# Orson Welles filmography

Orson Welles (1915–1985) was an American director, actor, writer, and producer who is best remembered for his innovative work in radio, theatre and film. He is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.
While in his twenties, Welles directed a number of stage productions before creating the infamous 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds. Welles's directorial film debut Citizen Kane (1941), in which he also starred as Charles Foster Kane, garnered him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and nominations for Best Actor and Best Director. The film is consistently ranked as the greatest film ever made. Welles's second film was The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), which he wrote and directed. He worked as actor, screenwriter, uncredited producer and uncredited co-director of 1943's Journey Into Fear, and directed and co-starred in 1946's The Stranger, his only substantial commercial success as a director. He then directed and starred in the film-noir The Lady from Shanghai (1947), appearing opposite his estranged wife Rita Hayworth.
His 1951 film Othello won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1958, Universal-International released the Welles-directed Touch of Evil, in which he also starred alongside Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh. His The Trial (1962) received a nomination for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He subsequently directed Chimes at Midnight (1966), in which he also starred as Falstaff. Welles's last completed features were the essay films F for Fake (1973) and Filming Othello (1978). Throughout his career, he also worked on numerous films which he abandoned due to legal issues, lack of funds, or loss of interest and which were never completed or released. Two of these unfinished feature films have been completed and released posthumously: Don Quixote (1992) and The Other Side of the Wind (2018). However, many of Welles's other projects are now considered lost films.
Welles also had a successful career as an actor, appearing in dozens of films. In 1937, he collaborated with Ernest Hemingway on The Spanish Earth. In 1943, he starred opposite Joan Fontaine in Jane Eyre. His first appearance as Harry Lime in the 1949 film-noir The Third Man was heralded as "the most famous entrance in the history of the movies" by Roger Ebert. Also in 1949 he played Cesare Borgia in the film Prince of Foxes. In 1956, he appeared as Father Mapple in the John Huston-directed Moby Dick. His performance in Compulsion (1959) earned him the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Welles starred as Le Chiffre in the James Bond film Casino Royale (1967). He portrayed Louis XVIII in Waterloo (1970). In 1979, he appeared in The Muppet Movie. His performance in Butterfly (1982) garnered him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Welles also narrated several documentaries, television series, and films, including King of Kings (1961), Bugs Bunny: Superstar (1975), and Mel Brooks's comedy film History of the World, Part I (1981).
Welles was granted an Academy Honorary Award for his works in 1971. Four years later, he became the third recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. In 1983, two years prior to his death, Welles received the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award.

## Production
### Completed feature films

Table featuring completed feature films by Orson Welles :
| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes | Ref. |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes | Ref. |
| 1941 | Citizen Kane | Yes | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1942 | The Magnificent Ambersons | Yes | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1943 | Jane Eyre | No | No | Uncredited | |
| 1943 | Journey into Fear | No | Yes | Uncredited | Also uncredited additional directing | |
| 1946 | The Stranger | Yes | Uncredited | No | | |
| 1947 | Monsieur Verdoux | No | Story | No | |
| 1947 | The Lady from Shanghai | Yes | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1948 | Macbeth | Yes | Uncredited | No | | |
| 1951 | Othello | Yes | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1955 | Mr. Arkadin | Yes | Yes | No | Also art director, costume designer and uncredited editor | |
| 1958 | Touch of Evil | Yes | Yes | No | | |
| 1962 | The Trial | Yes | Yes | No | Also uncredited editor | |
| 1966 | Chimes at Midnight | Yes | Yes | No | Also Costume designer | |
| 1968 | The Immortal Story | Yes | Yes | No | French TV Movie released theatrically on some countries such as USA | |
| 1973 | F for Fake | Yes | Yes | No | Documentary film • Also uncredited editor | |
| 1978 | Filming Othello | Yes | Yes | No | Documentary film | |
| 1992 | Don Quixote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Originally shot between 1957 and 1972 • Completed and released posthumously with an alternate edit directed by Jesus Franco | |
| 1999 | The Big Brass Ring | No | Yes | No | | |
| 2018 | The Other Side of the Wind | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also co-editor with Bob Murawski • Originally shot between 1970 and 1976 • Completed and released posthumously | |

### Completed short films

Table featuring completed short films by Orson Welles :
| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes | Ref. |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes | Ref. |
| 1933 | Twelfth Night | Yes | No | No | No | Dress rehearsal of Welles's Todd School stage production | |
| 1934 | The Hearts of Age | Yes | No | No | No | Scenario | |
| 1940 | Citizen Kane trailer | Yes | Yes | No | No | | |
| 1953 | Magic Trick | Yes | Yes | No | No | | |
| 1969 | The Merchant of Venice | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | |
| 1970 | An Evening with Orson Welles | Yes | Yes | No | No | Six 30-minute recitations | |
| 1976 | F for Fake trailer | Yes | No | No | Yes | | |
| 1978 | Orson Welles's Jeremiah | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | |
| 1978 | Unsung Heroes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | |
| 1984 | The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | |

### Completed television programs

Table featuring completed television programs by Orson Welles :
| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes | Ref. |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes | Ref. |
| 1955 | Orson Welles' Sketch Book | No | Yes | No | Series of commentaries | |
| 1955 | Around the World with Orson Welles | Yes | Yes | No | Series | |
| 1956 | Camille, the Naked Lady and the Musketeers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also Designer • Music arranger • Unsold pilot • Lost | |
| 1958 | The Fountain of Youth | Yes | Yes | No | Also Designer • Music arranger | |
| 1958 | Portrait of Gina | Yes | Yes | No | Unsold pilot | |
| 1961 | Orson Welles on the Art of Bullfighting | Yes | Yes | No | Episode of UK series Tempo | |
| 1964 | In the Land of Don Quixote | Yes | No | Yes | Series • Filmed c. 1961 • Aired in 1964. | |
| 1978 | Filming Othello | Yes | Yes | No | | |
| 1979 | The Orson Welles Show | Yes | Yes | No | Unsold pilot | |

### Film fragments for stage productions

Table featuring film fragments for stage productions by Orson Welles :
| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes | Ref. |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes | Ref. |
| 1938 | Too Much Johnson | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1939 | The Green Goddess | Yes | No | No | No | Also actor • Prologue for a vaudeville program • Lost film | |
| 1946 | Around the World | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Film component of Broadway production • Lost film | |
| 1950 | The Miracle of St. Anne | Yes | Yes | No | No | Film component of a stage production • Lost film | |

### Uncompleted films and television programs

Table featuring uncompleted films and television programs by Orson Welles :
| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes | Ref. |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes | Ref. |
| 1941–1942 | It's All True | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | |
| 1950 | An Evening With Orson Welles | Yes | No | No | No | Two vignettes from the German tour of Welles's stage show • Lost | |
| 1955 | "The Tragedy of Lurs" | Yes | Yes | No | No | Episode from the TV series Around the World with Orson Welles | |
| 1955 | Moby Dick—Rehearsed | Yes | No | No | No | Film version of Welles's London stage production | |
| 1957–1972 | Don Quixote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1960 | Orson Welles in Dublin | Yes | No | No | No | | |
| 1967 | The Heroine | Yes | Yes | No | No | | |
| 1967–1970 | The Deep | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | |
| 1968 | Vienna | Yes | No | Yes | No | Segment for the unfinished Orson's Bag TV special | |
| 1968–1971 | One Man Band | Yes | Yes | No | No | Also known as Orson Welles' London | |
| 1981 | Filming The Trial | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | |
| 1980–1982 | The Dreamers | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | |
| 1976–1985 | Orson Welles' Magic Show | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | |
| 1985 | King Lear | Yes | Yes | No | No | Test footage | |

## Performance
### Film

Table featuring films which Orson Welles appeared in :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1937 | The Spanish Earth | Narrator | |
| 1940 | Swiss Family Robinson | Narrator | Uncredited |
| 1941 | Citizen Kane trailer | Himself | |
| 1941 | Citizen Kane | Charles Foster Kane | |
| 1942 | Tanks | Narrator | Short documentary about the manufacture and use of the M–3 Army tank, distributed by the United States Office of War Information |
| 1942 | The Magnificent Ambersons | Narrator | |
| 1943 | Journey into Fear | Colonel Haki | |
| 1943 | Jane Eyre | Edward Rochester | Also associate producer (uncredited) |
| 1943 | Know Your Ally: Britain | Narrator/Bob (helpful taxi passenger) | Short film (uncredited) |
| 1944 | Follow the Boys | Himself | |
| 1945 | Mexico City, Old and New | Narrator | Produced by the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs and the Mexican Tourist Association |
| 1946 | Tomorrow Is Forever | John MacDonald/Erich Kessler | |
| 1946 | The Stranger | Franz Kindler | |
| 1946 | Duel in the Sun | Narrator | Uncredited |
| 1947 | The Lady from Shanghai | Michael O'Hara | |
| 1948 | Macbeth | Macbeth | |
| 1949 | Black Magic | Cagliostro/Josef Balsamo | Also director of his own scenes (uncredited) |
| 1949 | The Third Man | Harry Lime | Also writer of some of his own dialogue (uncredited) |
| 1949 | Prince of Foxes | Cesare Borgia | |
| 1950 | The Black Rose | Bayan | |
| 1950 | Disorder | Himself | Short film |
| 1951 | Othello | Othello | |
| 1951 | Return to Glennascaul | Himself | Short film |
| 1952 | Little World of Don Camillo | Voice of Christ | Also dubbing director, English-language version |
| 1952 | Trent's Last Case | Sigsbee Manderson | |
| 1953 | Man, Beast and Virtue | Captain Perella | |
| 1954 | Royal Affairs in Versailles | Benjamin Franklin | |
| 1954 | Trouble in the Glen | Sanin Cejador y Mengues | |
| 1955 | Three Cases of Murder | Lord Mountdrago | "Mountdrago" segment Also director of his own scenes (uncredited) |
| 1955 | Napoléon | Hudson Lowe | |
| 1955 | Mr. Arkadin | Gregory Arkadin | |
| 1956 | Moby Dick | Father Mapple | |
| 1957 | Man in the Shadow | Virgil Renchler | |
| 1958 | The Long, Hot Summer | Will Varner | |
| 1958 | Touch of Evil | Hank Quinlan | |
| 1958 | The Vikings | Narrator | Uncredited |
| 1958 | South Seas Adventure | Narrator | |
| 1958 | The Roots of Heaven | Cy Sedgewick | |
| 1959 | Masters of the Congo Jungle | Narrator | |
| 1959 | Compulsion | Jonathan Wilk | |
| 1959 | Ferry to Hong Kong | Captain Cecil Hart | |
| 1959 | High Journey | Narrator | |
| 1960 | David and Goliath | King Saul | Also director of his own scenes (uncredited) |
| 1960 | Crack in the Mirror | Hagolin/Lamerciere | |
| 1960 | Austerlitz | Robert Fulton | |
| 1961 | Lafayette | Benjamin Franklin | |
| 1961 | The Tartars | Burundai | |
| 1961 | King of Kings | Narrator | |
| 1962 | The Trial | Albert Hastler | |
| 1962 | River of the Ocean | Narrator | |
| 1962 | Ro.Go.Pa.G. | Film Director | "La ricotta" segment |
| 1963 | The V.I.P.s | Max Buda | |
| 1964 | In the Land of Don Quixote | Himself | |
| 1964 | The Finest Hours | Narrator | |
| 1965 | A King's Story | Narrator | |
| 1965 | Marco the Magnificent | Ackermann | |
| 1965 | Chimes at Midnight | Sir John Falstaff | |
| 1966 | Is Paris Burning? | Consul Raoul Nordling | |
| 1966 | A Man for All Seasons | Cardinal Wolsey | |
| 1967 | Casino Royale | Le Chiffre | |
| 1967 | The Sailor from Gibraltar | Louis of Mozambique | |
| 1967 | I'll Never Forget What's'isname | Jonathan Lute | |
| 1968 | The Immortal Story | Mr. Clay, narrator | |
| 1968 | Oedipus the King | Tiresias | |
| 1968 | Around the World of Mike Todd | Narrator | |
| 1968 | House of Cards | Charles Leschenhaut | |
| 1968–1969 | Kampf um Rom | Emperor Justinian | |
| 1969 | Tepepa | Colonel Cascorro | |
| 1969 | The Southern Star | Plankett | Also director of the opening scenes (uncredited) |
| 1969 | The Merchant of Venice | Shylock | Short film |
| 1969 | 12 + 1 | Maurice Markau | |
| 1969 | Battle of Neretva | Chetnik senator | |
| 1970 | The Kremlin Letter | Bresnavitch | |
| 1970 | A Horse Called Nijinsky | Narrator | |
| 1970 | Start the Revolution Without Me | Narrator | |
| 1970 | Catch-22 | General Dreedle | |
| 1970 | Salvador Dalí: A Soft Self-Portrait | Narrator | |
| 1970 | Waterloo | Louis XVIII | |
| 1970 | Is It Always Right to Be Right? | Narrator | Animated short film |
| 1970 | To Build a Fire | Narrator | |
| 1971 | Malpertuis | Uncle Cassavius | |
| 1971 | A Safe Place | Magician | |
| 1971 | Ten Days' Wonder | Theo Van Horn | |
| 1971 | Freedom River | Narrator | |
| 1971 | Sentinels of Silence | Narrator | Short film |
| 1971 | Directed by John Ford | Narrator | |
| 1972 | Necromancy | Mr. Cato | |
| 1972 | Get to Know Your Rabbit | Mr. Delasandro | |
| 1972 | Treasure Island | Long John Silver | |
| 1972 | Flames of Persia | Narrator | |
| 1973 | Kelly Country | Narrator | |
| 1973 | Who's Out There? | Himself | Short film |
| 1973 | Battle of Sutjeska | Winston Churchill | |
| 1973 | F for Fake | Himself | |
| 1973 | Power and Corruption | Himself | Short educational film about Macbeth |
| 1974 | And Then There Were None | Mr. Owen | Voice |
| 1974 | The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art | Himself | |
| 1975 | Bugs Bunny: Superstar | Narrator | |
| 1975 | Rikki-Tikki-Tavi | Narrator | Animated short film |
| 1976 | F for Fake trailer | Himself | |
| 1976 | Voyage of the Damned | Raoul Estedes | |
| 1977 | The Lions of Capitalism: Some Call It Greed | Narrator | |
| 1977 | The Rime of the Ancient Mariner | Narrator | |
| 1978 | Mysterious Castles of Clay | Narrator | |
| 1978 | CPR For Citizens | Narrator | Educational film |
| 1978 | The Greatest Battle | Narrator | English-language version |
| 1979 | The Late Great Planet Earth | Himself | |
| 1979 | The Muppet Movie | Lew Lord | |
| 1979 | The Double McGuffin | Narrator | |
| 1980 | The Greenstone | Narrator | |
| 1980 | The Secret of Nikola Tesla | J. P. Morgan | |
| 1980 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park | Narrator | |
| 1981 | Search for the Titanic | Himself (host) | |
| 1981 | The Man Who Saw Tomorrow | Himself | |
| 1981 | History of the World, Part I | Narrator | |
| 1981 | A Gift of Harvest | Narrator | Short film |
| 1982 | Butterfly | Judge Rauch | |
| 1982 | Genocide | Narrator | |
| 1982 | Slapstick of Another Kind | Alien Father | |
| 1984 | Where Is Parsifal? | Klingsor | |
| 1984 | In Our Hands | Himself | |
| 1984 | The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail | Narrator | |
| 1985 | Almonds and Raisins | Narrator | |
| 1986 | The Enchanted Journey | Pippo | Voice, English-language version; recorded in 1985; released posthumously |
| 1986 | Hot Money | Sheriff Paisley | |
| 1986 | The Transformers: The Movie | Unicron | Voice, recorded in 1985; released posthumously |
| 1987 | Someone to Love | Danny's friend | Filmed in 1985; released posthumously (final film role) |

### Television

Table featuring television programs which Orson Welles appeared in :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1953 | King Lear | King Lear | TV debut |
| 1955 | Orson Welles' Sketch Book | Himself | Series |
| 1955 | Around the World with Orson Welles | Himself | Series |
| 1956 | Ford Star Jubilee | Oscar Jaffe | Episode: "Twentieth Century" |
| 1956 | Out of Darkness | Narrator | Documentary |
| 1956 | I Love Lucy | Himself | Episode: "Lucy Meets Orson Welles" |
| 1956 | Camille, the Naked Lady and the Musketeers | Himself | Pilot |
| 1958 | The Fountain of Youth | Host/narrator | Pilot shot in 1956, broadcast as episode of Colgate Theatre |
| 1958 | Portrait of Gina | Himself | Pilot |
| 1961 | Orson Welles on the Art of Bullfighting | Narrator | Documentary |
| 1971 | The Silent Years | Host | Series |
| 1971 | Night Gallery | Narrator | Segment: "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" |
| 1972 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Sheridan Whiteside | Episode: "The Man Who Came to Dinner" |
| 1973 | Orson Welles Great Mysteries | Host | Series |
| 1975 | Survival | Narrator | Episode: "Magnificent Monsters of the Deep" |
| 1976 | NBC—The First Fifty Years | Host | |
| 1978 | A Woman Called Moses | Narrator | NBC Harriet Tubman biopic miniseries |
| 1979 | Filming Othello | Himself | Documentary |
| 1979 | The Orson Welles Show | Host | Pilot |
| 1979 | The New Deal for Artists | Narrator | |
| 1980 | Shōgun | Narrator | Miniseries |
| 1981-84 | Magnum, P.I. | Robin Masters (voice) | Series: 5 episodes |
| 1985 | Scene of the Crime | Host | Series |
| 1985 | Moonlighting | Himself | Episode: "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" |

### Uncompleted films and television programs

Table featuring uncompleted films and television programs which Orson Welles appeared in :
| Year | Title | Role |
| 1942 | It's All True | Narrator |
| 1955 | "The Tragedy of Lurs" | Presenter |
| 1955 | Moby Dick—Rehearsed | Actor-Manager, Father Mapple, Captain Ahab |
| 1957–1972 | Don Quixote | Himself, narrator, voice of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza |
| 1967–1970 | The Deep | Russ Brewster |
| 1968 | Vienna | Himself |
| 1968–1971 | One Man Band | Himself, one-man band, police constable, old battle-axe, old sailor, woman selling violets and dirty postcards, Chinese manager of Ye Olde Strip Club, recorder-player, four old English lords, Count Plumfield |
| 1981 | Filming The Trial | Himself |
| 1980 | The Dreamers | Marcus Kleek |
| 1976–1985 | Orson Welles' Magic Show | Himself |
| 1985 | King Lear | King Lear |