George Orson Welles was born on the 6th May 1915, in Kenosha, Wisconsin USA, and was an actor, director, producer as well as a writer. As Orson Welles, he was widely recognized for his works in theatre as well as film and radio, including the 1937 Broadway stage play “Caesar”, the legendary 1938 radio drama “The War of the Worlds” – which caused mass panic among the audience – as well as for his motion picture credits such as “Citizen Kane” (1941), “Confidential Report” (1955) and “Touch of Evil” (1958). He passed away in 1985.
Have you ever wondered how much wealth one of the greatest actors and directors of Hollywood accumulated for live? How rich would Orson Welles be today? According to sources, it is estimated that the amount of Orson Welles’ net worth, as of early 2017, would exceed the sum of $20 million, acquired through his career in the moviemaking industry which was active between 1931 and his death.
Orson Welles Net Worth $20 million
Orson was born to Beatrice Ives who was a pianist, and Richard Head Welles who was a businessman. After matriculating from the Todd Seminary for Boys in Woodstock, Illinois, he was rewarded with a Harvard scholarship, however, decided to attend the Art Institute of Chicago, but which he abandoned after only a few weeks.
Orson debuted as an actor in 1931, in Gate Theater in Dublin, Ireland, appearing in “Jew Suss” stageplay. After performing in several more Gate’s productions, he relocated to London, UK, and immediately after back to the states. In 1936 Welles joined the Federal Theatre Program for which he produced several successful performances such as “Voodoo Macbeth”, “Horse Eats Hat” and “Dr. Faustus”. However, the real breakthrough came with the Broadway production of “Caesar” in 1937, which was followed by a radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds”, a radio drama adaptation of H. G. Wells’ eponymous novel, Which caused mass panic among listeners as it was so realistic that people believed that New York City was being attacked by extraterrestrials. However, all these engagements helped Orson Welles to establish himself in the entertainment industry, and boosted the wealth that he had inherited from his father.
In 1941, Welles had another huge success with the movie drama “Citizen Kane”, in which he not only performed in the star role, but also co-wrote directed and produced. For this project, he was rewarded with the prestigious Academy Award. In 1946 he appeared in the drama noir movie “The Stranger”, after which he moved to Europe where he was cast for several Italian movies, such as “Black Magic” (1948), “The Third Man” and “Prince of Foxes”, both in 1949. Through the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, Welles worked alternating between Europe and the States, appearing in and directing classics such as “Confidential Report” (1955), “Touch of Evil” (1958), “Crack in the Mirror” (1960) as well as “The Trial” (1962) and “The Deep” (1967). All these achievements had a huge impact on Orson Welles‘ net worth.
In 1970, he settled in Los Angeles, California, and began working on Hollywood movies including “Waterloo” (1970). In the course of the following years, he produced several movies including his own “F for Fake’ (1973), and also narrated the 1986 animated movie “The Transformers: The Movie” as well as 1981 TV mini-series “Tales of the Klondike”. In 1979, Welles appeared in “The Muppet Movie” while between 1981 and 1981 he starred as Robin Masters in “Magnum, P.I.”. In his career, Welles added 123 acting credits to his professional portfolio, and over 60 directing and producing credits as well. In 1975 he was honored with an American Film Institute Award for Life Achievement, while in 2002, posthumously, the British Film Institute named him the greatest film director of all time. It is certain that all these ventures helped Orson Welles to earn a significant amount of wealth.
When it comes to his personal life, Welles was married three times – with Virginia Nicolson, between 1934 and 1940, with whom he had one child. In 1943, he married actress Rita Hayworth, and during their five-year long marriage, they had one child too. From 1955 ’til his death in 1985, he was married to Paola Mora, who is also the mother of one of Welles’ children. He passed away from a heart attack at the age of 70, on the 10th October 1985 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
