The Making of Orson Welles: Genius, Rebellion, and the Education of a Prodigy in 1940 America
When Americans picked up the January 20, 1940 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, they weren’t just reading another weekly magazine. They were stepping into a portrait of a young man who would soon reshape American film, theater, and radio: Orson Welles. The feature article, titled “How to Raise a Child: The Education of Orson Welles, Who Didn’t Need It,” written by Alva Johnston and Fred Smith, provided a vivid profile of the 24-year-old prodigy.
Welles was already a controversial name in 1940. In 1938, his now-legendary “War of the Worlds” broadcast had convinced thousands of Americans that Martians were invading New Jersey, sending whole towns into panic. In the theater world, his productions of Macbeth and Julius Caesar had won acclaim and stirred debate. Yet Hollywood had only just begun to notice him. When The Saturday Evening Post profiled Welles, he was still months away from beginning production on Citizen Kane (1941), the film that would later be hailed as the greatest of all time.
For readers of 1940, the article was not a retrospective. It was a real-time look at a genius on the rise — raw, unfiltered, rebellious, and unstoppable.
The year 1940 was one of deep transition in both American and world history. The United States was still climbing out of the Great Depression, which had left scars on every community. The federal government, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, had dramatically expanded through New Deal programs, reshaping how Americans understood economic security, work, and culture.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the world was at war. Germany had invaded Poland in September 1939, triggering the Second World War. Britain and France had declared war on Hitler, and though the United States remained neutral, Americans were watching closely. War reporting, analysis, and cultural essays dominated newspapers and magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post.
In this moment of uncertainty, Americans turned to culture for both escape and insight. Radio had become the dominant medium in American households, with families gathering around to hear news broadcasts, dramas, comedies, and presidential “fireside chats.” Hollywood’s studio system was at its peak, releasing hundreds of films a year that shaped American identity on screen.
It was in this cultural atmosphere that Orson Welles emerged as a prodigy. By his early twenties, he had already:
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Directed an all-Black production of Macbeth in Harlem in 1936.
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Reimagined Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar as a modern-dress, anti-fascist production in 1937.
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Founded the Mercury Theatre with John Houseman, which staged bold, experimental plays.
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Delivered the “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast in 1938 that made his name a household word.
For American readers in 1940, Welles represented both the rebellious energy of youth and the bold creativity of a nation ready to redefine itself. The Saturday Evening Post article asked the question everyone wanted answered: How did this young man become what he was?
By 1940, The Saturday Evening Post was among the most widely read magazines in the United States. Its circulation reached millions of households every week, making it a fixture on living room tables across the country. Unlike newspapers, which reported daily news, the Post excelled at long-form storytelling — weaving together essays, fiction, illustrations, humor, and cultural commentary into a rich snapshot of American life.
The Post was also famous for its covers, often painted by Norman Rockwell or other iconic illustrators, which idealized American life with depictions of family, small towns, and everyday humor. Yet inside, the magazine carried serious reflections on culture, politics, and the arts.
The Orson Welles profile exemplified this dual mission. On one hand, it entertained readers with stories of a precocious child who resisted teachers, skipped Boy Scouts, and staged elaborate Shakespeare plays before he was even a teenager. On the other, it examined broader questions about education, creativity, and genius. What does it mean to raise a child who refuses to be raised? How do you nurture a mind that will not accept limits?
The result was classic Post journalism: a piece that was both character study and cultural commentary.
The January 20, 1940 issue placed Orson Welles directly on the cover — a striking choice, since most Post covers featured Rockwell-style paintings rather than contemporary celebrities. The photograph showed Welles reclining dramatically, confident yet slightly aloof, signaling to readers that this was a young man who demanded attention.
Inside, the article stretched across multiple pages, interwoven with photographs of Welles in costume, childhood images, and illustrations. One striking photo showed Welles transformed into the Hunchback of Notre Dame — a reminder of his skill in makeup and acting, even as a youth. Another showed him among classmates at the Todd School for Boys in Woodstock, Illinois, where much of his unconventional education took place.
The narrative tone was both admiring and skeptical. The authors described Welles as brilliant, rebellious, sometimes arrogant, but always creative. He was portrayed as someone who absorbed culture voraciously, rejected traditional schooling, and made his own path through the arts. Readers were invited to marvel, but also to question: was Welles a genius, or simply a restless rebel who refused to grow up?
This tension made the article compelling. It mirrored the way Americans often viewed artistic innovators: with fascination, but also with suspicion.
The article offered numerous insights into Welles’s upbringing and character. Some of the most important highlights include:
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Precocious Childhood: At just ten years old, a Madison, Wisconsin newspaper profiled him as “Cartoonist, Actor, Poet, and only 10.” By that age, Welles was already staging plays, drawing cartoons, and writing poetry.
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Rejection of Convention: Welles resisted traditional school structures. He disliked rote memorization, refused to conform, and openly clashed with teachers and authority figures.
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Todd School Influence: At the Todd School for Boys, Welles flourished under a more flexible environment that encouraged creativity. He staged plays, studied Shakespeare, and experimented with theater in ways impossible in standard classrooms.
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Parental Legacy: His father, Richard Welles, was an inventor and bohemian spirit who encouraged independence, while his mother, Beatrice Ives Welles, was a gifted pianist who nurtured his artistic talents before her untimely death.
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Theater as Education: Welles’s true education came from Shakespeare. He memorized lines, staged scenes, and performed endlessly, treating drama as both a school and a laboratory.
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Rebellious Streak: The article emphasized his defiance of conformity — whether rejecting Boy Scouts, ignoring traditional academics, or improvising his own creative projects.
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Early Directorial Style: Even as a teenager, Welles showed the traits that would define his later work: bold reinterpretations of classics, innovative staging, and a willingness to break rules in pursuit of vision.
Together, these highlights painted a portrait of Welles as a self-made genius, shaped by independence and rebellion rather than discipline and tradition.
For collectors, the January 20, 1940 issue of The Saturday Evening Post holds extraordinary value. It captures Orson Welles before the legend — before Citizen Kane, before Hollywood, before myth overtook reality.
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Historical Timing: Published in early 1940, it documented Welles at age 24, just as he was about to begin work on Citizen Kane. This makes it one of the earliest major national profiles of his career.
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Cultural Significance: Welles was already notorious for the “War of the Worlds” broadcast in 1938, and the article reflects both his fame and controversy.
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Cover Collectibility: Unlike most Post covers, which were painted illustrations, this issue featured Welles himself — making it especially prized among collectors of film and cultural history.
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Insight into Genius: The article offers unique primary-source insight into how Welles was perceived at the time — rebellious, brilliant, and uncontainable.
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Time Capsule Value: Beyond Welles, the magazine is filled with 1940 advertisements, fiction, and commentary that make it a cultural time capsule of prewar America.
For collectors of vintage Saturday Evening Post magazines, Orson Welles memorabilia, or Hollywood history, this issue is among the most desirable. Owning it is like holding a snapshot of genius in the making.
The January 20, 1940 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, featuring the article “How to Raise a Child: The Education of Orson Welles, Who Didn’t Need It,” is a cornerstone collectible for anyone interested in film history, American culture, or vintage magazines.
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From Norman Rockwell covers to profiles of cultural icons like Welles, every issue offers a direct window into America’s past. These are not simply magazines. They are artifacts of history — paper, ink, images, and words that once shaped how Americans saw themselves and their world.
The January 20, 1940 issue of The Saturday Evening Post remains one of the most fascinating and collectible magazines of its era. With its profile of Orson Welles, it captured the restless genius of a young man who would soon change cinema forever.
To hold this issue today is to hold a moment in history: a portrait of Orson Welles before Citizen Kane, before Hollywood, before legend. It is a testament to the way genius resists convention, and to how The Saturday Evening Post helped Americans recognize brilliance even in its earliest stages.
For collectors, historians, and lovers of culture, this issue is not just reading material. It is a living artifact of American art, literature, and imagination.