Wellesnet: The Orson Welles Web Resource

Today marks the 98th anniversary of the birth of the late Orson Welles.

Please make today the day you support efforts to throw a fitting 100th birthday bash in Welles' "hometown" of Woodstock, Illinois.

The non-profit Woodstock Celebrates Inc. will mark the 80th anniversary next year of the 1934 Todd Theatre Festival at the historic Woodstock Opera House, as well as the 100th anniversary in May 2015 of Welles' birth. You can read more about both events on our Welles in Woodstock Celebrations page.

All of this takes money. Wellesnet readers can start to help by becoming members of Woodstock Celebrates Inc. for just $15 a year.

Membership dues may be mailed to: Woodstock Celebrates Inc., P.O. Box 342, Woodstock, IL 60098. (more...)

Orson Welles at the Todd School for Boys in Woodstock, Illinois, circa 1930.

By JOANNE HILL TARBOX STYLES

Orson Welles came to the Todd School in 1926 when he was 11 and I was 9 years old. We were not that far apart in age, but his scope of knowledge of the world's literature, geography, history music, fine arts, and drama was generations ahead of mine.

This was a very unusual boy. He had need of a very unusual education. My father, especially, but also my mother was very enamored, captivated and charmed by this out-of-the-ordinary youth. He was warmly welcomed into our family apartment in Wallingford Hall.

My parents enjoyed visiting with him. His visits were a daily occurrence. Here was a boy who could have a discussion about China, Europe, Toulouse Lautrec, Renoir, Mozart, Hugo, Voltaire and Shakespeare and many, many others. I was furious! Why would my parents spend hours with Orson, when they wouldn't spend much time with me?

One day I tore into Orson, telling him just what I thought of his behavior, which was certainly very negative, He looked at me with a condescending, supercilious smile and said "Joanne, everyone has their little idiosyncrasies" and  (more...)

Woodstock Opera House

It is a poorly kept secret that Wellesnet.com is smitten with Woodstock Celebrates Inc., a non-profit Illinois group organizing major events to mark the 80th anniversary next year of the 1934 Todd Theatre Festival at the historic Woodstock Opera House, as well as the 100th anniversary in 2015 of Orson Welles' birth.

This charming community will honor a theatrical and cinematic giant, who spent in his formative years there and attended the Todd School for Boys. They are bringing respected scholars to Woodstock to mark these important anniversaries.

Celebration plans are already coming together. Here is a tentative look at what to expect:  (more...)

The Woodstock Opera House seen from one of the gazebos on February 10, 2013.                              Photographs by Mike Teal

The Illinois stage where a 19-year-old Orson Welles launched his professional theatrical career was dedicated in his honor on Sunday, February 10.

About 40 people, including members of Woodstock Celebrates Inc., attended the afternoon dedication of the Orson Welles Stage at the Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock, Illinois.

Woodstock Celebrates, which spearheaded the dedication effort, is planning events in May 2014, marking the 80th anniversary of the Todd Theatre Festival during which Welles made his directorial debut, and May 2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. (more...)

Woodstock Opera House

The stage of the Woodstock Opera House will be dedicated in honor of Orson Welles next month.

The ceremony will take place on February 10 at 2 p.m., according to Woodstock Celebrates, Inc., which is planning events to honor Welles in 2014 and 2015. The nonprofit group spearheaded the dedication effort.

The Woodstock, Illinois, City Council voted unanimously on November 6, 2012 to place a plaque on the 124-year old opera house stage. It will read: “Orson Welles first mined the vein of his golden talent in Woodstock as a student at Todd School for Boys. In 1934, at 19, he made his American debut as a professional theater director upon this stage, now named in his honor.”

During the November meeting, (more...)

Woodstock Opera House

Kudos to Woodstock, Illinois, officials, who voted to dedicate the stage at the Woodstock Opera House in honor of Orson Welles.

The City Council agreed to the measure on Tuesday night. The Woodstock Opera House Advisory Commission recommended the dedication at its October 16 meeting.

The vote comes as Woodstock Celebrates readies to mark the 100th anniversary of Welles' birth in 2015. (more...)

By RAY KELLY

Earlier this year, Wellesnet and Woodstock Celebrates put out the call for a U.S. postage stamp to honor Orson Welles on May 6, 2015, the 100th anniversary of his birth. The stamp would be issued in Woodstock, Illinois, where Welles attended the Todd School for Boys.

The stamp would be just part of the anniversary celebrations planned by Woodstock Celebrates. You can follow their plans at www.facebook.com/groups/woodstockcelebrates

If you have not done so already, please take the time to write a letter to the U.S. Postal Service in support of an Orson Welles stamp.

Requests must be submitted to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee in writing. Proposals made by email will not receive a response. (more...)

Guinea Bissau, 2010

With the approach of the Orson Welles Centenary in 2015, nowhere does the anniversary of his birth seem as special as Woodstock, Illinois, where the young Welles spent his formative years at the Todd School for Boys.

A citizens’ group, Woodstock Celebrates, is planning events in May 2014, marking the 80th anniversary of the Todd Theatre Festival during which Welles made his directorial debut, and on May 6,  2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of  his birth.

To draw further attention to this milestone, Woodstock Celebrates and Wellesnet are petitioning the U.S. Postal Service to issue a stamp in 2015 honoring the Orson Welles Centenary. (more...)

By a 5-to-1 vote, the Woodstock, Illinois, City Council approved a special use permit that necessitated the demolition of Grace Hall at the former Todd School for Boys.

The 7,300-square-foot Prairie style structure was once a dormitory at the Todd School.

Among its notable residents were Orson Welles, who spent part of his childhood in Woodstock, and Robert R. Wilson, an architect of Fermi National Laboratory. (more...)

A few months ago I found several old issues of Theatre Arts magazine in the tenderloin district of San Francisco, a few short blocks from where Wellesnet "legend" Glenn Anders lives. The mags were priced at a big 100% mark-up over their original price.

Well, since the original price was only .50 cents, they were actually great bargains, so I quickly grabbed several issues, including the September, 1951 copy that featured an article by Walter Kerr assessing Orson Welles career in both theatre and film, up to that point. Indeed, in 1951 Welles had only been active for 15 years in radio, the stage, and on the screen, and he had already become something of a legend. Or, according to Walter Kerr, a legendary "has-been."

Which is why I thought Kerr's article was way off the mark. (more...)

Grace Hall, is the last remaining building of the Todd School, in Woodstock, Illinois, where Orson Welles studied, wrote, and essentially formulated his whole future life and career, under the direction of headmaster Roger Hill.

The Woodstock City Council will meet on April 21 2009 to decide the fate of Grace Hall. Some options include demolition(!!) or adaptive reuse.

There isn't much time, since they are meeting Tuesday night, but I just happened across this piece from Time Magazine in 1942 about Orson's Alma Mater. It might be a simple and effective way to let your view be known by simply copying and sending this piece from Time to the Mayor and City Council Members. (more...)

My real interest in life is education. I want to be a teacher. All this experience I've been piling up is equipping me for that future ...I shall know how to dramatize the art of imparting knowledge.

One day I shall leave all this behind me, go back (to Todd School) and give full rein to my ideas. That's when life will really begin for me.

--Orson Welles, The Los Angeles Times, October 28, 1945

_______________________________

Simon Callow has undoubtedly written more about Orson Welles and the happy times he spent at Todd School in Woodstock, Illinois, then any other Welles biographer. So I'm quite pleased to announce that Mr. Callow has sent along this message of support for all the citizens and politicians of Woodstock, who are now attempting to save Grace Hall from it's slated demolition: (more...)