Orson Welles

Welles was directing high-profile stage productions in New York by 21, starting with a 1936 Macbeth with an African-American cast and ending with The Cradle Will Rock in 1937. He and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, which ran Broadway productions through 1941. In 1938, his radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds made some listeners believe a Martian invasion was real, rocketing him to international fame and drawing Hollywood offers. His first film was Citizen Kane (1941), which he co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in - consistently ranked among the greatest films ever made. He directed 12 other features, including The Magnificent Ambersons, Othello, Touch of Evil, The Trial, and Chimes at Midnight, working in layered narratives, dramatic lighting, unusual angles, and deep focus shots. He struggled for creative control in the studio system, later worked independently, and often couldn't secure financing. He died in 1985, praised as the ultimate auteur, voted the greatest film director ever by the British Film Institute in 2002.