Rebecca Welles RIP - 1944-2004

[Wilson]

This came off of a Google group, as reported in some celebrity forum; our condolences to her family:

"Rebecca Welles Manning, 60, passed away peacefully October 17, 2004 at home in Tacoma, WA. Rebecca was born to Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, December 17, 1944 in Santa Monica, CA. Rebecca grew up and was educated in many places around the world. Rebecca chose the University of Puget Sound for her college education, where she received a degree in the Arts. Soon after graduation, she met her future husband, Guy Manning. Rebecca loved to write and was a true artist at heart. Those of us who have had the privilege of having Rebecca in our lives will sincerely miss her. Rebecca is survived by her loving husband, Guy Manning; son Marc Welles; stepchildren Kristine (Manning) Scholtz, Michael Manning, Brandi Manning; sisters Yasmin Aga Khan, Christopher Welles Feder, Beatrice Welles O'Donaghue; eight grandchildren, and many other family and long time friends."



Edited By Wilson on Oct. 22 2004 at 11:09

[Le Chiffre]

Sad news. I would have liked to have met her, but then she seems to have been a very private person who never went to any public Welles events, as far as I know. Welles fans will always be indebted to her for allowing LAS BRAVADES to be made commercially available. A very charming little book that adds a new wrinkle to Welles' body of work.

In the early 70's she did some Jim Beam magazine ads with Orson, where she is listed as "Rebecca Welles Moede". Her obit lists her as "Rebecca Welles Manning", which suggests she remarried. It also lists Beatrice as "Beatrice Welles O'Donaghue". When I met her some 10 or 12 years ago she was Beatrice Welles Smith, so she must have remarried as well. Another interesting item in the obit is the mention of a son, Marc Welles. I didn't know Orson Welles had any grandchildren.

[Christopher]

Marc, whose surname is not Welles, was adopted at birth by a doctor and his wife. He has only learned very recently that he is the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. It has all been a revelation to him.

[Le Chiffre]

Uh, yeah, I would think that would be a bit of a mindblower. Not that it's much of our business, but thanks for the info.

[Christopher]

I just wanted to add to my last post that in their time of loss, it's a great comfort for the dwindling family of Orson Welles to know that Rebecca had a son and that he and his children will carry on the line. There have been rumors over the years of others claiming to be descendants of Orson Welles but no clear proof that any of them really are. By contrast, Rebecca's son looks so much like Orson Welles that there can be no doubt he is his grandson. As bizarre as the situation is -- neither one having contact with the other during Welles's lifetime -- it is so wonderful to know that the looks, the genes and maybe even the genius of Orson Welles will continue.

[Le Chiffre]

Indeed. I wonder if he's planning a career as a filmmaker or something else in the arts. If not, maybe his kids will someday.

[Wellesnet]

An excellent piece of research on the life of Welles's second daughter by Ray Kelly:
http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=10734

[Wellesnet]

Yann Fischer, big Rita Hayworth fan, posted this recently on his Facebook site, "Rita Hayworth in color":

After nearly 20 years I re-discovered the interview i made with Rita's reclusive living daughter Rebecca Welles, 1998 in Tacoma, over the phone.

She was very shy at the beginning but began to open up more and more - as long as I did not intrude to much into her personal feelings esp. between her and Rita.

She said that Rita all in all was a good mother "when she was there". She suffered as we all know already about both her parents, not only Rita, being too much away. She said the same about Orson Welles, her father. But she said also that a film star's world is not "normal" and that she does not blame them because they had to do their jobs properly, also publicity-wise.

Rebecca said that her half-sister was doing a wonderful job raising so much money for the Alzheimers Organization but that they seldom see each other Yasmin living so far away in New York.

Her two favorite movies of her mother are "Gilda" and "Separate tables".

At the end of the conversation, when she learned I was half French, she said that she missed Paris, having lived there for quite a while. Then we found out that she also knew Innsbruck, Austria, the place i was born. She went skiing in Igls like me. I guess her than stepfather Ali Khan took her there...

Here is one of the last pics ever seen of her in 1987 at Rita's funeral with her sister Yasmin.
She died of cancer at age 60 in 2004 on Rita Hayworth's birthday !!! and had a son, Marc Welles.