archive footage)
6.5
6.5
Rita Hayworth: Dancing Into the Dream
1990
as Self (archive footage)
6.5
6.5
The Spanish Earth
1937
as Narrator (voice)
6.5
6.5
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
1975
as Narrator / Nag / Chuchundra (voice)
6.4
6.4
Enchanted Journey
1981
as Pippo
6.4
6.4
Malpertuis
1972
as Cassavius
6.4
6.4
Orson Welles: The One-Man Band
1995
as Self (archive footage)
6.3
6.3
The Battle of Sutjeska
1973
as Winston Churchill
6.3
6.3
Who's Out There?
1975
as Host
6.3
6.3
The Finest Hours
1964
as Narrator (voice)
6.3
6.3
Orson Welles' Magic Show
1985
Director
6.3
6.3
Freedom River
1971
Producer
6.3
6.3
Black Magic
1949
as Joseph Balsamo aka Count Cagliostro
6.2
6.2
It's All Brazil
1997
as Self (archive footage)
6.2
6.2
Is It Always Right to Be Right?
1970
as Narrator
6.2
6.2
Ten Days That Shook the World
1967
as Narrator
6.2
6.2
The Roots of Heaven
1958
as Cy Sedgewick
6.2
6.2
The Southern Star
1969
as Plankett
6.2
6.2
The Secret of Nikola Tesla
1980
as J.P. Morgan
6.2
6.2
Prince of Foxes
1949
as Cesare Borgia
6.1
6.1
The Fountain of Youth
1958
Producer
6.1
6.1
Tomorrow Is Forever
1946
as John Andrew MacDonald
6.1
6.1
Ten Days' Wonder
1971
as Théo Van Horn
6.1
6.1
Don Quixote
1992
Producer
6.1
6.1
Journey into Fear
1943
Producer
6.0
6.0
The V.I.P.s
1963
as Max Buda
6.0
6.0
Around the World of Mike Todd
1968
as Self - Narrator
6.0
6.0
Vienna
1968
Director
6.0
6.0
Twelfth Night
1933
Director
6.0
6.0
The Quest for Fire Adventure
1982
as Narrator
6.0
6.0
The Shirley MacLaine Special: Where Do We Go from Here?
1977
as Self
6.0
6.0
Hot Tomorrows
1977
as Parklawn Mortuary (voice)
6.0
6.0
Welles' Language
1990
as Self (archive footage)
6.0
6.0
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
1982
as Self
6.0
6.0
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
1977
as Narrator
6.0
6.0
High Journey
1959
as Narrator
6.0
6.0
The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles
2003
Director
6.0
6.0
The Orson Welles Show
1979
Writer
6.0
6.0
The Kremlin Letter
1970
as Bresnavitch
5.9
5.9
Hopper/Welles
2020
Director
5.9
5.9
The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh
1984
Director
5.8
5.8
Mysterious Castles of Clay
1978
as Narrator
5.8
5.8
Portrait: Orson Welles
1968
as Self
5.8
5.8
The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art
1974
as Narrator
5.8
5.8
Start the Revolution Without Me
1970
as The Narrator
5.7
5.7
And Then There Were None
1974
as Voice on Tape
5.7
5.7
Trouble in the Glen
1954
as Sanin Cejador y Mengues
5.7
5.7
A King's Story
1965
as Narrator
5.7
5.7
The Sailor from Gibraltar
1967
as Louis de Mozambique
5.7
5.7
South Seas Adventure
1958
as Narrator
5.7
5.7
Three Cases of Murder
1955
as Lord Mountdrago ("Lord Mountdrago" segment)
5.7
5.7
Portrait of a Murderer
1949
Writer
5.6
5.6
Treasure Island
1972
Writer
5.6
5.6
Swiss Family Robinson
1940
as Opening Narrator
5.6
5.6
The Magnificent Ambersons
2002
Screenplay
5.5
5.5
A Safe Place
1971
as The Magician
5.5
5.5
Orson Welles in the Land of Don Quixote
2000
as Self (Archive footage)
5.5
5.5
The Tartars
1961
as Burundai
5.5
5.5
Ferry to Hong Kong
1959
as Captain Hart
5.5
5.5
Working with Orson Welles
1993
as Himself (Archive Footage)
5.5
5.5
Oedipus the King
1968
as Tiresias
5.4
5.4
The Fight for Rome
1968
as Justinian
5.3
5.3
The Hearts of Age
1934
Writer
5.3
5.3
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
1967
as Jonathan Lute
5.3
5.3
Someone to Love
1987
as Danny's Friend
5.3
5.3
Too Much Johnson
1934
Producer
5.3
5.3
Follow the Boys
1944
as Orson Welles (uncredited)
5.2
5.2
Casino Royale
1967
as Le Chiffre
5.2
5.2
Lafayette
1962
as Benjamin Franklin
5.2
5.2
Trent's Last Case
1952
as Sigsbee Manderson
5.2
5.2
Twelve Plus One
1969
as Markan
5.2
5.2
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
2011
as Himself
5.1
5.1
A Huey P. Newton Story
2001
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
5.0
5.0
Orson Welles in Spain
1966
as Himself
5.0
5.0
Hi-Fi
1999
5.0
5.0
The Dreamers
1985
Director
5.0
5.0
Rosabella - La storia italiana di Orson Welles
1993
5.0
5.0
The Scorpion and the Frog
2025
as Narrator (archive footage)
5.0
5.0
The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
1998
as Self - Roaster (archive footage)
5.0
5.0
Disorder
1950
as Self
5.0
5.0
The Double McGuffin
1979
as Narrator
4.9
4.9
Get to Know Your Rabbit
1972
as Mr. Delasandro
4.8
4.8
Butterfly
1982
as Judge Rauch
4.8
4.8
Marco the Magnificent
1965
as Akerman, Marco's Teacher
4.7
4.7
Future Shock
1972
as Narrator
4.7
4.7
House of Cards
1968
as Leschenhaut
4.6
4.6
Know Your Ally: Britain
1944
as Narrator/Bob (helpful taxi passenger)
4.5
4.5
The UFO Conspiracy
2004
as Self (archive sound)
4.4
4.4
Necromancy
1972
as Mr. Cato
4.4
4.4
The Biggest Battle
1978
as Narratore
4.4
4.4
It Happened One Christmas
1977
as Henry F. Potter
4.3
4.3
The Force Beyond
1977
as Himself (archive footage)
4.3
4.3
The Late Great Planet Earth
1978
as Self
4.2
4.2
The Big Brass Ring
1999
Writer
4.0
4.0
Orson Welles: The Paris Interview
2010
as Himself
3.5
3.5
David and Goliath
1960
as King Saul
3.0
3.0
Where Is Parsifal?
1984
as Klingsor
2.7
2.7
Slapstick of Another Kind
1982
as Aliens' Father (voice)
2.0
2.0
Hot Money
1983
as Sheriff Paisley
1.5
1.5
The Greenstone
1980
as Narrator (voice)
1.0
1.0
Soft Self-Portrait of Salvador Dali
1969
as Narrator (voice)
The Witching
1983
as Mr. Cato
Moby Dick
2000
Director
A Step Away
1980
as English Narrator
The Land of the Basques
1955
Director
The Hitch Hiker
2004
as Ronald Adams
The Other Side of Welles
2005
as Self (archive footage)
Lucifer et moi
2009
as (archive footage 1982)
The Deep
2007
Director
The Welles Raft
2022
as Himself (Archive Footage)
Upon This Rock
1970
as Michelangelo (voice)
The Cave
1973
as Narrator
Tut: The Boy King
1978
as Himself - Host
Flame of Persia
1971
as Narrator
Battle for Survival
1946
as Narrator
Orson Welles at the Cinémathèque Française
1983
as Himself
Lost in "The Thinking"
2005
as Self (archive footage)
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
1979
as Self
Mexico City, Old and New
1945
as Narrator
River of the Ocean
1962
as Narrator (English)
An Arabian Night
1960
as Storyteller
Kelly Country
1973
as Narrator
Power and Corruption
1973
as Himself
The Lions of Capitalism: Some Call It Greed
1977
as Narrator
The Enemy Before Us
1970
as Narrator
The Man Who Came to Dinner
1972
as Sheridan Whiteside
To Try Again... and Succeed
1979
as Narrator (voice)
The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis
1979
as Narrator
Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park
1980
as Narrator
A Gift of Harvest
1981
as Narrator
In Our Hands
1984
as Himself
Almonds and Raisins
1984
as Narrator
Wagner e Venezia
1982
as Richard Wagner (voice)
Out of Darkness
1956
as Self - Narrator
The New Deal for Artists
1981
as Narrator (voice)
NBC: The First Fifty Years
1976
Writer
Magnificent Monsters of the Deep
1975
as Narrator
Something Else
TBA
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Michael Landon
1984
as Self
King Penguin: Stranded Beyond the Falklands
1983
as Self - Narrator
The Greatest Adventure--The Story of Man's Voyage to the Moon
1979
as Narrator
Baryshnikov in Hollywood
1982
as Self - Narrator
Doug Henning's World of Magic
1982
as Self - Special Guest
Let Poland Be Poland
1982
as Self
Disorder Is 20 Years Old
1967
as Self
A Legend a Lifetime: Citizen Welles
1974
Orson Welles - Das vermarktete Genie
1975
as Self
The Magic History of Cinema
2017
Jeanne Moreau : Vive le cinéma !
1972
as Self
Caesar's Guide to Gaming with Orson Welles
1978
as Himself
The Blinding of Isaac Woodard
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Beggars Would Ride
1967
as Narrator
American: An Odyssey to 1947
2022
as Self (archive footage)
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
2019
as (archive footage)
The Well
2005
Profile No. 6: Orson Welles
1965
An Evening with Orson Welles: The Golden Honeymoon
1970
Producer
Magic Mirror Maze
2012
Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees
1965
as Self - Narrator (voice)
From Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight
2023
as Falstaff
Alfonso Sansone: Producer by Chance
2014
as Self (archive footage)
London
1971
Writer
Othelo The Great
2024
as Self (archive footage)
Magic with the Stars
1982
as Host
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film
1990
as Self (archive footage)
The Cave: a parable told by Orson Welles
1973
as Narrator
Search for the Titanic
1981
as Himself (host)
It's Pretty, but is it Art?
2023
as Self (voiceover)
Looking Back Before You Leap
2023
as General Zaroff (voice)
Voyage of the Brigantine Yankee
TBA
as Narrator
The Shadow Knows
2012
as Self (archive footage)
The Battle of Grovers Mill
2024
as Radio Host (voice) (archival footage)
On the tracks of a filmmaker
1988
as Orson Welles
Aliens Uncovered: Close Encounters
2024
as Self
Moby Dick Rehearsed
1955
Writer
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
2025
as Narrator "The Scorpion and the Frog" (archive footage)
Americans on Everest
1965
as Narrator- Self
Orson Welles Talks With Roger Hill
2005
Director
A Mother's Tale
1976
as Narrator
Don Quichotte
1955
Director
According to Occam's Razor
1999
Orson Welles at The Magic Castle
1978
Writer
Orson Welles' F for Fake Trailer
1976
Writer
From Fiber to Fabric: Wool's a Natural
1977
as Narrator
The Psychic Connection
1983
as Narrator
NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 3
2001
as Narrator
The Big Brass Ring
1997
Writer
The Way to Santiago
1998
Writer
It's All True: Four Men on a Raft
1986
Writer
Hong Kong as seen by Orson Welles
1960
Director
It's All True
1943
Director
The Heroine
1967
Director
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