Editing Orson Welles (section)

== Radio (1936–1940) ==
{{Main|Orson Welles radio credits}}
[[File:WellesShadow.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Welles was the voice of [[The Shadow]] on the Mutual radio network (1937–1938).]]

Simultaneously with his work in the theatre, Welles worked extensively in radio as an actor, writer, director, and producer, often without credit.<ref name="Bret Wood" />{{Rp|77}} Between 1935-37 he was earning as much as $2,000 a week, shuttling between studios at such a pace that he would arrive barely in time for a scan of his lines before he was on the air. While he was directing the ''Voodoo Macbeth'' Welles was dashing between Harlem and [[midtown Manhattan]] three times a day to meet his radio commitments.<ref name="France" />{{Rp|172|date=May 2014}}
In addition to continuing as a repertory player on ''[[The March of Time (radio program)|The March of Time]]'', in the fall of 1936 Welles adapted and performed ''[[Hamlet]]'' in an episode of [[CBS Radio]]'s ''[[Columbia Workshop]]''. His performance as the announcer in the series' April 1937 presentation of [[Archibald MacLeish]]'s verse drama ''[[The Fall of the City]]'' was an important development in his radio career<ref name="Bret Wood">{{cite book |last=Wood |first=Bret |author-link=Bret Wood |title=Orson Welles: A Bio-Bibliography |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Connecticut |date=1990 |isbn=978-0-313-26538-9}}</ref>{{Rp|78}} and made the 21-year-old Welles an overnight star.<ref name="Museum of Broadcasting">''Orson Welles on the Air: The Radio Years''. New York: [[Paley Center for Media|The Museum of Broadcasting]], catalogue for exhibition October 28 – December 3, 1988.</ref>{{Rp|46}}

In July 1937, the [[Mutual Network]] gave Welles a seven-week series to adapt ''[[Les Misérables (radio series)|Les Misérables]]''. It was his first job as a writer-director for radio,<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|338}} the debut of the Mercury Theatre, and one of Welles's finest achievements.<ref name="Callow Hello">{{cite book |last=Callow |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Callow |title=Orson Welles: Hello Americans |publisher=[[Viking Press|Viking Penguin]] |location=New York |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-670-87256-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/orsonwellesvolum00simo }}</ref>{{Rp|160}} He invented the use of narration in radio.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|88}}

"By making himself the center of the storytelling process, Welles fostered the impression of self-adulation that was to haunt his career to his dying day", wrote critic [[Andrew Sarris]]. "For the most part, however, Welles was singularly generous to the other members of his cast and inspired loyalty from them above and beyond the call of professionalism."<ref name="Museum of Broadcasting" />{{Rp|8}}

That September, Mutual chose Welles to play Lamont Cranston, also known as [[The Shadow]]. He performed the role through mid-September 1938.<ref name="Bret Wood" />{{Rp|83|date=January 2014}}<ref name="Goldin Shadow">{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The+Shadow |title=The Shadow |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=January 12, 2014 |archive-date=January 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113001643/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The+Shadow |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' ===
{{Main|The Mercury Theatre on the Air|The War of the Worlds (1938 radio drama)|The Campbell Playhouse (radio series)}}
[[File:Orson Welles War of the Worlds 1938.jpg|left|thumb|Welles at the press conference after "The War of the Worlds" broadcast (October 31, 1938)]]
After the theatrical successes of the Mercury Theatre, [[CBS Radio]] invited Welles to create a summer show for 13 weeks. The series began July 11, 1938, with the formula that Welles would play the lead in each show.<ref name="Museum of Broadcasting" /> The weekly hour-long show presented radio plays based on classic literary works, with original music composed and conducted by [[Bernard Herrmann]].

The Mercury Theatre's [[The War of the Worlds (1938 radio drama)|radio adaptation of ''The War of the Worlds'']] by [[H. G. Wells]] October 30, 1938, brought Welles instant fame. The combination of the news bulletin form of the performance, with the between-breaks dial-spinning habits of listeners, created confusion among listeners who failed to hear the introduction, although the extent of this confusion has come into question.<ref name="McFarland" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism |url=https://archive.org/details/gettingitwrongte0000camp |url-access=registration |last=Campbell |first=W. Joseph |year=2010 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-26209-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mediamythalert.wordpress.com/tag/war-of-the-worlds/|title=The spoof in Georgia: Evocative of the 'War of the Worlds?|publisher=wordpress.com|access-date=May 23, 2010|archive-date=November 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123043751/http://mediamythalert.wordpress.com/tag/war-of-the-worlds/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/10/orson_welles_war_of_the_worlds_panic_myth_the_infamous_radio_broadcast_did.single.html | title=The Myth of The War of the Worlds Panic | journal=Slate | access-date=October 31, 2013 | date=October 28, 2013 | archive-date=October 30, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030212245/http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/10/orson_welles_war_of_the_worlds_panic_myth_the_infamous_radio_broadcast_did.single.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Panic was reportedly spread among listeners who believed the fictional news reports of a Martian invasion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-1779286 |title=War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast Causes Panic |publisher=www.thoughtco.com |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529235731/https://www.thoughtco.com/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-1779286 |url-status=live }}</ref> The myth of the result created by the combination was reported as fact around the world and disparagingly mentioned by [[Adolf Hitler]] in a speech.<ref name="hand">"evidence of the decadence and corrupt condition of democracy" – {{cite book |last=Hand |first=Richard J. |title=Terror on the Air!: Horror Radio in America, 1931–1952 |year=2006 |publisher=Macfarlane & Company |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-2367-5 |page=7}}</ref>
[[File:Orson Welles by Harry Warnecke and Lee Elkins, 1939, color carbro print, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 94 50Welles-000002.jpg|thumb|''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' became ''The Campbell Playhouse'' in December 1938.]]
Welles's growing fame drew [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] offers, lures that the independent-minded Welles resisted at first. ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'', which had been a sustaining show (without sponsorship), was picked up by [[Campbell Soup Company|Campbell Soup]] and renamed ''[[The Campbell Playhouse (radio series)|The Campbell Playhouse]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Literature/-/The-Mercury-Theatre-on-the-Air/16905 |title=Learn Out Loud |publisher=Learn Out Loud |access-date=March 30, 2010 |archive-date=February 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211083357/http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Literature/-/The-Mercury-Theatre-on-the-Air/16905 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' made its last broadcast on December 4, 1938, and ''The Campbell Playhouse'' began five days later.

Welles began commuting from California to New York for the Sunday broadcasts of ''The Campbell Playhouse'' after signing a film contract with [[RKO Pictures]] in August 1939. In November, production of the show moved to Los Angeles.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|353|date=January 2014}} After 20 shows, Campbell began to exercise more creative control and had complete control over story selection. As his contract with Campbell came to an end, Welles chose not to sign on for another season. After the broadcast of March 31, 1940, Welles and Campbell parted amicably.<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|221–226}}