OW & petite women

[Colmena]

It strikes me that Welles was drawn to petite women-- despite (or because of?) his being so large.

I came upon this conclusion watching Mr Arkadin, wherein his daughter /lover, Paola M., looks so petite, in the Audrey Hepburn mode.

Did he ever take note of this?

I include Dolores Del Rio in this generalization.

I also came upon a photo and caption where Welles is enthusing about ballerinas, who are most always petite.

The only possible exception to this is Rita, whom we take to be a "love goddess"-- and so curvy. But I don't know how much this might be an exception, since I don't know how tall she was, whether her scale was significantly closer to Orson's. I recall her as more slim than curvy in WfS.

[RayKelly]

I don't know if I would describe all of the women is his life as petite, but he had amazingly good taste.
Welles had some interesting observations on women and relationships. Here is a gem:
If there hadn't been women we'd still be squatting in a cave eating raw meat, because we made civilization in order to impress our girlfriends. And they tolerated it and let us go ahead and play with our toys.
— Orson Welles

[Roger Ryan]

I can only point to Oja Kodar, who had a longer relationship with Welles than any of the other women in his life with the exception of Paola (although it is quite likely that Welles spent much more quality time with Kodar than with his third wife during the second half of that marriage). "Petite" would not be the word to describe Kodar whose artistic temperament was much closer to Welles' own than most of the women he was involved with.

[Colmena]

Oja K looked petite when I've seen her in photos.
My mistake, and thanks for the correction, Roger.

[Roger Ryan]

Oja K looked petite when I've seen her in photos.
My mistake, and thanks for the correction, Roger.

Kodar was, and remains, very striking. She may have appeared smaller standing next to Welles' 6 foot, 1 inch frame, but I believe she stands around 5 feet, 8 inches.

[Le Chiffre]

Suzanne Cloutier and Eartha Kitt would be two other petite women that Welles was involved with. But Audrey Hepburn at 5' 7 would not really qualify as "petite". I don't know how tall Paola Mori was, but I don't think she was that short. One gets the impression that Welles just liked beautiful women, period.

[Colmena]

While reading the Leaming "as-told-to" bio, p90-91, I came upon these passage where Welles testifies to his special pleasure in being with a petite women, in this case Virginia, his first wife, "a petite, porcelain skinned beauty of eighteen."

"From the first he found himself powerfully attracted to the fragile, almost childlike blond, whose waist was so narrow he could nearly circle it with one of his great hands."

"He thrilled to the way they looked together in public, he the towering lanky-limbed boy, all huge raw bones and hands, and she the delicately exquisite china doll."

I see that their "Hearts of Age" is on U-tube, and look forward to watching it!

-- colmena

[RayKelly]

Virginia Nicholson photo

[Colmena]

Thanks for the apt photo.

I've also noted in _The Raod to Xanadu_ (Callow) reference to Welles' pleasure in "looming" over ordinary mortals.

[Colmena]

Welles' interest in dwarfing petite women comes to a climax, of sorts, with his beloved Kiki.

Beatrice Welles: My parents were huge animal lovers. My dad had Kiki. She was this tiny
black teacup poodle. He invented a story that it belonged to a cutter,
and he didn't want it so my dad wound up with the poodle. Of course
that isn't true. He bought the poodle. He refused to admit it. So he
and Kiki were inseparable. They went everywhere together. When he
arrived home, Kiki was with him. It was bizarre, this large man with
this tiny dog.

I have this great photo of my dad with a cigar in his mouth, and he's
holding Kiki. He hated to have his photo taken. He didn't like how he
looked, ever. Hence all the false noses while he was making movies. He
was always hiding behind makeup. You could never take a picture at
home. I have so few pictures because he hated it. But this one time,
it was about Kiki.

[Le Chiffre]

When he arrived home, Kiki was with him. It was bizarre, this large man with this tiny dog.

Hate to say it, but for those who thought Welles might be a closeted gay, seeing him travel everywhere with a little black poodle on his lap probably wouldn't have done much to dispel those thoughts. Who knows, maybe that's the way he wanted it.

I wonder if Kiki was with him when he died.

[JulieS]

Kiki was with him when he died. I heard she spent a few days at with Patrick Terrail, the maitre D' and part owner of Ma Maison, Orson Welles' favorite hang out in his later years.
As far as women, I think Mr Welles liked ALL women, any height, Rita was not very tall but fine boned, Paola was 5 ft 9 and small boned, Kodar is tall but larger boned.
He had a Preference for exotic women it certainly looks like, Eartha Kitt, Leena Horne, Dolores del Rio, Rita Hayworth (was very Latin despite her tinted hair) Paola Mori, Oja Kodar...
I'd say he liked them all and a lot of them because he certainly wasn't known to be a "faithful" partner!

[mido505]

Orson's consolation for having had to postpone OTHELLO to act in THE BLACK ROSE was the affair he conducted with the "great, tall, dark, tattooed creature," as he described her, who had been provided by the production company to translate for him to the locals. After dinner, Orson and the six-foot Berber girlfriend could often be seen riding off into the mountains on burros.

Given that anectdote, and the stories of Welles's dalliances in Brazil during the filming of IT"S ALL TRUE, I'd say that Welles wasn't necessarily drawn to petite women in particular. In his case the outstanding variety of the types of women he found attractive seems to be the defining characteristic.

[Le Chiffre]

Yes, Welles seems to have been very much a "Variety is the spice of life" kind of guy, when it came to a lot of things. As the 1997 MSNBC docu on Welles says, Welles had a boundless energy that, in addition to his professional triumphs, also fueled his more hot-blooded pursuits. Barbra Leaming: "He loved women, and as he said, he loved the pursuit. He loved the pursuit more than the conquest. And he was a great pursuer, and a great courter."

[Wellesnet]

Article on Welles's relationship with Delores del Rio (translation available):
https://www.infobae.com/america/entrete ... a-la-vida/

He confessed to his daughter Rebecca Welles, many years later, that even after having been married to Rita Hayworth, Dolores del Rio had actually been the great love of his life.