This is Orson Welles

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HarperCollins, 1992 - Biography & Autobiography - 533 pages
Film and theatre director-innovator, radio producer, actor, writer, painter, narrator, and magician, Orson Welles was the last true Renaissance man of the twentieth century. From such great work in radio as the epoch-making "War of the Worlds" and the famous voice of "The Shadow knows!" to his cinematic masterpieces Citizen Kane, Othello, The Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil, and the wonderful but still unreleased The Other Side of the Wind, Welles was a central figure in the art of our time. With This Is Orson Welles, though, we get to meet the Welles we wish we'd always known ourselves - the world's master storyteller. A collection of penetrating, fascinating, witty, and wild conversations between Welles and acclaimed director Peter Bogdanovich, spanning nearly ten years and eight cities around the world, This Is Orson Welles is filled with Orson's signature joie de vivre, and it reveals the great man's own thoughts on his work in radio, theatre, film, and television; his comments on Hollywood and Broadway producers, directors, and stars; and his wonderful views of life: the difference between feline and canine people; why men like magic shows and women don't; why actors are the third sex. This is the book that Welles ultimately considered his autobiography, but it's a memoir like no other. Epic in scope, but always as magnificently engaging as Welles himself was in real life, This Is Orson Welles will leave you agreeing with Marlene Dietrich, who also said (using Welles' words from Touch of Evil): "He was some kind of man. What does it matter what you say about people?"

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Contents

ROME
1
GUAYMAS
46
NEW YORK
94
Copyright

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About the author (1992)

Orson Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin on May 6, 1915. He was as an actor, writer, director, and producer on radio, film, and television. He began his career on stage, directing and acting in plays under the Federal Theatre Project and then with his company Mercury Theatre. From 1938 to 1940, he wrote, directed, and acted in the Mercury Theatre of the Air, and as part of its programming, he broadcast H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds. He co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the movie Citizen Kane. He was also the director of the movies The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady from Shanghai, Touch of Evil, and Chimes at Midnight. In addition to playing major roles in some of these films, he also starred in The Third Man and appeared in Someone to Love. He received a Special Oscar in April 1971 for "superlative artistry and versatility" and a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1975. He died on October 10, 1985 at the age of 70.

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