Book description
The reason for the decline of Orson Welles's career is a hotly
debated issue, but decline it certainly did. When Citizen Kane,
his first film, opened in 1941, Welles was universally acclaimed as
the most audacious filmmaker alive. But instead of marking the
beginning of a triumphant career in Hollywood, the film still
regularly voted the greatest ever made proved to be an exception in
Welles's life and work.
In 1947 Welles left America for Europe and lived for the best part
of twenty years in self-imposed exile. Welles himself famously quipped
'I started at the top and worked my way down' - the second volume of
Simon Callow's compelling biography tells the story of that complex
and protracted descent from grace.
Simon Callow is an actor, director and writer. He has appeared on the
stage and in many films, including the hugely popular
Four Weddings
and a Funeral.
His books include
Being an Actor, Shooting the Actor, Love is Where
it Falls
, the first two volumes of his three-volume life of Orson Welles, his
theatrical memoir
My Life in Pieces
, and, most recently, the highly acclaimed
Charles Dickens and the
Great Theatre of the World.
