Claim: Orson Welles was a performance artist.

George Orson Welles -LRB- -LSB- ˈwɛlz -RSB- May 6 , 1915 -- October 10 , 1985 -RRB- was an American actor , director , writer , and producer who worked in theatre , radio , and film . He is remembered for his innovative work in all three : in theatre , most notably Caesar -LRB- 1937 -RRB- , 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 -LRB- 1941 -RRB- , consistently ranked as one of the all-time greatest films .   In his 20s , Welles directed a number of high-profile stage productions for the Federal Theatre Project , including an adaptation of Macbeth with an entirely African American cast , and the political musical The Cradle Will Rock . In 1937 he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre , an independent repertory theatre company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941 . Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells ' novel The War of the Worlds performed for his radio anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air . It reportedly caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was actually occurring . Although some contemporary sources claim these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated , they rocketed Welles to notoriety .   His first film was Citizen Kane -LRB- 1941 -RRB- , which he co-wrote , produced , directed , and starred in as Charles Foster Kane . Welles was an outsider to the studio system and directed only 13 full-length films in his career . He struggled for creative control on his projects early on with the major film studios and later in life with a variety of independent financiers , and his films were either heavily edited or remained unreleased . His distinctive directorial style featured layered and nonlinear narrative forms , uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro , unusual camera angles , sound techniques borrowed from radio , deep focus shots , and long takes . He has been praised as `` the ultimate auteur '' .   Welles followed up Citizen Kane with 12 other feature films , the most acclaimed of which include The Magnificent Ambersons -LRB- 1942 -RRB- , Touch of Evil -LRB- 1958 -RRB- , and Chimes at Midnight -LRB- 1966 -RRB- . Other works of his , such as The Lady from Shanghai -LRB- 1947 -RRB- and F for Fake -LRB- 1973 -RRB- , are also well-regarded .   In 2002 , Welles was voted the greatest film director of all time in two British Film Institute polls among directors and critics . Known for his baritone voice , Welles was an actor in radio and film , a Shakespearean stage actor , and a magician noted for presenting troop variety shows in the war years .