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George Orson Welles (1915 – 1985) Legendary Stage and Screen Dramatist, Actor, Director and Producer





Orson will be best remembered and praised for his film Citizen Kane (1941). He co-wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the film before his 26th birthday. While many of his films received critical acclaim, they never approached critical acclaim Kane realized even though the film was a monumental box office flop. The American Film Institute continues to rank it as the greatest American movie ever produced.

The principal character Charles Foster Kane is loosely patterned as a parody of the life and times of newspaper publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst (1863 – 1961). Nevertheless, the portrayal of him as a quintessential opportunist of his day and unabashed purveyor of his brand of yellow journalism so rattled Hearst that he unsuccessfully attempted to prevent its release to movie theater chains, mainly through ad hominen attacks on Welles credibility.

The War of the Worlds radio broadcast he narrated on October 30, 1938, rattled listeners’ sensibilities to such an extent that it sparked an immediate outbreak of mass pandemonium. Nevertheless, he gained instant fame for the performance.

His Broadway adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar he produced in 1937 received critical acclaim. He pursued his passion for Shakespearean drama as both the director and star of several film versions of the plays, such as Hamlet.

He was a direct paternal descendant (non-agnatic) of John Collins (1606 – 1670). He and his brother Deacon Edward (1603 – 1689)  immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. They hailed from Bramford, Suffolk, England.

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Poets, Authors, Playwrights and Publishers

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AFI Top Men Actors of All Time

1. Humphrey Bogart (1899 – 1957)

3. Jimmie Stewart (1908 – 1997)

6. Henry Fonda (1905 – 1982)

9. Spencer Tracy (1900 – 1967)

13. John Wayne (1907 – 1979)

12. Gregory Peck (1916 – 2003)

16. Orson Welles (1915 – 1985)

George Orson Welles
1915–1985
BIRTH 6 MAY 1915 • Kenosha, Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States
DEATH 10 OCT 1985 • Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States

Ancestry.com citation/Lineages

8th cousin 3x removed IVES-COLLINS

9th cousin 4x removed HEAD-WILCOX-COOKE-BARTLETT-SPRAGUE-TRIPP-OUTWATER-COLLINS

9th cousin 5x removed HEAD-LITTLE-WARREN-BARTLETT-SPRAGUE-TRIPP-OUTWATER-COLLINS

FamilySearch

FabPedigree

WikiTree

Wiki 

SOURCES

YouTube videos

This is Orson Welles

Orson Welles

Orson Welles and Peter O’Toole on Hamlet YouTube video

John Collins Ives WikiTree

The Patricians, A Genealogical Study – Ebook Editions US$5.95

Author at Harrod’s Deli – London

Steven Wood Collins (1952 – ) Antiquarian, Genealogist, Novelist 

By Steven Wood Collins

I spent most of my life unaware of my ancestral heritage. Sure, I knew of the personal history of my more immediate relatives; but beyond that, I never had any inkling as to my ancestral heritage. Then one day many years ago my sister said to me, “I sometimes wonder about our family background.” And so my quest to discover our genealogical roots commenced.

I started building my family tree with the very basic relationships, going back in time from my grandparents, one ancestor at a time. That initial effort proved to be the hardest part of the pursuit, mainly due to my lack of expertise as a novice genealogical researcher. As I gained familiarity with the databases and how to efficiently mine them, my progress gained ever-increasing momentum. Today, The Patricians! tree (Ancestry.com) contains nearly 120,000 individuals, stretching over 135 generations, 5,800 of which are my direct ancestors in a genealogical sense.

During this trek back in time, I encountered fascinating figures in both history and obscurity. This blog contains many stories about their genealogical relationship to me (and many of you). By far and away, as a student of history, the historically obscure individuals are of particular interest to me. I cite Baron “Blue Beard” Montmorency-Laval de Rais (1405 – 1440) as an example of a historically maligned personage whose real contribution to history, as both a playwright and hero of France, has yet to be properly recognized. Another example is Earl Edward de Vere (1550 – 1604), who’s yet to gain widespread recognition as the actual author of the body of literary work wrongly ascribed to William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

My life-long interest in international economics and finance continues unabated. I primarily demonstrate this professional involvement as a contributor to the Long Room, the members-only international finance professionals' forum hosted by the Financial Times of London.

I'm an avid recreational scuba diver who enjoys traveling to exotic dive sites. My love of the sea and marine life gives me an unbounded appreciation and support of “green” issues, especially those devoted to the conservation of endangered species and coral reefs.

He continually posts results of his personal genealogical research to his Goodreads Authors Blog. Entitled The Patricians - The Ancestral Heritage of Steven Wood Collins, the work represents thousand of hours of his research efforts and related commentary.

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