Orson Welles Welles had not been drafted. "The Mercury Wonder Show" ran August 3 – September 9, 1943, in an 80-by-120-foot tent located at 9000 Cahuenga Boulevard, in the heart of Hollywood. At intermission September 7, 1943, KMPC radio interviewed audience and cast members of "The Mercury Wonder Show"—including Welles and Rita Hayworth, who were married earlier that day. Welles remarked that "The Mercury Wonder Show" had been performed for approximately 48,000 members of the U.S. armed forces. The idea of doing a radio variety show occurred to Welles after his success as substitute host of four consecutive episodes (March 14 –
Orson Welles of his first and middle names was told by George Ade, who met Welles's parents on a West Indies cruise toward the end of 1914. Ade was traveling with a friend, Orson Wells (no relation), and the two of them sat at the same table as Mr. and Mrs. Richard Welles. Mrs. Welles was pregnant at the time, and when they said good-by, she told them that she had enjoyed their company so much that if the child were a boy, she intended to name it for them: George Orson. Welles's birth announcement and a picture of him as a