Orson Welles

.George Orson Welles:George Orson Welles, better known as Orson Welles, was a talentedgenius who made many contributions to the world of the media. Welles' list ofaccomplishments is large, including careers in screenwriting, directing offilm and theatre, producing, and broadcasting. Although he was influential inmany ways, I will be focusing in on his part in the "War of The Worlds" scare,which ultimately confused and terrified the mass audience, who becameconvinced that the world was experiencing an invasion from Mars, and hiscareer leading up to this. One will see after reading this biography that OrsonWelles had a fascinating life and career.Welles was born on May 15, 1915 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Welles was theson of Richard Head Welles and Beatrives Ives Welles. Welles mother diedwhen he was nine, and his father died soon after due in part by alcoholism.He first performed stage and theatrical productions while attending the ToddSchool for Boys in Woodstock, Illinois. His stage debut took place in 1931 inDublin, Ireland. After appearing in small supporting roles, Welles quicklyworked his way into becoming a radio director/actor in 1934 in the UnitedStates. Welles married his first wife in 1934, Virginia Nicholson, as well as co-directed and starred in "The Hearts of Age," a short silent film.In 1936, the Federal Theatre Projects took interest in Orson Welles, andsoon he was producing "Macbeth". After the success of "Macbeth," Wellesproduced and directed shows including "Horse Eats Hat," "Dr. Faustus,"and "The Cradle Will Rock." After achieving success in theatre, Welles joinedproducing partner John Houseman in forming a theatre company titled theMercury Theatre. "Shakespeare's Julius Caesar" was their first productionand was, not surprisingly, a huge success.Now that Welles had success in theatre and Broadway, he was also activein radio where he was an actor as well as director and producer. In 1937,wells began playing "The Shadow," and he and the Mercury Theatre startedhaving weekly broadcasts which of short radio plays in 1938, which werebased upon popular or classical books. On October 30, 1938, their broadcastwas of an adaptation of "The War of the Worlds." The website, "A GullibleNation, a closer look at that night of panic," explains:Families were gathered around in their living rooms listening to the radioprograms crossing the telephone wires, laughing with Charlie McCarthy,and relaxing after a long week. It was a normal Sunday evening untilOrson Welles and the cast of Mercury Theatre on the Air presented theirweekly adaptation of a classical work. This week it was War of the Worlds,by H. G. Wells. By 8:25 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the peaceful eveninghad been shattered by riots, panicked citizens, and the threat of Martiansinvading the country. [A Gullible Nation? a closer look at that night ofpanic, "http://xroads.virginia.edu/7E1930s/RADIO/WOTW/frames.html"( 2006]The adaptation was made to look like a newscast, and cut into the routinedance music program with descriptions of a landing of Martian spacecraft inGrover's Mill New Jersey. The audience responded with panic by the millions,an estimated 1.2 million ran from their homes. There was complete chaos, aman even reportedly came home to find his wife ready to commit suiciderather than be killed by aliens. There were even emergency prayer meetingsat the churches in the south. The hysteria continued into the afternoon ofOctober 31st. It's safe to say the audience was terrified, one might even saythey were acting as a "mass" (i.e. irrational). Americans were criticized byother countries who saw them as being gullible for their reactions to thebroadcast.However, as the website "A Gullible Nation, a closer look at that night ofpanic," says, " The hysterical flight of millions of Americans was not causedby their own gullibility, but rather the misapplication of broadcasting styles,the manipulation of the American psyche, the appropriation of a political tool,and the relevance of the historical timing." [A Gullible Nation? a closer lookat that night ofpanic, "http://xroads.virginia.edu/7E1930s/RADIO/WOTW/frames.html"( 2006]Welles and his crew were blamed for the audiences frenzied reaction tothe broadcast. There were even reports (although eventually found to beuntrue) that people had died as a result of the broadcast. Welles issued anapology. Welles now had public notoriety on a national level and the publicityled to Campbell's Soup sponsoring the Mercury Theatre. This eventually ledto an RKO Pictures three-picture Hollywood contract. After an amazingcareer, Welles died on October 10, 1985 in Hollywood, California.George Orson Welles was a brilliant man who had an undeniable ability toinfluence an audience. Anyone who can make millions of people believe theyare being invaded by aliens has to have talent! I would be curious to see howthe mass audience would react to an attempt like this today.