Sam Thompson V Orson Welles - the rumble in Dublin

Just to follow on from my last blog, it seems that Belfast playwright Sam Thompson idolised Orson Welles.

So much so that when he heard that Welles was in Dublin at the same time as he was, (Thompson's "Over the Bridge" transferred to Dublin from Belfast in 1960, Welles was playing Falstaff in Chimes at Midnight at the Gaiety) he said he was going to meet his hero.

According to Jimmy Ellis, the two of them got tickets to go to a matinee . Afterwards they asked to see the great man but Welles wouldn't come out of his dressing room.

Cut to a drinking establishment in Dublin later that same night. Thompson and Ellis are there. Welles is there too, with his friend the Irish theatre impressario Hilton Edwards.

Somehow a strong exchange of words between Sam and Orson kicks off, which involves Ellis having to physically force himself between the two. No punches are thrown, but Jimmy said that he and Thompson were pushed across the room by the sheer bulk of the man.

Afterwards Thompson said that even though Welles had really annoyed him he just couldn't bring himself to hit his idol.