George Orson Welles Accomplishments

In the early days before television, there was only three audio/visual mediums that were fighting for audiences affections: Radio, Film, and the Live Stage. Orson Welles dominated all three mediums. Time Magazine called him a ray of sunshine in the dark theater, when he made his debut in the late 1920’s. Time was on to something with their review also. By the time Orson Welles was 26 years old, he had already traveled the world twice, lied his way into a professional Broadway career, caused Americans to fall into a mass hysteria, and finally, had made the Greatest American film ever to grace the screens.

Orson Welles never called himself a genius, but he has always been considered one in the entertainment industry. Through this exploration

Beatrice was a pianist by trade, Dick was an inventor. Dick’s claim to fame was his patent for a lamp that hooked onto the front of bicycles, much like a headlight of today. (Orson Welles Biography, 2015) As a child, Orson was encouraged to explore the arts and figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He was also encouraged that he could do anything he wanted, and he had the ability to be the best at it. Orson’s near perfect childhood got wrinkled, however, when his parents divorced when he was 4. Dick left the family, and Orson was left with his older brother, Richard Jr., to live with and take care of their mother. Orson’s life took a turn for the worse, when Dick suffered a huge setback in his career. Dick’s patent was rejected, and he quit his job and started drinking. Dick’s new career as a professional alcoholic was just a turning point in the life of the young Welles. In a short 5 year time, Beatrice fell ill and died of Jaunice, just after her youngest son’s 9th birthday. (Orson Welles Biography,

He played the role just like he had been studying it his entire life. He was lucky that he didn’t let that emotion come through on that stage too, as in the audience was a theater director named John Houseman. (Houseman, 2015) In the 1930’s, President Roosevelt put into effect an plan to jump start the depression era economy called The New Deal. The New Deal put into effect various programs around the country such as Social Security and The Works Progress Administration. One such program was the Federal Theater Project, which John Houseman was a director on. That night when he saw Welles, he discovered talent. He knew what he had. Right away, Houseman put Welles in charge of a theater house in Harlem. Welles, this being his first time as director, wanted to put his name on the map. So, he wrote and directed a version of Macbeth that catered to the area. Welles rewrote the play, changed the setting to Creole Louisiana, and featured a mainly African American cast. The Name? Voodoo Macbeth. (Hill,