Photos: October 30, 1938 — Orson Welles causes panic with ‘War of the Worlds’ broadcast
October 30, 2013
Orson Welles delivers a radio broadcast from a New York studio in 1938. On the same year on Oct. 30, he broadcasted the adaptation of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." The realistic account of an invasion from Mars caused thousands of listeners to panic. (AP Photo) ( ORSON WELLES )
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles presented a radio interpretation of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." Los Angeles Daily News file photo
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles presented a radio interpretation of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." Los Angeles Daily News file photo
A man dressed as an invading Martian walks through a field in Grovers Mill, New Jersey, Saturday, Oct. 29, 1988 during a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” radio show. The 1938 show featured factious Martians invading the New Jersey town, which unwittingly convinced up to 1 million Americans that the broadcast was real and the end of the world was at hand. (AP Photo/Chris Lischy) ( Man Dressed as an Invading Martian )
Orson Welles, center, young director who presented the dramatization of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" in New York on Oct. 31, 1938, that caused great panic radio listeners. Amazed that his dramatization had been so realistic, he expressed regret. (AP Photo/Charles Kenneth Lucas) ( Orson Welles )
Orson Welles is shown putting out his hands after his CBS radio broadcast over a national hookup October 30, 1938, which dramatized an H.G. Wells novel called "War of the Worlds," was interpreted by listeners as an actual news broadcast of an invasion of New Jersey by men from Mars who began to lay waste to the countryside with fabulous weapons. The whole country was thrown into an uproar by the broadcast. In Newark, N.J., 15 persons were wounded when they attempted to flee the "attack." (AP Photo) ( WAR OF THE WORLDS )
Orson Welles, radio and stage actor, whose dramatization, Oct. 30, 1938 of an H. G. Wells novel titled "War of the Worlds" which related the "invasion" of New Jersey by a horde of men from mars was interpreted by listeners as an actual news broadcast of the events supposed to presume the end of the world. Panicked listeners fled into streets to get away from the invaders: radio and police stations were swamped with calls all over the country - the broadcast was nationwide (CBS) - and in Newark 15 persons were treated for shock after they rushed out of their homes to escape what appeared to be certain doom. Welles, after the broadcast. (AP Photo) ( Orson Welles )
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles presented a radio interpretation of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." Los Angeles Daily News file photo
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles presented a radio interpretation of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." Los Angeles Daily News file photo
Orson Welles, center, explains to reporters on Oct. 31, 1938 his radio dramatization of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." Meanwhile, Columbia Broadcasting System made public the transcript of the dramatization, which was aired the night of Oct. 30 and caused thousands of listeners to panic because of the realistic broadcast of an imaginative invasion of men and machines from Mars. (AP Photo) ( WELLES WAR OF THE WORLDS )
American film director and actor Orson Welles, left, photographed with English author H.G. Wells when they met in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 30, 1940. The pair were discussing events in Europe when this picture was taken. It will be remembered that, two years previously, a radio adaptation of H.G. Wells novel, ?The War of the Worlds? was broadcast in America as though the events therein described were actually taking place, and it caused a minor panic among the Americans. (AP Photo) ( Texas Orson Welles with H.G. Wells )
The final page of Orson G. Wells' 1938 "War of the Worlds" radio program is on display at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Buffalo, N.Y. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2003. The handwritten notes on the page were scribbled by Wells to extend the program as it was concluding on the radio. (AP Photo/Don Heupel) ( TRAVEL MARS EXHIBIT )
Mabel "Lolly'' Dey holds a magazine story about Orson Welles' radio broadcast of the War Of The Worlds, in her Princeton Jct., N.J., home Wednesday, Oct. 28, 1998. 60 years-ago, Dey, 76, was a 16-year-old high school junior playing the piano for her church hymn sing-along in nearby Plainsboro, N.J. when a breathless young man burst into the church basement yelling, `The Martians have landed in Grovers Mill! The Martians have landed in Grovers Mill!" (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) ( WAR OF WORLDS ANNIVERSARY )
Orson Welles broadcasts his radio show of H.G. Wells' science fiction novel "The War of the Worlds" in a New York studio at 8 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 30, 1938. The realistic account of an invasion from Mars caused thousands of listeners to panic. (AP Photo) ( ORSON WELLES WAR OF THE WORLDS )
Orson Welles, center, young director who presented the dramatization of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" on Sunday night, Oct. 30, 1938 speaks with the press the next day. The radio broadcast caused great panic among radio listeners amazed that his dramatization had been so realistic. (AP Photo) ( WELLES RADIO BROADCAST )
On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles presented a radio interpretation of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." Los Angeles Daily News file photo
American Actor Orson Welles and his wife Paola Mori, ride car as they leave their London Hotel, Oct. 29, 1963, twenty-five years after his famous dramatization of “The War of the Worlds” the Broadcast, adapted from H.G. Wells Novel, was aired in October 1938 and caused a mass scare in the U.S. (AP Photo) ( Orson Welles and Paloi Mori )
Categories: Historic, News, Syndicated, U.S. National
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