Audio of Orson Welles performing Shakespeare on the radio between 1936 and 1946. George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer, and producer who worked in theater, radio, and film. He is remembered for his innovative work in all three: in theater, most notably Caesar (1937), a Broadway adaptation of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar; in radio, the legendary 1938 broadcast "The War of the Worlds"; and in film, Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ran