Was the late character actor Tim McIntire the secret son of Orson Welles?
Actress Jeanette Nolan, who married John McIntire in 1935, was Tim’s mom. Producer James B. Harris (still with us!) made the paternity claim in a Film Comment interview with Nick Pinkerton.
HARRIS: “The only trouble with Tim was that he was mostly high in the afternoons, which eventually killed him. He just abused himself to death.”
PINKERTON: “I wasn’t really familiar with McIntire outside of Fast Walking. He has a sort of young Orson Welles thing about him.”
HARRIS: “You know why? Because he’s the illegitimate son of Orson Welles! I don’t know if you can verify it, but everybody says it, and the proof is in the pudding. His voice is exactly like Welles, his nose is exactly like Welles, he’s subject to the overweight thing, just like Welles. Welles made a picture with his mother, I forget her name —Jeannette Nolan. So everything leads to his being Welles’ illegitimate son. And… he is. I spent so much time with him and I felt like I was talking to Orson Welles most of the time.”
HE TO FRIENDO: Jeanette Nolan may have cheated on husband John McIntire, Harris says in the interview, by getting pregnant by Welles in 1943 or ‘44….right? But feature-wise she and Welles didn’t work together until his 1948 Macbeth. Plus Harris says the Welles paternity thing is mentioned in Tim McIntire’s Wikipedia page…except it isn’t.
So all it boils down to Harris claiming that “everybody” says the Welles paternity thing is genuine.
FRIENDO: “You’re right, it’s not on the Wikipedia page. However, there ARE several mentions/discussions about it elsewhere around the net (I went looking a few hours ago).
“And don’t forget: Jeanette Nolan did several RADIO shows with Welles in the early 1940s. Like Welles, she was a staple of radio from that era.
“There is just no question this guy is Orson’s kid. Even his fucking VOICE is close to Orson’s.”
“So an actress prone to infidelity does several radio shows with Orson Welles in the early 1940s — develops a close relationship with Welles — gives birth to a son in 1944 — and the kid ends up looking like this:
I;m not saying the Welles-Mcintire connection is valid. I’m just mentioning it.
I asked a couple of Welles scholars and it was a split decision — one always suspected that the story might be true but could never verify it, and the other said “nope.” When I asked the latter for any evidence or details supporting his negative belief, he didn’t reply.
