Inspired by the realisation that there is yet another film that features a fictionalised Orson Welles I’m compelled to ask what may not be the most vital question of our age, but a fun parlour game nevertheless for for a drizzly Nashville morning:
In all of Moviedom – who’s the best impersonator of Welles?
Vincent D’Onofrio: Ed Wood/5 Minutes Mr. Welles – 1994/2004
First up we have Vincent D’Onofrio as Orson in Ed Wood. He offers simple, yet profound, words of advice not to spend your life living other people’s dreams thereby inspiring the eponymous hero to complete his masterwork ‘Plan 9 from Outer Space’.
How good is D’Onofrio? Well he’s great – but he’s in just one scene – and there’s a problem in that his voice is dubbed by near-professional Orson impersonator Maurice LaMarche, (one can’t help but think of poor Sam Jones here, (the hero of one of the most silly yet wonderful films ever), as his voice was dubbed in by someone who has yet to be revealed – tough break – maybe he can commiserate with Jeff East from Superman).
But it’s such a wonderful scene - so compelling – that I’ll allow it in this contest. I’ve always wanted to see more of Vince as Orson, so imagine my delight when I discovered just a moment ago that Mr. D’Onofrio has made a 30-minute film (!) starring himself as Mr. Welles.
So he’s No. 1 in the contest so far, not just by virtue of being first but for his obvious enjoyment in impersonating the Great One.
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Photo cropped from an original by Gage Skidmore
Maurice LaMarche: Pinky and the Brain/Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain/Personal Life – 1995-1998/1998-1999/Unknown
Maurice LaMarche – well he’s great of course – he’s got the voice down as much as anybody who isn’t Orson can – here’s Maurice poking fun at Orson’s infamous peas commercial:
The problem with LaMarche’s interpretation, fun as it is, is that we don’t get a real sense that Welles is a talent – it’s missing that spark that says, “you know what – this guy is a GENIUS!”. In ‘Ed Wood’ D’Onofrio’s body language, cigar smoking and that slight mischievous glimpse in his eyes compensated for this lack. So, as much as I groove on Maurice’s voice, Vincent is still in the lead.
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Liev Schreiber: RKO 281 – 1999
Next up we have Liev Schreiber who’s portrayal of Orso. .. .
just a moment.
just a moment.
Hey there Dear Reader – I interrupt this entry as I’ve just discovered that another blog wrote this post a year ago – so rather than spend the next thirty minutes analysing all the Welles out there – I’ll just point you to:
A Birthday Tribute to Orson Welles with 10 Welles Wannabes
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Well, that saved some time. Of course the link above does not answer the question of who I think is the best impersonator of Orson Welles. It’s a trick question. Orson Welles is obviously the best impersonator of Orson Welles.
Orson was impersonating Orson since he was a kid. Take a look at the photo below:
Orson is a teenager in the photo and if you look closely you can see he’s sucking in his cheeks. Sucking in his cheeks for a photo. In the 1930’s. What teenager in the 1930’s does that? Someone impersonating Orson Welles that’s who. Getting just right that mixture of talent too fecund to contain, pomposity and supreme confidence compensating for self-doubt is hard to do for any Welles impersonator – but ‘Teen Orson’ nails it. He was brilliant at impersonating Welles even then.
This brings to mind that interview with Cary Grant where the interviewer mentioned how envious of Cary he was; saying wouldn’t it be fun and fabulous to be Cary Grant. Cary replied that yes it would be fun and fabulous, for you see he too wished he could be Cary Grant.
Orson Welles did his best to be Orson Welles. There’s a common misconception that he did little successful work after ‘Citizen Kane’ but this is nonsensical: here’s just a small sampling of post-Kane Orson-directed films you should see if you can: F for Fake, Touch of Evil, The Lady from Shanghai, The Trial, Othello and Chimes of Midnight. With this in mind, not even including the hundreds of radio dramas and comedies, the numerous stage productions and his work in other films, I would say that Orson did more than his best impersonation – at the end he succeeded. He became Orson Welles.
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Additional thoughts:
1) Is it just me or does our latest Orson, Christian McKay, (at bottom in the first photo of post), bear an uncanny resemblance to John Lithgow? Now, this observation is in no way intended to denigrate him – it’s just that I find it eerie. Anyhew, I like other many other fans of Welles are looking forward to ‘Me and Orson Welles’ – you can follow the film’s progress towards general release by following the film on Twitter here: twitter.com/MeandOrson.
2) If you’d like to hear a prime example of Orson sending up Orson listen to this episode of the The Grape Nuts Flakes Program/The Jack Benny Show in which Mr. Welles guest hosts. It’s brilliant, and gives you a feeling for how Welle’s was perceived, (and just how famous he was), in the 1940’s.
3) And if you’re a real Welles junkie you should see the documentary ‘Prodigal Sons’ – I’m not going to link to it – its connection to Orson is tangential – but should be kept a mystery until viewed.
4) Who’s the Best Impersonator of Orson Welles Bonus Video Feature – Welles on Acting:
