George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985), best known as Orson Welles, 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. Welless 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. Wellss 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 AFIs 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.

All movies available from Orson Welles

Poster movie And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None

Movie
Poster movie The Southern Star

The Southern Star

Movie
Poster movie A Safe Place

A Safe Place

Movie
Poster movie Get to Know Your Rabbit

Get to Know Your Rabbit

Movie
Poster movie I'll Never Forget What's'isname

I'll Never Forget What's'

Movie
Poster movie The Muppet Movie

The Muppet Movie

Movie
Poster movie King of Kings

King of Kings

Movie
Poster movie Moonlighting

Moonlighting

Tv series
Poster movie I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy

Tv series
Poster movie Night Gallery

Night Gallery

Tv series
Poster movie Shōgun

Shōgun

Tv series

Movies unavailable from Orson Welles

Citizen Kane

Charles Foster Kane

Movie 1941

A Man for All Seasons

Cardinal Wolsey

Movie 1966

The Magnificent Ambersons

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1942

Chimes at Midnight

Falstaff

Movie 1965

The Third Man

Harry Lime

Movie 1949

Touch of Evil

Police Captain Hank Quinlan

Movie 1958

History of the World: Part I

Narrator

Movie 1981

The Trial

Albert Hastler

Movie 1962

Twelve Plus One

Markan

Movie 1969

The Transformers: The Movie

Unicron (voice)

Movie 1986

Moby Dick

Father Mapple

Movie 1956

Catch-22

Brigadier General Dreedle

Movie 1970

The Lady from Shanghai

Michael O'Hara

Movie 1947

Is Paris Burning?

Konsul Nordling

Movie 1966

The Stranger

Prof. Charles Rankin

Movie 1946

House of Cards

Leschenhaut

Movie 1968

Journey into Fear

Colonel Haki

Movie 1943

Treasure Island

Long John Silver

Movie 1972

The Deep

Russ Brewer

Movie 2007

Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees

Self - Narrator (voice)

Movie 1965

Jane Eyre

Edward Rochester

Movie 1943

Don Quixote

Self

Movie 1992

According to Occam's Razor

Movie 1999

Welles' Language

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1990

Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional

Self

Movie 1997

Casino Royale

Le Chiffre

Movie 1967

Waterloo

Louis XVIII

Movie 1970

Follow the Boys

Orson Welles (uncredited)

Movie 1944

The Battle of Neretva

Četnik

Movie 1969

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Narrator / Nag / Chuchundra (voice)

Movie 1975

Macbeth

Macbeth

Movie 1948

Butterfly

Judge Rauch

Movie 1982

The Long, Hot Summer

Will Varner

Movie 1958

Compulsion

Jonathan Wilk

Movie 1959

Necromancy

Mr. Cato

Movie 1972

The Lost Print: The Making of Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons

Himself (Archive footage)

Movie 2022

The Vikings

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Movie 1958

F for Fake

Self

Movie 1973

Napoleon

Sir Hudson Lowe

Movie 1955

The V.I.P.s

Max Buda

Movie 1963

American: An Odyssey to 1947

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2022

The Black Rose

Bayan

Movie 1950

Prince of Foxes

Cesare Borgia

Movie 1949

From Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight

Falstaff

Movie 2023

Mr. Arkadin

Gregory Arkadin

Movie 1955

Tomorrow Is Forever

John Andrew MacDonald

Movie 1946

Three Cases of Murder

Lord Mountdrago ("Lord Mountdrago" segment)

Movie 1955

The Kremlin Letter

Bresnavitch

Movie 1970

Alfonso Sansone: Producer by Chance

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2014

Malpertuis

Cassavius

Movie 1971

Othello

Othello

Movie 1951

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

Presenter / Narrator (voice)

Movie 1981

Royal Affairs in Versailles

Benjamin Franklin

Movie 1954

Orson Welles: The One-Man Band

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1995

The Biggest Battle

Narratore

Movie 1978

The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2003

Tepepa

Colonel Cascorro

Movie 1969

The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla

J.P. Morgan

Movie 1980

Slapstick of Another Kind

Aliens' Father (voice)

Movie 1982

Hot Tomorrows

Parklawn Mortuary (voice)

Movie 1977

Trent's Last Case

Sigsbee Manderson

Movie 1952

Ten Days' Wonder

Théo Van Horn

Movie 1971

The Immortal Story

Charles Clay

Movie 1968

Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"

(archive footage)

Movie 2019

The Late Great Planet Earth

Self

Movie 1978

David and Goliath

King Saul

Movie 1960

Voyage of the Damned

José Estedes

Movie 1976

Black Magic

Joseph Balsamo aka Count Cagliostro

Movie 1949

It's All True

Self

Movie 1993

Ferry to Hong Kong

Captain Hart

Movie 1959

Ro.Go.Pa.G.

The 'Director' (segment "La ricotta")

Movie 1963

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie 2021

Future Shock

Narrator

Movie 1972

The Fountain of Youth

the narrator

Movie 1958

The Force Beyond

Himself (archive footage)

Movie 1977

The Spanish Earth

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1937

The Witching

Mr. Cato

Movie 1983

Marco the Magnificent

Akerman, Marco's Teacher

Movie 1965

It Happened One Christmas

Henry F. Potter

Movie 1977

Filming Othello

Host

Movie 1978

Mysterious Castles of Clay

Narrator

Movie 1978

Trouble in the Glen

Sanin Cejador y Mengues

Movie 1954

Where Is Parsifal?

Klingsor

Movie 1984

It's All Brazil

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1997

Return to Glennascaul

Narrator

Movie 1953

Parkinson at 50

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2021

The Road to Bresson

Self

Movie 1984

Too Much Johnson

Keystone Kop

Movie 2013

The Tartars

Burundai

Movie 1961

Is It Always Right to Be Right?

Narrator

Movie 1970

Hot Money

Sheriff Paisley

Movie 1983

Man, Beast and Virtue

Captain Perella, the Beast

Movie 1953

Someone to Love

Danny's Friend

Movie 1987

The Fight for Rome

Justinian

Movie 1968

Magic with the Stars

Host

Movie 1982

The Cave: a parable told by Orson Welles

Narrator

Movie 1973

King Lear

King Lear

Movie 1953

Centinelas del Silencio

Movie 1971

The Greatest Adventure--The Story of Man's Voyage to the Moon

Narrator

Movie 1979

Orson Welles in the Land of Don Quixote

Self (Archive footage)

Movie 2000

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Narrator

Movie 1977

Tall Tales: The Ireland of Orson Welles

Self

Movie 2021

Notre Dame de la Croisette

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie 1983

Othelo The Great

Ele Mesmo (Imagem de Arquivo)

Movie 2024

Edge of Outside

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2006

The Sailor from Gibraltar

Louis de Mozambique

Movie 1967

The Dreamers

Marcus Kleek

Movie 1985

Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure

Himself

Movie 2011

The Roots of Heaven

Cy Sedgewick

Movie 1958

Crack in the Mirror

Hagolin / Lamerciere

Movie 1960

To Build a Fire

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1969

Orson Welles in Spain

Himself

Movie 1966

Man in the Shadow

Virgil Renchler

Movie 1957

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen

(archive footage)

Movie 2012

The Battle Over Citizen Kane

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1996

The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1986

Looking Back Before You Leap

General Zaroff (voice)

Movie 2023

Ten Days That Shook the World

Narrator

Movie 1967

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

Self - Filmmaker / Various Roles (archive footage)

Movie 2014

It's Pretty, but is it Art?

Self (voiceover)

Movie 2023

Flame of Persia

Narrator

Movie 1971

The Other Side of the Wind

Journalist (uncredited)

Movie 2018

The Paranormal Peter Sellers

Self (Archive footage)

Movie 2001

A King's Story

Narrator

Movie 1965

The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh

himself

Movie 1984

Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2022

Upon This Rock

Michelangelo (voice)

Movie 1970

Tut: The Boy King

Himself - Host

Movie 1978

This Is Orson Welles

Self

Movie 2015

The Hearts of Age

Death

Movie 1934

Jodorowsky's Dune

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2013

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2022

Twelfth Night

Narrator

Movie 1933

The Shadow Knows

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2012

Vienna

Himself

Movie 1968

Lucifer et moi

(archive footage 1982)

Movie 2009

LIFE BEYOND: Visions of Alien Life

Narrator (Archive Sound)

Movie 2024

Swiss Family Robinson

Opening Narrator

Movie 1940

The Merchant of Venice

Shylock

Movie 1969

LIFE BEYOND I: The Dawn

Narrator

Movie 2019

On the tracks of a filmmaker

Orson Welles

Movie 1988

Who's Out There?

Host

Movie 1975

Jim Henson Idea Man

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2024

The Battle of Grovers Mill

Radio Host (voice) (archival footage)

Movie 2024

A Step Away

English Narrator

Movie 1980

The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail

Narrator

Movie 1984

Moby Dick

Captain Ahab / Starbuck / Ishmael (archive footage)

Movie 2000

Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie 1974

Orson Welles' Magic Show

Self

Movie 1985

Lafayette

Benjamin Franklin

Movie 1962

Filming 'The Trial'

Self

Movie 1981

The Finest Hours

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1964

Portrait: Orson Welles

Self

Movie 1968

Directed by John Ford

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1971

Rita Hayworth: Dancing Into the Dream

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1990

Oedipus the King

Tiresias

Movie 1968

Start the Revolution Without Me

The Narrator

Movie 1970

Soft Self-Portrait of Salvador Dali

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1969

The Fight for Rome II - The Betrayal

Justinian

Movie 1969

Freedom River

Narrator

Movie 1971

With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1990

London

Winston Churchill / George Bernard Shaw

Movie 1971

An Evening with Orson Welles: The Golden Honeymoon

Movie 1970

A Huey P. Newton Story

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie 2001

The Well

Movie 2005

From Fiber to Fabric: Wool's a Natural

Narrator

Movie 1977

Lost in La Mancha

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2002

Show-Business at War

Self

Movie 1943

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1975

NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 3

Narrator

Movie 2001

Duel in the Sun

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Movie 1946

Rita

(archive footage)

Movie 2003

A Horse Called Nijinsky

Narrator

Movie 1970

The Orson Welles Show

Self

Movie 1979

Disorder

Self

Movie 1950

The Greenstone

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1980

They'll Love Me When I'm Dead

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2018

The Quest for Fire Adventure

Narrator

Movie 1982

Working with Orson Welles

Himself (Archive Footage)

Movie 1993

Filmmakers vs. Tycoons

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2005

Bugs Bunny Superstar

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1975

The Enchanted Journey

Pippo

Movie 1981

Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2000

The Eyes of Orson Welles

Self - Filmmaker / Various Roles (archive footage)

Movie 2018

The Hitch Hiker

Ronald Adams

Movie 2004

The Battle of Sutjeska

Winston Churchill

Movie 1973

The Welles Raft

Himself (Archive Footage)

Movie 2022

High Journey

Narrator

Movie 1959

Orson Welles: The Paris Interview

Himself

Movie 2010

Around the World of Mike Todd

Self - Narrator

Movie 1968

La Classe américaine

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1993

Battle for Survival

Narrator

Movie 1946

Orson Welles at the Cinémathèque Française

Himself

Movie 1983

The Other Side of Welles

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2005

Hopper/Welles

Self

Movie 2020

The Cave

Narrator

Movie 1973

Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit

Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

Movie 2018

The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art

Narrator

Movie 1974

The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts

Self - Roaster (archive footage)

Movie 1998

Rosabella - La storia italiana di Orson Welles

Movie 1993

Something Else

Movie

Genocide

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1982

Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina

Self - Host

Movie 1958

Orson Welles' Sketch Book

Self - Host

Movie 1955

King Penguin: Stranded Beyond the Falklands

Self - Narrator

Movie 1983

The Psychic Connection

Narrator

Movie 1983

Baryshnikov in Hollywood

Self - Narrator

Movie 1982

Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady

Self

Movie 1982

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Michael Landon

Movie 1984

Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2020

Let Poland Be Poland

Self

Movie 1982

Doug Henning's World of Magic

Self - Special Guest

Movie 1982

Out of Darkness

Self - Narrator

Movie 1956

Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years

Self

Movie 1979

A Legend a Lifetime: Citizen Welles

Movie 1974

Orson Welles - The Marketed Genius

Self

Movie 1975

The Battle of Austerlitz

Robert Fulton

Movie 1960

Disorder Is 20 Years Old

Self

Movie 1967

The Magic History of Cinema

Movie 2017

The Great Buster: A Celebration

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2018

Embers & Dust

Professor Richard Pierson / Self (voice) (archive sound)

Movie 2016

Know Your Ally: Britain

Narrator/Bob (helpful taxi passenger)

Movie 1944

Lords of the Forest

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1958

An Arabian Night

Storyteller

Movie 1960

Mexico City, Old and New

Narrator

Movie 1945

River of the Ocean

Narrator (English)

Movie 1962

South Seas Adventure

Narrator

Movie 1958

It's Not All True

Himself (archive footage)

Movie 1986

The Man Who Came to Dinner

Sheridan Whiteside

Movie 1972

In Our Hands

Himself

Movie 1984

Magnificent Monsters of the Deep

Narrator

Movie 1975

Power and Corruption

Himself

Movie 1973

Wagner e Venezia

Richard Wagner (voice)

Movie 1982

The Lions of Capitalism: Some Call It Greed

Narrator

Movie 1977

To Try Again... and Succeed

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1979

The New Deal for Artists

Narrator (voice)

Movie 1981

The Double McGuffin

Narrator

Movie 1979

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park

Narrator

Movie 1980

Almonds and Raisins

Narrator

Movie 1985

The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis

Narrator

Movie 1979

Search for the Titanic

Himself (host)

Movie 1981

The Enemy Before Us

Narrator

Movie 1970

A Gift of Harvest

Narrator

Movie 1981

Kelly Country

Narrator

Movie 1973

NBC: The First Fifty Years

Self / Narrator

Movie 1976

Jeanne Moreau : Vive le cinéma !

Movie 1972

Brasil

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1981

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

Genghis Khan / Bayan (archive footage)

Movie 2010

Caesar's Guide to Gaming with Orson Welles

Himself

Movie 1978

The Land of the Basques

Himself

Movie 1955

The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

Self (archive footage)

Movie 2021

Beggars Would Ride

Narrator

Movie 1967

Who Is Henry Jaglom?

Self (archive footage)

Movie 1997

Night of 100 Stars

Self

Movie 1982

Magic Mirror Maze

Movie 2012

Aliens Uncovered: Close Encounters

Self

Movie 2024

Tv series unavailable from Orson Welles

Magnum, P.I.

Robin Masters (uncredited) (voice)

Tv 1980

Omnibus

King Lear

Tv 1952

The Merv Griffin Show

Self

Tv 1962

The Ed Sullivan Show

Self

Tv 1948

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Sheridan Whiteside

Tv 1951

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Self

Tv 1967

Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

Self - Host

Tv 1973

The Steve Allen Show

Self

Tv 1956

Scene of the Crime

Tv 1985

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts

Self

Tv 1973

Doug Henning's World of Magic

Self

Tv 1975

Talking Pictures

Self (archive footage)

Tv 2013

Around the World with Orson Welles

Host: Orson Welles

Tv 1955

The Magic of David Copperfield

Tv 1978

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Self

Tv 1962

In the Land of Don Quixote

Himself

Tv 1964

Around the World with Orson Welles

Self (Host)

Tv 1955

The American Film Institute Salute to ...

Self

Tv 1973

A Woman Called Moses

Narrator (voice)

Tv 1978

V.I.P. Schaukel

Self

Tv 1971

Orson Welles' Sketch Book

Himself - Host

Tv 1955

National Geographic Specials

Narrator

Tv 1965

Star Life

Self (archive footage)

Tv 1990

Cinépanorama

Self

Tv 1956

Hollywood and the Stars

Self (archive footage)

Tv 1963

The Dick Cavett Show

Self - Guest

Tv 1968

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Self - Guest Host

Tv 1962

Magnum, P.I.

Robin Masters (voice)

Tv 1980

What's My Line?

Self - Panelist

Tv 1950

Dinah!

Self

Tv 1974

Omnibus

Self - Presenter

Tv 1967

Tempo

Tv 1961

An Evening with Orson Welles

Tv 1970

Colgate Theatre

Tv 1958

Ford Star Jubilee

Oscar Jaffe

Tv 1955

The Name of the Game

Narrator

Tv 1968

Survival

Narrator

Tv 1961

Tales of the Klondike

Narrator

Tv 1981

One Man Band

Tv 1968

The Silent Years

Tv 1971

Reflets de Cannes

Self

Tv 1954

Best of The Dean Martin Variety Show

Tv 1966