OW & petite women

[Colmena]

It strikes me that Welles was drawn to petite women-- despite (or because of?) his being so large.

I came upon this conclusion watching Mr Arkadin, wherein his daughter /lover, Paola M., looks so petite, in the Audrey Hepburn mode.

Did he ever take note of this?

I include Dolores Del Rio in this generalization.

I also came upon a photo and caption where Welles is enthusing about ballerinas, who are most always petite.

The only possible exception to this is Rita, whom we take to be a "love goddess"-- and so curvy. But I don't know how much this might be an exception, since I don't know how tall she was, whether her scale was significantly closer to Orson's. I recall her as more slim than curvy in WfS.

[RayKelly]

I don't know if I would describe all of the women is his life as petite, but he had amazingly good taste.
Welles had some interesting observations on women and relationships. Here is a gem:
If there hadn't been women we'd still be squatting in a cave eating raw meat, because we made civilization in order to impress our girlfriends. And they tolerated it and let us go ahead and play with our toys.
— Orson Welles

[Roger Ryan]

I can only point to Oja Kodar, who had a longer relationship with Welles than any of the other women in his life with the exception of Paola (although it is quite likely that Welles spent much more quality time with Kodar than with his third wife during the second half of that marriage). "Petite" would not be the word to describe Kodar whose artistic temperament was much closer to Welles' own than most of the women he was involved with.

[Colmena]

Oja K looked petite when I've seen her in photos.
My mistake, and thanks for the correction, Roger.

[Roger Ryan]

Oja K looked petite when I've seen her in photos.
My mistake, and thanks for the correction, Roger.

Kodar was, and remains, very striking. She may have appeared smaller standing next to Welles' 6 foot, 1 inch frame, but I believe she stands around 5 feet, 8 inches.

[mteal]

Suzanne Cloutier and Eartha Kitt would be two other petite women that Welles was involved with. But Audrey Hepburn at 5' 7 would not really qualify as "petite". I don't know how tall Paola Mori was, but I don't think she was that short. One gets the impression that Welles just liked beautiful women, period.

[Colmena]

While reading the Leaming "as-told-to" bio, p90-91, I came upon these passage where Welles testifies to his special pleasure in being with a petite women, in this case Virginia, his first wife, "a petite, porcelain skinned beauty of eighteen."

"From the first he found himself powerfully attracted to the fragile, almost childlike blond, whose waist was so narrow he could nearly circle it with one of his great hands."

"He thrilled to the way they looked together in public, he the towering lanky-limbed boy, all huge raw bones and hands, and she the delicately exquisite china doll."

I see that their "Hearts of Age" is on U-tube, and look forward to watching it!

-- colmena

[RayKelly]

Virginia Nicholson photo

[Colmena]

Thanks for the apt photo.

I've also noted in _The Raod to Xanadu_ (Callow) reference to Welles' pleasure in "looming" over ordinary mortals.