Recommend a good Orson Welles bio

I'm looking at what my libarary has to offer and there are so many Welles bios - just wondering if any of you could recommened one/a couple and I can start from there.
Thanks!

 

I've read a lot—Rosebud by David Thompson is easily the best.

 

Actor/director (and writer) Simon Callow's two volume biography of Welles (with a third eventually on the way when he gets around to it) is the most exhaustive and interesting of the ones I've read. I preferred it to Thompson's.

Callow's experience as a actor/director gives him a unique insight into Welles' working method as well as his personal life.

 

Personally, I hated that one.

I think "Citizen Welles" by Frank Brady was very well written and researched.

 

I remember enjoying the one written by Peter Bogdanovich.

 

This Is Orson Welles is a nice starting point. After that, Callow's good. Avoid the Thomson — poorly researched, with several careless errors.

 

Here are some of the titles that my library has - some here are not bios like 'The encyclopedia of Orson Welles' (still cool to read), but I believe most are.

I appreaciate all of your suggestions so far - now just trying to get one or two finalized.

- What ever happened to Orson Welles? : a portrait of an independent career / Joseph McBride. McBride, Joseph,

- Orson Welles : the stories of his life / Peter Conrad. Conrad, Peter,

- Orson Welles / by Joseph McBride.

- This is Orson Welles / Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich ; Jonathan Rosenbaum, editor.

- The magic world of Orson Welles / James Naremore

- Orson Welles : a celebration / by John Russell Taylor

- Orson Welles, the rise and fall of an American genius / Charles Higham

- Rosebud : the story of Orson Wells / David Thomson.

- Orson Welles, a biography / by Barbara Leaming

- Despite the system : Orson Welles versus the Hollywood studios / Clinton Heylin

- In my father's shadow : a daughter remembers Orson Welles / Chris Welles Feder

- Citizen Welles : a biography of Orson Welles / Frank Brady

- The encyclopedia of Orson Welles / Chuck Berg, Tom Erskine with John C. Tibbetts

- The complete films of Orson Welles / by James Howard

- The cinema of Orson Welles / Peter Cowie

- Orson Welles : a critical view / Andre Bazin ; foreword by Francois Truffaut

 

In spite of the fact that David Thompson's Rosebud is getting slammed here, try it anyway. If nothing else, it's to most fun to read on account of the quality of Thompson's writing style.

And avoid Charles Higham like the plague. Barbara Leaming's entry is mostly softball. I think I must have read ten bios on Welles, he's interesting enough a figure to justify several angles of view

 

I'm not certain there has been a truly great and definitely not a definitive biography of Welles. I found Callow's bio difficult to digest. These are probably pet peeves of mine alone (and it's been a while since I read it) but my memory is that Callow himself gets in the way of his subject. The tone and style of the book seems to be "HEY! Look at me, smug, superior, self-satisfied, intellectual, more intelligent than all of you SIMON CALLOW, the author of this book". I think his own personal biases and prejudices get in the way. A well researched book but (I was surprised that) the author really bugged me.

I would recommend a couple of other books: This Is Orsen Welles by Peter Bogdanovich: a Q&A, with a career chronology, and a chapter afterword about Welles' version of The Magnificent Ambersons. The second is Despite The System, Orsen Welles Versus the Hollywood Studios by Clinton Heylin.

 

Callow's books are a bit dry and overlong.
Thomson's is a great read. (I love his writing style)
Brady's is probably the best I've read overall.
Bogdonavich is a good place to start.
and Andre Bazin's book on Welles (if you can find it)

 

See if they can order the Callow books from another branch. Trust me, it's exchaustive and both are two of the most insightful and best biographies on Welles.

Really? I found Callow's book anything but dry and not overlong at all. Thomson's was an issue because of the lack of fact checking.

 

Really? I didn't find any of that at all. I suspect what you might be taking away from it is the fact that Callow as an actor/writer/director has some comparable experiences that he draws from to interject his insights about Welles.

I mentioned that both books are "exhaustive" but I wouldn't call them definitive simply because he hasn't completed his trilogy yet so i don't know anything about what he has to say in the last book.

I still think they are both the best books on Welles out there my only complaint is that there is no volume 3.

 

Sorry about quoting myself, but I noticed that I incorrectly spelled Orson in my first post. I knew better than that.

 

Okay, requested a number of Orson Welles books today from my library system. Unfortunately, they only had Volume 2 of the Simon Callow bio on Welles, but I'll take that out anyway and see what it's like. I'm also taking out Rosebud by David Thomson to see what that is like. Here are the other titles that I've requested. I sure hope they all don't come in at the same time! Am I missing another suggestion made on this thread? Many thanks to all of you.

- Orson Welles / Simon Callow. [v.2]

- Rosebud: the story of Orson Wells / David Thomson.

- This is Orson Welles / Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich ; Jonathan Rosenbaum, editor.

- The magic world of Orson Welles/ James Naremore.

- Citizen Welles:a biography of Orson Welles/ Frank Brady

- Orson Welles: a critical view / Andre Bazin ; foreword by Francois Truffaut ; profile by JeanCocteau

- Despite the system: Orson Welles versus the Hollywood studios / Clinton Heylin.

 

I remember Simon Callow's books as unusually informative. Bogdanovich's book has some interesting things even if the author is a bit too deferential to his subject. Orson Welles: a critical view I recall as very interesting.

 

I liked the Leaming book quite a bit. She's a good writer and painted a very good picture of his early career.

 

As I feared - the books are coming in fast. Just a day after requesting the titles that I posted here last night, I already have 3 in for me to pick up and it's only 3:30PM here and my library is open until 9PM. YIKES! The titles that are in as of now:

- Orson Welles / Simon Callow. [v.2]

- Rosebud: the story of Orson Wells / David Thomson.

- Despite the system: Orson Welles versus the Hollywood studios / Clinton Heylin.

 

Those are relatively essential, in my opinion...

Jonathan Rosenbaum's chronology and notes provide a kind of "just the facts" biography.

A lot of the recorded conversations between Bogdanovich and Welles were released in a 4 cassette box ('This Is Orson Welles', Caedmon/Harper Audio, 1992). The recordings include some material not in the book, and vice versa. Bogdanovich and Welles would transcribe, edit, and largely rewrite the conversations for publication (the text sometimes seems a bit stilted compared to the tapes).

 

Thanks for the suggestions. After reading this, I went to my library's website and got excited when I saw the 4 cassettes pop up in the search. Unfortunately, this word was next to it - DELETED - aaarrrggghh!

 

I've never heard those. Do they include the Welles comments that Bogdanovich deliberately suppressed from the book — calling John Wayne a "fascist," etc?

 

Okay, had the chance to thumb through these three titles last night. Just after an hour or so, I could see why 'Rosebud' gets some praise from a few here - it is a really fun book to read. The layout may have a lot to do with it - but, it is fun.

So, with what everybody has said here about 'Rosebud' in mind - most of it negative - I'll come back to 'Rosebud' after I reading another title. Should have more titles today at the library.

Were these ever offered as MP3 downloads?

 

Thomson writes well. Just don't take him too seriously when he says anything about production histories, studio decisions, script content (he calls The Big Brass Ring a "thriller"), or even titles (Filming Othello becomes "The Making of Othello").

 

Okay, two more titles from the library:

- Citizen Welles: a biography of Orson Welles / Frank Brady.

- This is Orson Welles / Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich

Now that the holiday weekend is over, back to comparing with these other titles:

- Orson Welles / Simon Callow. [v.2]

- Rosebud: the story of Orson Wells / David Thomson.

- Despite the system: Orson Welles versus the Hollywood studios / Clinton Heylin.

 

The third volume of Simon Callow's biography of Welles has just been published - and he's not finished yet:

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/simon-callow-on-orson-welles-one-man.html

 

Is there a definitive US publishing date? This is a UK publish, correct?
How far does this volume go in Orson's life?