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 and Dr. Maurice Bernstein, a Chicago physician who had been a close friend of both his parents. Welles briefly attended public school before his alcoholic father left business altogether and took him along on his travels to Jamaica and the Far East. When they returned they settled in a hotel in Grand Detour, Illinois, that was owned by his father. When the hotel burned down, Welles and his father took to the road again. "During the three years that Orson lived with his father, some observers wondered who took care of whom", wrote biographer Frank Brady. "In some ways, he