Orson Welles

Known for: Citizen Kane (1941)

Orson Welles made Citizen Kane (1941) at 25, a debut film that redefined what cinema could do with narrative time, deep focus, and visual style, and then spent much of the following four decades struggling to finance subsequent work. He completed fewer than ten features in his lifetime; several others remained unfinished at his death. He worked as an actor, radio broadcaster, and theater director to support his filmmaking.