Beatrice Welles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
November 13, 1955
- Actress
- designer
Beatrice Welles | |
|---|---|
| Born | Beatrice Giuditta Welles November 13, 1955 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Management of the estate of Orson Welles |
| Spouses | Christopher Smith
(m. 1987; div. 1995)Jonathan O'Donoghue
(m. 1997; div. 2004) |
| Parents | |
Beatrice Giuditta Welles (also known as Beatrice Mori di Gerfalco Welles; born November 13, 1955) is an American former child actress, known for her roles in the film Chimes at Midnight (1966)[1] and the documentary travelogue In the Land of Don Quixote (1964).[2]: 430–431 The daughter of American filmmaker Orson Welles and Italian actress Paola Mori, she is a former model, radio and TV personality, founder of a cosmetics line and designer of handbags and jewelry.[3]
Beatrice Giuditta Welles (also known as Beatrice Mori di Gerfalco Welles)[4] was born in Manhattan on November 13, 1955, to Orson Welles and his third wife, Paola Mori.[5][6]: 313 A countess from an Italian noble family with antecedents in the Middle Ages,[3] Welles is the half-sister of Chris Welles Feder[7] and Rebecca Welles Manning (1944–2004),[8] from her father's previous two marriages. She was named after her paternal grandmother, concert pianist Beatrice Ives Welles.[9] She was baptized at the Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church in Beverly Hills, with Frank Sinatra and actress Mercedes McCambridge serving as godparents.[10]
Raised and educated in Europe with private tutors, Welles spent her childhood in the close company of her parents. She appeared on stage at the age of five in an Irish stage production of Chimes at Midnight, and later in the 1966 film of the same name. Fifty years later, she recalled the filming for the Criterion Collection release of the film on DVD and Blu-ray.[11] Her father's film, The Immortal Story (1968), was shot at the Welles family home outside Madrid, Spain, and she spent countless hours with him in the editing room.[3]
A severe injury during her teenage years ended Welles's hopes for an equestrian career. She turned to modeling and appeared in layouts in Vogue, as well as runway work in Paris, Milan, London and New York, wearing the clothes of Valentino, Halston and Chanel.[3] She became the news director at KAZM-AM radio in Arizona in the early-1970s and later a regional television personality and longtime spokeswoman for a major Southwestern automotive dealership.[3] Within a span of 10 months in the mid-1980s, she lost her father, mother and maternal grandmother. At the same time, a longtime romantic relationship came to a sudden end.[3]
Influenced by her association with makeup icons Kevin Aucoin and Barbara Daly, Welles developed her own line of cosmetics and counted Diana, Princess of Wales, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Rivers and Oprah Winfrey among her clients.[3] She also created a line of handbags and jewelry sold through Goldenstein Gallery in Sedona, Arizona.[12]
A Nevada resident,[3] Welles has been twice married and divorced: from Christopher F. Smith (1987–1995),[13][14] and Jonathan M. O'Donoghue (1997–2004).[4][15]
Animal rights
Welles is an animal rights advocate, something she attributes to being raised by a father who loved animals and a mother actively involved in animal rescue.[16] In the early 1980s, Welles helped establish the first low-cost spay and neuter clinic in the United States. She has supported free spay and neuter services in underserved communities and offered financial aid to various animal rescue groups worldwide.[17] Welles has lent support to groups along the West Coast, South America, Asia and Europe, including efforts to assist stray dogs in Romania through ROLDA and aid the Bohdi dog shelter in Thailand.[18] Welles was one of five founders of the Animal Foundation in Las Vegas and served on their board of trustees for nine years.[19] Welles is the founder and CEO of her own 501(c)(3), Voices for the Voiceless, from 1997 to 2005 and Windsong Trailer Park Cats from 2007 to 2016. [20] Since 2009, she has served on the board of Alex Pacheco's 600 Million Dogs, working to bring a permanent end to pet overpopulation worldwide.[21] Welles was one of the first to implement TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) in Nevada, Hawaii and Arizona. In recent years, Welles has crusaded to reduce plastic pollution in oceans and waterways that kill wildlife. More than 8 million tons of plastic makes its way into oceans each year.[22]
