ORSON WELLES: The Lonely Life of a FLAWED GENIUS

THE VISIONARY CITIZEN KANE CREATOR LET HIS WORK OVERSHADOW HIS PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

- Ron Kelly

Orson Welles is a legend among legends. “If there were a Mount Rushmore of directors, he’d be one of the four faces,” Patrick McGilligan, author of Young Orson: The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane, tells Closer. But while his star shone bright, the lingering scars from Orson’s turbulent childhood dimmed the joy of his personal relationships. “His legacy is greatness — flawed greatness, but that’s what his movies are about, too,” McGilligan notes, citing how the icon’s work often reflected his complicated life.

Orson was born in 1915 in Kenosha, Wis., to Richard Welles, an inventor, and Beatrice Ives, a concert pianist, who both agreed that their second-born son was destined for greatness. “The word genius was the first thing I heard while I was still mewling in my crib,” he once said.