William Alland

William Alland (March 4, 1916 – November 11, 1997) was an American actor, film producer and writer, mainly of Western and science-fiction/monster films, including This Island Earth, It Came From Outer Space, Tarantula!, The Deadly Mantis, The Mole People, The Colossus of New York, The Space Children, and the three Creature from the Black Lagoon films. He worked frequently with director Jack Arnold. Alland is also remembered for his acting role as reporter Thompson, who investigates the meaning of "Rosebud" in Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941).
Biography
Alland was born in Delmar, Delaware.
Alland entered films as an actor, perhaps best remembered as the reporter Jerry Thompson, who investigates the life of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane in Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941). He also directed the film Look in Any Window.
In his early 20s, Alland arrived in Manhattan and took courses at the Henry Street Settlement House, where he met Orson Welles. He lent his voice to Welles's The War of the Worlds. Alland won a Peabody Award as producer of Doorway to Life.
Alland's role as reporter Jerry Thompson in Citizen Kane (1941) is unusual because the camera never closes up on his face; in fact, for the majority of his scenes in the film, he shows his back to the camera, and whenever his face can be seen, it is always in long-shot and almost always clouded in shadow. As noted by film critic Roger Ebert on the DVD commentary of Citizen Kane, Alland once reportedly told an audience that they would probably recognize him if he were to show his back to them. In addition to his role as Thompson in Citizen Kane, Alland announces the "News on the March" newsreel segment, a spoof of the then-popular March of Time newsreels. In later years, Alland twice provided voiceovers for pastiches of this News on the March segment: once for the 1974 Orson Welles film F for Fake and again for a 1991 Arena documentary for the BBC titled The Complete Citizen Kane.
In 1953, Alland appeared before a meeting of the House Un-American Activities Committee in Los Angeles, acknowledging that he had been a member of the Communist Party and naming other people who were involved with the party. The meeting was held behind closed doors, but Alland talked with reporters after his appearance. He said that he was a party member from 1946 to 1949. Alland was a decorated combat pilot in the Air Force, flying 56 missions in the Pacific.
On radio, Alland wrote for Doorway to Life and acted on The Mercury Theatre on the Air.
He died of complications of heart disease.
Filmography
The Green Goddess (1939) – (uncredited); short film by Orson Welles
Citizen Kane (1941) – Jerry Thompson (credited); Voice of "News on the March" Newsreel Announcer (uncredited)
Tom Dick and Harry (1941) – voice of Newsreel Announcer (uncredited)
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) – Guide (uncredited, scenes deleted)
The Falcon Takes Over (1942) – Reporter (uncredited)
Riff-Raff (1947) – Trumpy, Man in Cell (uncredited)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947) – Reporter (uncredited)
Macbeth (1948) – Second Murderer
Love Happy (1949) – one of several Story Contributors (uncredited)
Cave of Outlaws (1951) – Associate Producer
The Black Castle (1952) – Producer
The Raiders (1952) – Producer
The Treasure of Lost Canyon (1952) – Associate Producer
Flesh and Fury (1952) – Original Story
The Stand at Apache River (1953) – Producer
It Came from Outer Space (1953) – Producer
The Lawless Breed (1953) – Producer
The Stand at Apache River (1953) – Producer
The Lawless Breed (1953) – Original Story
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) – Producer, Story Idea (uncredited)
Johnny Dark (1954) – Producer
Four Guns to the Border (1954) – Producer
Dawn at Socorro (1954) – Producer
This Island Earth (1955) – Producer
Revenge of the Creature (1955) – Producer, Original Story
Tarantula (1955) – Producer
Chief Crazy Horse (1955) – Producer
The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) – Producer
The Mole People (1956) – Producer
The Deadly Mantis (1957) – Producer; Original story
The Land Unknown (1957) – Producer
Gun for a Coward (1957) – Producer
The Colossus of New York (1958) – Producer
The Space Children (1958) – Producer
The Lady Takes a Flyer (1958) – Producer
Raw Wind in Eden (1958) – Producer
As Young as We Are (1958) – Producer; Original Story
The Party Crashers (1958) – Producer; Original Story
Look in Any Window (1961) – Director
The Lively Set (1964) – Producer
The Rare Breed (1966) – Producer
References
External links
1916 births
1997 deaths
American male film actors
American film producers
People from Sussex County, Delaware
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American businesspeople
Male actors from Delaware
Film directors from Delaware
American male radio actors
American radio writers
United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II
United States Army Air Forces officers