Welles as matinee idol

[Harvey Chartrand]

I just came across this photo of Orson Welles on the jacket of the soundtrack album for THE THIRD MAN.

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My God, Welles was incredibly handsome back then! In 1949, he would have been ideal for the role of James Bond! (In 1954, Barry Nelson played CIA agent James 'Jimmy' Bond in CASINO ROYALE, an episode of the CBS TV anthology series CLIMAX. By '54, Welles had gained an amazing amount of weight and could only be considered for character parts. He would have made a good M or Le Chiffre, a role he eventually played in the big budget 1967 travesty loosely based on CASINO ROYALE, with a thin Peter Sellers as Bond.)
After THE THIRD MAN, Welles could have been a matinee idol. Why did he let himself go? He once said that no actor was more beautiful than he when he was in full costume and makeup as as the young Charles Foster Kane. And yet, like Brando, he allowed his features to coarsen as he became encased in fat. In a 1960 interview, Rita Hayworth said she would never have allowed Welles to gain so much weight if their marriage had endured.
Can anyone unearth a photo of Welles when he was at his absolute fattest? I believe he was never heftier than in 1964, when he had to slim down to play Falstaff, as the wag said.

[dmolson]

He certainly could cut a dashing profile when called upon ~ I think his Rochester was perhaps his most compelling, except for that oyster muscle of a fake nose! In Othello, he was perhaps his most masculine (along with one of his roles opposite Tyrone Power) and he carried himself well those early days. Unfortunately, like it does for many, a love of food proved a fatal flaw. His turn as Falstaff, tho from my recollection, was helped by a layer of padding but not nearly as much as he had for Hank Quinlan. In some of his roles OW was never afraid of looking sloppy or vulgar, he threw his complete skills and visual appearance into a role -- check out Ferry to Hong Kong if you must! But, as I stated on another thread that came to a quick halt, the one thing that bothered me more was his constant use of putty on that nose of his. Had he been born in the early 60s and had the same issue with the proboscus, he'd probably followed in the footsteps or surgical slippers of Michael Jackson and his gouged nose! Thank god for Jimmy Durante!

[Gus Moreno]

From this pic you can get an idea of how morbidly obese Welles was around 1979:

[Harvey Chartrand]

Yikes!
I recall a photo of Orson Welles dining with François Truffaut taken around the time Welles was filming IS PARIS BURNING? (1966). I thought I'd never seen the aging boy wonder looking fatter... until now.
No wonder Welles had to use a wheelchair to get around.

[chrissie]

That is one of the most horrible photos he ever had taken. Big or not he usually looks better than that. I remember the first time I saw the Rosebud book -- the inclusion of that pic made me suspect it was lousy book for all the wrong reasons.

I wish he'd stayed a bit slimmer. He might have lived a few more years. But, that pic aside, I actually think he looked okay with it -- once he grew the beard. Fat Orson wasn't suited to the clean-shaven look.

Anyone seen that Hot Money thing? I caught some of it on TV a few years ago. Utter rubbish. But I was curious about the timeline -- released in 1983, but I think it was filmed in '79? He's (rather surprisingly) clean-shaven in that, and what struck me is how much he looked like Hank Quinlan without having to bother with any makeup or padding!

[Harvey Chartrand]

In late 1979, Welles showed up in Georgetown, Ontario, to film NEVER TRUST AN HONEST THIEF, a dreadful Canadian tax shelter movie. Welles was cast as a drunken sheriff in what must truly be his all-time worst film, even more meretricious than THE WITCHING (the X-rated cut of NECROMANCY with scenes of full frontal nudity added, released in 1983).
NEVER TRUST AN HONEST THIEF sat on the shelf for years and was eventually sold to the Showcase network, retitled ZEN BUSINESS. But nothing could ever help this movie. In all aspects of production, it is the work of talentless amateurs.
True to form, Welles kept very busy during his sojourn in Canada, narrating Uniroyal tire commercials and episodes of TALES OF THE KLONDIKE, based on Jack London stories. Welles also hosted a short film promoting a caveman movie: THE QUEST FOR FIRE ADVENTURE, a joint Canada-France coproduction.
Welles' friend and colleague John Huston was in Toronto at that time directing what many critics consider to be his worst film: PHOBIA, with Paul Michael Glaser – which is never shown on television up here. Very strange, because it's Canadian content and should (one would think) be endlessly recycled.
So nearing the end of their lives, Welles and Huston both hit rock bottom in Canada circa 1979-80.