Harry Lime: About Orson Welles

Orson Welles was a Hollywood boy genius. He had a long and prolific career in radio, movies, theater, and television as an actor, writer, producer, and director yet he was also considered a bad boy. Welles and Hollywood had a love/hate relationship. Considered an innovative and artistic director, actor, and writer, his relationships with the studios and studio heads was contentious at best. They didn’t understand the way he made movies, his innovations, or his artistic vision.

Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin to a wealthy family. After his parents separated and moved to Chicago. His mother died when he was nine and his father died when he was 15. He was taken in first by Dudley Crafts Watson of the Chicago Art Institute after his mother died. Later he became the ward of Dr. Maurice Bernstein and attended the Todd School for Boys.

While at the Todd School, he was influenced by Roger Hill. Hill allowed Welles to study whatever interested him in school. It was at school where Welles first started experimenting with theatrical productions. While traveling around Europe he bluffed his way into an audition at the Gate Theater in Dublin, Ireland claiming to be a Broadway star. Hilton Edwards who managed the theater didn’t believe him but was impressed by his boldness. Welles won a part in Jew Suss as the Duke, opening to great reviews.

Welles continued working on the stage then, after moving back to the United States, he started working on radio eventually leading to the production of H. G. Welles War of the Worlds broadcast in 1938 that caused some real panic in some parts of the US though many reports are suspicious.

In 1941, RKO released Citizen Kane directed by and starring Welles, partly written by Welles and considered the best movie ever made. It wasn’t recognized as an artistic success until it was re-released in the 1950s. When it was first released, theaters owned by William Randolph Hearst, on whom the movie is loosely based, black-balled the movie. He threatened all of Hollywood’s big play by threatening to release all of the scandals he held back for 15 years. For more information about Citizen Kane, check out Wikipedia.

When things weren’t going Welles way, he had a tendency to leave. It could be anything from a disagreement to financial problems. In 1947, Welles self-exiled himself to Europe with money problems following him. He made The Third Man in 1948 and made a big splash with a relatively minor character, Harry Lime.

Harry Alan Towers, of Towers of London, was able to offer Welles three radio series, The Black Tower and The Adventures of Harry Lime (The Third Man in the US and Canada), both starring Welles and a Sherlock Holmes show with john Gielgud as Holmes and Ralph Richardson as Watson. Welles wrote, acted and directed in the Holmes show playing several characters including Professor Moriarty.
Orson Welles lived an interesting and tumultuous life, too much to cover here. Check out the following books about Welles for more information.

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Golden Age of Radio

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