ACTOR

Orson Welles

1915 - 1985

Photo of Orson Welles

Icon of person Orson Welles

George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer and producer who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time. At age 21, Welles was directing high-profile stage productions for the Federal Theatre Project in New York City—starting with a celebrated 1936 adaptation of Macbeth with an African-American cast, and ending with the controversial labor opera The Cradle Will Rock in 1937. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Orson Welles has received more than 17,674,048 page views. His biography is available in 83 different languages on Wikipedia. Orson Welles is the 149th most popular actor (down from 119th in 2019), the 280th most popular biography from United States (down from 227th in 2019) and the 73rd most popular American Actor.

Orson Welles is most famous for being the director and star of the 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds, which caused widespread panic.

Memorability Metrics

  • 18M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 69.96

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 83

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.78

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.79

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among ACTORS

Among actors, Orson Welles ranks 149 out of 13,578. Before him are Robert Duvall, Susan Sarandon, Gérard Philipe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gloria Stuart, and Tony Curtis. After him are Jean Renoir, Laurence Olivier, Ava Gardner, Eli Wallach, Tommy Lee Jones, and Stan Laurel.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1915, Orson Welles ranks 12. Before him are Ingrid Bergman, Roland Barthes, Vasily Zaitsev, Yitzhak Shamir, David Rockefeller, and Arthur Miller. After him are Eli Wallach, Paul Samuelson, Billie Holiday, Paul Tibbets, Stanley Matthews, and Joachim Peiper. Among people deceased in 1985, Orson Welles ranks 10. Before him are Konstantin Chernenko, Heinrich Böll, Italo Calvino, Carl Schmitt, Simone Signoret, and Fernand Braudel. After him are László Bíró, Jean Dubuffet, Rock Hudson, Simon Kuznets, Charles Francis Richter, and Dian Fossey.

Others Born in 1915

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Others Deceased in 1985

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Orson Welles ranks 280 out of 20,380. Before him are Leonardo DiCaprio (1974), Gloria Stuart (1910), Chuck Berry (1926), Steve Wozniak (1950), Tony Curtis (1925), and Colonel Sanders (1890). After him are George Marshall (1880), Gertrude Stein (1874), William Howard Taft (1857), William Jennings Bryan (1860), George S. Patton (1885), and Ava Gardner (1922).

Others born in United States

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Among ACTORS In United States

Among actors born in United States, Orson Welles ranks 73. Before him are Gene Hackman (1930), Robert Duvall (1931), Susan Sarandon (1946), Leonardo DiCaprio (1974), Gloria Stuart (1910), and Tony Curtis (1925). After him are Ava Gardner (1922), Eli Wallach (1915), Tommy Lee Jones (1946), Sandra Bullock (1964), Burt Lancaster (1913), and Oliver Hardy (1892).

American born Actors

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Television and Movie Roles

Citizen Kane
Charles Foster Kane
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
Apr 17th 19418 / 10
Touch of Evil
Police Captain Hank Quinlan
When a car bomb explodes on the American side of the U.S./Mexico border, Mexican drug enforcement agent Miguel Vargas begins his investigation, along with American police captain Hank Quinlan. When Vargas begins to suspect that Quinlan and his shady partner, Menzies, are planting evidence to frame an innocent man, his investigations into their possible corruption quickly put himself and his new bride, Susie, in jeopardy.
Mar 30th 19587.8 / 10
The Lady from Shanghai
Michael O'Hara
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
Dec 24th 19477.3 / 10