Tag Archives: Orson Welles
Orson & Andy
What happens when one oddball genius collides with another? In 1982 the legendary writer, director and actor Orson Welles was guest-hosting the Merv Griffin show when Andy Kaufman stopped by. Although the pair were from different generations, there was a lot of overlap between these titans — they were both fantastic actors, and they each [...]
Death of Kane
Today we remember the death of the late, great Orson Welles who exited this stage on October 10, 1985. The date of Welles’ death makes October a great time for looking back at the genius, but an even better reason is his War of the Worlds broadcast from October 30, 1938 — probably the greatest [...]
The Future Circa 1972
It’s common for folks like myself and the readers of this blog to frequent sites and browse magazines filled with articles about leaps in information processing, advances in artificial intelligence and the future of human/machine interfacing. It’s the 21st century after all, and even though many of our institutions and officials are woefully culture-bound to [...]
Tesla’s Secret
While David Bowie’s portrayal of Nikola Tesla in The Prestige is still my favorite on-screen depiction of the famous mad scientist, this 1980 production from Yugoslavia is an ambitious attempt at bringing Tesla’s tale to the cinema, and Orson Welles’ turn as J.P. Morgan is worth the price of admission. Here’s the Wiki… The Secret [...]
Happy Birthday, Brother Theodore
Today we celebrate the 1906 birthday of Brother Theodore, a German American monologist known for his rambling rants and self-described “stand-up tragedy.” Born Theodore Gottlieb, he was an artist described as “Boris Karloff, surrealist Salvador Dalí, Nijinsky and Red Skelton . . . simultaneously”. Here’s an overview from the Wiki… Gottlieb was born into a [...]
Orson Welles at 99
I’m not sure why this didn’t get a Google Doodle, but Orson Welles would have been 99 today and I think that’s worth noting. I love covering films and I love talking about magick — Welles knew a bit about both. Welles was a child prodigy who founded the groundbreaking Mercury Theatre company in New [...]
