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Orson Welles

American actor and filmmaker (1915–1985)
Person human Q24829
Orson Welles
Carl Van Vechten · Public Domain · Wikimedia
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Summary

Orson Welles was born on May 6, 1915[1], in Kenosha[2]. He died on October 10, 1985[3], in Los Angeles[4]. He worked as a film director[5], actor[6], screenwriter[7], film producer[8], and magician[9]. He ranks in the top 0.12% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (51,677 views/month, #1,200 of 1,000,298).[10]

Key Facts

  • Place of burial: Ronda[11]
  • Father: Richard H. Welles[12]
  • Mother: Beatrice Ives Welles[13]
  • Spouse: Rita Hayworth[14], Paola Mori[15], Virginia Nicolson[16]
  • Child: Beatrice Welles[17], Rebecca Welles[18], Chris Welles Feder[19]
  • Country of citizenship: United States[20]
  • Native language: English[21]
  • Occupation: character actor[22], playwright[23], radio personality[24], stage actor[25], theatrical producer[26], television actor[27], voice actor[28], film actor[29], director[30], producer[31], writer[32], theatre manager[33], musician[34], filmmaker[35]
  • Educated at: Todd Seminary for Boys[36], School of the Art Institute of Chicago[37]
  • Award received: Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay[38], Palme d'Or[39], Academy Honorary Award[40], Golden Lion[41], honorary doctorate from the University of Paris-VII[42], AFI Life Achievement Award[43], Commander of the Legion of Honour[44], National Board of Review Award for Best Film[45], star on Hollywood Walk of Fame[46]
  • Member of: Académie des beaux-arts[47]
  • Religion or worldview: Christianity[48], atheism[49]
  • Sex or gender: male[50]
  • Genre: drama film[51], mystery film[52], action film[53], thriller film[54], psychological thriller film[55], film noir[56], adventure film[57]
  • Discography: Orson Welles discography[58]
  • Commons category: Orson Welles[59]
  • Unmarried partner: Oja Kodar[60], Dolores del Río[61]
  • Cause of death: myocardial infarction[62]

Product Details

The following facts are restated verbatim from public-domain and CC0 open-data sources — every line is independently verifiable against the named source's catalog.

MusicBrainz — CC0 open music encyclopedia

  • Type: Person[63]

  • Country: US[64]

  • Began / founded: 1915-05-06[65]

  • Ended / dissolved: 1985-10-10[66]

  • MusicBrainz ID: cc98a7f6-1c7f-436b-b7f8-60ef310edd52[67]

Body

Works and Contributions

Things named for Orson Welles include Orsonwelles[68], a taxon[69] and he[70], a Mars crater[71].

Why It Matters

Orson Welles has Wikipedia articles in 30 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[72] He is known by 35 alternative names across languages and contexts.[73]

He has been cited as an influence by Sam Mendes[74], a theatrical director[75], b. 1965[76], of United Kingdom[77], awarded the Laurence Olivier Awards[78] and Nipsey Russell[79], a poet[80], 1918–2005[81], of United States[82], awarded the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture[83].

Entities named for him include Orsonwelles[68], a taxon[69] and he[70], a Mars crater[71].

FAQs

Where was Orson Welles born?

Orson Welles was born in Kenosha[2].

Where did Orson Welles die?

Orson Welles passed away in Los Angeles[4].

Who were Orson Welles's parents?

Orson Welles's father was Richard H. Welles[12]. Orson Welles's mother was Beatrice Ives Welles[13].

Who was Orson Welles married to?

Orson Welles's spouses include Rita Hayworth[14], Paola Mori[15], and Virginia Nicolson[16].

What did Orson Welles do for work?

Orson Welles worked as a film director[5], actor[6], screenwriter[7], film producer[8], and magician[9].

Where did Orson Welles go to school?

Orson Welles was educated at Todd Seminary for Boys[36] and School of the Art Institute of Chicago[37].

What awards did Orson Welles receive?

Honors received include Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay[38], Palme d'Or[39], Academy Honorary Award[40], and Golden Lion[41].

Who did Orson Welles influence?

Orson Welles has been cited as an influence by Sam Mendes[74] and Nipsey Russell[79].

Related Entities

A Man for All Seasons Casino Royale Citizen Kane Dolores del Río Los Angeles Mank Monsieur Verdoux Rita Hayworth Ronda Sam Mendes The Lady from Shanghai The Magnificent Ambersons The Third Man Touch of Evil UbuWeb United States

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [50] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  11. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [36] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [37] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [21] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  18. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  19. [8] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  20. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  22. [23] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  23. [24] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  24. [25] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  25. [26] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  26. [27] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  27. [28] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  28. [29] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  29. [30] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  30. [31] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  31. [32] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  32. [33] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  33. [34] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  34. [35] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  35. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  36. [51] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  37. [52] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  38. [53] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  39. [54] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  40. [55] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  41. [56] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  42. [57] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  43. [48] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  44. [49] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  45. [38] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  46. [39] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  47. [40] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  48. [41] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  49. [42] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  50. [43] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  51. [44] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  52. [45] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  53. [46] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  54. [58] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  55. [59] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  56. [60] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  57. [61] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  58. [47] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  59. [62] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  60. [1] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  61. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Product details (FDA / USDA / NHTSA public-domain catalog data)

  1. [63] ↑ . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
  2. [64] ↑ . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
  3. [65] ↑ . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
  4. [66] ↑ . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.
  5. [67] ↑ . MusicBrainz (MetaBrainz Foundation). musicbrainz.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

  1. [74] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [79] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [68] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [70] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [75] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [76] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [77] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [78] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [80] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [81] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  7. [82] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  8. [83] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  9. [69] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  10. [71] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [10] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [72] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [73] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Orson Welles. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/orson-welles
MLA “Orson Welles.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 14 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/orson-welles.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_orson-welles_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Orson Welles}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/orson-welles}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-14}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Orson Welles — https://4ort.xyz/entity/orson-welles (retrieved 2026-10-14)

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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 21d ago · Kwayst · 2026-09-24 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14724 → 24637500
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ P14724: 24637500"
  2. 5w ago · MsMorale · 2026-09-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Sinemalar person id → 32449
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ Sinemalar person id: 32449, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/271268|batch #271268]]"
  3. 8w ago · Mahirtwofivesix · 2026-08-19 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Babelnet id → 00040228n
    Arabic ontology lexical concept id → 151061901
    "/* wbeditentity-statements-multiple-properties-update:0||4 */ added/modified IDs mapped to WordNet 3.1"
  4. 8w ago · Quesotiotyo · 2026-08-16 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14774 → PEMA0000083926
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14774: PEMA0000083926, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/269025|batch #269025]]"
  5. 8w ago · A2D4 · 2026-08-15 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Plaque image → Orson Welles star (Hollywood Walk of Fame stars).jpg
    P14750 → 5438-D709-74D8-A851-82BC
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Plaque image: Orson Welles star (Hollywood Walk of Fame stars).jpg"
  6. 11w ago · BigJack20 · 2026-07-23 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Occupation → film director, actor, screenwriter +16
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Occupation: filmmaker"
  7. 12w ago · YANN92340 · 2026-07-18 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Elle.fr person id → Orson-Welles
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Elle.fr person id: Orson-Welles"
  8. 12w ago · ならちゃん · 2026-07-17 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Cine21 person id → 3602
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/42119|batch #42119]]"
  9. 13w ago · ならちゃん · 2026-07-12 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14524 → 746
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ P14524: 746, Matched to [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/entry/291332843|オーソン・ウェルズ (#291332843)]] in [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/catalog/7948|DMM director ID]] #mix'n'"
  10. 14w ago · UndefinedRachel · 2026-07-03 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    The guardian topic id → film/orsonwelles
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/39759|batch #39759]]: Guardian topic ID"
  11. 15w ago · Susmuffin · 2026-06-30 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Harper's tag → orson-welles
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ Harper's tag: orson-welles, Matched to [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/entry/289950996|orson welles (#289950996)]] in [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/catalog/7915|Harper's tag]"
  12. 20w ago · Tholzheim · 2026-05-27 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Factgrid item id → Pius Strobl
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ Factgrid item id: Q1783888, adds FactGrid ID"
  13. 21w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-19 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Occupation → film director, actor, screenwriter +16
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/32082|batch #32082]]: import P21 and P106 from GND (24)"
  14. 21w ago · ならちゃん · 2026-05-16 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Local thumb → —
    P14419 → 6422
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/31873|batch #31873]]"
  15. 22w ago · Bargioni · 2026-05-07 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Local thumb → —
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/30468|batch #30468]]: add P1810 to P5739 2/3"
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