How he got that way is both the theme and the riddle of McGilligan’s book. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds.” He was, in a word, precocious. Over the next decade, he would make his Broadway debut, tour in repertory with Katharine Cornell, start his own theater company, astonish New York with his productions of “Macbeth” with an all-black cast and a modern-dress “Julius Caesar,” and cause a widespread panic with his Halloween 1938 radio broadcast of H.G. But he arrived in Hollywood bearing the label of “Boy Wonder,” having made his professional stage debut at age 16 with the Gate Theatre in Dublin, where he played, in heavy makeup, characters much older than he was. As McGilligan points out, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and John Ford had all made movies by the time they reached that age. As monuments tend to do, it cast a shadow over the remaining years of his life.Īt age 25, Welles was not exceptionally young to be making his debut as a film director. There is not likely to be a more fitting observance of those anniversaries than Patrick McGilligan’s “Young Orson,” the story of Welles from his early life to the creation of the movie that was to become his lasting monument. Orson Welles was born 100 years ago, released his most celebrated film, “Citizen Kane,” almost 75 years ago and died 30 years ago. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
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