Good morning,
Today’s forecast calls for a mostly sunny day in Whitewater, with a high of sixty-three degrees.
Today’s a great anniversary in Wisconsin history — it’s Orson Welles’s birthday. The Wisconsin Historical Society offers details on his extraordinary life:
1915 – Orson Welles Born
On this date George Orson Welles was born in Kenosha. The name George was soon dropped. The family moved to Chicago in 1919, and two years later, Welles’ parents separated. After his mother’s death in 1924, he travelled the world with his father, only to lose him in 1928. Welles turned down the chance at college in 1931, choosing instead to go on a sketching trip to Ireland. In 1934, Welles made his New York debut, playing Tybalt in Katherine Cornell’s staging of Romeo and Juliet.
In the mid 1930s, he established himself as a radio actor on The March of Time and The Shadow, among other shows. He began working with John Houseman and together they formed the Mercury Theatre in 1937. Their program, The Mercury Theatre on Air, became famous for the notorious events surrounding their version of The War of the Worlds in 1938, in which they provoked mass panic among listeners.
A renowned actor, writer, producer, and director, Welles is known best for his roles in such films as Citizen Kane (1941), Jane Eyre (1944), Macbeth (1948), Moby Dick (1956), A Man for all Seasons (1966), and Catch 22 (1970). Welles was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 1971 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1975.
Despite his lack of commercial success, the Directors Guild of America awarded him their highest award, the D.W. Griffith Award, in 1984. Welles was briefly married to Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth from 1943 to 1948, with whom he had one daughter. Orson Welles died on October 9, 1985. [Source: Wisconsin Film Office].
Here’s a portion of that 1938 program, the original audio having been added to YouTube with a picture of Welles from that time: