> By 3 p.m. he’d been seated, and he delivered the lines perfectly. We were done by five, getting everything we needed without overtime. I remember him grinning at the furious agency guys as he walked away from the set. Later on, after a few more commercials, they’d fire him, but I wasn’t around for that.
Sounds like he combined alcohol with a sleeping pill—never a great idea—and needed to take a nap. Unprofessional, but hardly the worst thing a star has ever done on set.
My favorite Orson Welles thing is this anecdote from Kenneth Tynan:
> Arriving, some years ago, to deliver a lecture in a small mid-western town, he [Welles] was faced with a tiny audience of listeners and no one to introduce him. He decided to introduce himself.
> “Ladies and gentlemen,” he began, “I will tell you of the highlights of my life. I am a director of plays. I am a producer of plays. I am an actor on the legitimate stage. I am a writer of motion pictures. I am a motion-picture actor. I write, direct, and act on the radio. I am a magician. I also paint and sketch, and I am a book-publisher. I am a violinist and a pianist.” Here he paused, and rested his chin on his hands, surveying the sparse congregation. “Isn’t it strange,” he said, quizzically but with clinching emphasis, “that there are so many of me—and so few of you?”
Sounds like he combined alcohol with a sleeping pill—never a great idea—and needed to take a nap. Unprofessional, but hardly the worst thing a star has ever done on set.
My favorite Orson Welles thing is this anecdote from Kenneth Tynan:
> Arriving, some years ago, to deliver a lecture in a small mid-western town, he [Welles] was faced with a tiny audience of listeners and no one to introduce him. He decided to introduce himself.
> “Ladies and gentlemen,” he began, “I will tell you of the highlights of my life. I am a director of plays. I am a producer of plays. I am an actor on the legitimate stage. I am a writer of motion pictures. I am a motion-picture actor. I write, direct, and act on the radio. I am a magician. I also paint and sketch, and I am a book-publisher. I am a violinist and a pianist.” Here he paused, and rested his chin on his hands, surveying the sparse congregation. “Isn’t it strange,” he said, quizzically but with clinching emphasis, “that there are so many of me—and so few of you?”