By RAY KELLY Newstalk 106-108 FM, Ireland’s independent national radio station, will feature an hour-long look at the life and career of Orson Welles on Sunday, December 9. Included on the award-winning “Talking History” broadcast will be Welles’ oldest daughter, Chris Welles Feder. “Talking History,” hosted by Trinity College Dublin’s Patrick Geogheagan, airs at 7 […]
To celebrate the holiday season, Wellesnet is pleased to present streaming audio of The Mercury Theatre’s 1938 and 1939 productions of Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol.” The 1938 broadcast features Orson Welles as Ebenezer Scrooge. The production co-stars Virginia Welles and Joseph Cotten. Welles serves as narrator of the 1939 radio show with Lionel […]
UPDATED ON JAN. 12, 2013: The OSOTW footage has been deleted from vimeo.
Dann Cahn, who worked as an assistant editor on Orson Welles’ 1948 film “Macbeth” and an editorial supervisor eight years later on “Fountain of Youth,” died Wednesday at his California home. Cahn, 89, was the last surviving member of the original creative team behind “I Love Lucy,” according to the Los Angeles Times. He began […]
We are proud to welcome a new addition to Wellesnet: The Orson Welles Family Album. This new web page is a generous sampling of photographs of Welles throughout the years with his three wives: Virginia Nicolson, Rita Hayworth and Paola Mori; his three daughters, Christopher, Rebecca and Beatrice; collaborator-companion Oja Kodar; and assorted friends, lovers […]
The University of Wisconsin – Madison will present Marc Blitzstein’s “The Cradle Will Rock” on November 16 through December 8. The University Theater describes the musical as a “satirical glimpse into ‘Steeltown, USA’ (which) offers a biting critique of corruption, commerce, and humanity’s value in the face of unchecked capitalism – issues that continue to […]
UPDATED: Wonderful news. We have been told by Peggy Daub at the University of Michigan that “The Deep” papers were purchased for the Special Collections Library. U-M is already home to “The Orson Welles – Chris Welles Feder Collection” and the “The Alessandro Tasca di Cutò – Orson Welles Collection.” By RAY KELLY A collection […]
By RAY KELLY Paul Bradbury of the website Total Hvar has been generous in sharing with Wellesnet several rare photographs of Orson Welles filming his unfinished thriller “The Deep” (also known as “Dead Reckoning”). According to Bradbury, the photographs were taken in 1967 on the beautiful Croatian island of Hvar. These black and white photographs […]
By RAY KELLY 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 […]
David Stewart White recently penned a splendid travel feature for The Washington Post on the Third Man Museum in Vienna. The diminutive museum is tucked away on a residential side street in Vienna’s Margareten neighborhood. It boasts some 2,000 artifacts across 13 rooms. The museum is a consuming passion of Gerhard Strassgschwandtner, who is still […]
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 […]
By RAY KELLY “This is Orson Welles, ladies and gentlemen, out of character to assure you that “The War of The Worlds” has no further significance than as the holiday offering it was intended to be. The Mercury Theatre’s own radio version of dressing up in a sheet and jumping out of a bush and […]
From the AT&T Archives comes this six-minute short: retired switchboard operators recall the hysteria surrounding Orson Welles radio dramatization of “The War of the Worlds” on October 30, 1938. (Video introduction runs through 1:20)
UPDATE: Due to a power loss at Country Gate Playhouse, the production has been postponed until Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. By RAY KELLY New Jersey’s Country Gate Players will present “Orson’s Path,” a new play about the maverick road taken by theater and film director Orson Welles. The new drama will be presented on […]
“Orson Welles: A One-Person Play in Two Acts” by Michael B. Druxman is now available as an audiobook. Performed by Edward French, the 69-minute performance is available through audible.com, iTunes.com and amazon.com. It is also available in paperback and Kindle. According to the publisher, “The play finds Welles trying to find the financing for one
By RAY KELLY Toronto’s The Art Of Time Ensemble will once again present “The War of the Worlds” on stage at Harbourfront Centre from October 30 through November 4. Actors, musicians and a Foley man will recreate the 1938 radio play, which convinced many frightened listeners into believing a Martian invasion was taking place. Art […]
By RAY KELLY Orson Welles’ candid lunchtime conversations with director Henry Jaglom will be the basis of the upcoming book “My Lunches with Orson: Conversations between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles.” Peter Biskind (“Easy Riders, Raging Bulls”) is editing the book using transcripts of conversations taped by Jaglom. “I’m excited about it. I’m reliving these […]
By RAY KELLY It was one year ago today we lost Norman Corwin, the poet laureate of radio, at the age of 101. During a career that spanned more than 80 years, Corwin wrote, produced and directed for radio, television, film and the stage. He won two Peabody Medals, an Emmy, and was nominated for […]
From PR NEWSWIRE “War of the Worlds:The True Story,” a new movie, will play one night only in select theaters across America this October 30th, Tuesday, the night before Halloween, on the 74th anniversary of the famed Orson Welles 1938 radio broadcast. “War of the Worlds:The True Story,” based on the most beloved alien invasion […]
By RAY KELLY Julien’s Auctions has a Wellesian treasure trove of materials related to Orson Welles’ unfinished thriller “The Deep” on the block on Nov. 9-10. The items are part of its “Icons & Idols” auction. According the Beverly Hills auction house, production notes, correspondence, film rolls, contracts, scripts, and other materials were left by […]
