Here’s a real treat for all the cinephiles out there. Just this week, miners clearing out a long-collapsed tunnel in Waynesburg, PA’s Cumberland coal mine were stunned and thrilled to discover a glass bottle filled with the sweat of none other than Citizen Kane himself, Orson Welles!
Truly awesome.
Realizing they had something really special on their hands, officials at mining company Alpha Natural Resources were quick to contact Orson’s daughter, Beatrice Welles, who manages his estate. A handwriting analyst was able to determine that the bottle’s tape-and-ink label reading “MY SWEAT” was indeed written by Welles himself, and several of those close to the late Hollywood titan have confirmed that the sweat bears his distinctive musk. Luckily, due to a near-perfect vacuum seal, very little of the sweat had evaporated in the decades before the bottle was discovered, making it a particularly valuable find.
A statement this morning from the Welles estate laid out their plans for this newly discovered piece of history:
“Thanks to the good people at Alpha Natural Resources, a piece of Orson was returned to us this week. Ultimately, however, Orson Welles is a legendary figure in American cinema, and he belongs to the public. We will be donating the bottle of his sweat to the National Museum of American History, where it can take its rightful place in the annals of motion picture.”
Wow. What a lucky discovery for film lovers and Hollywood historians everywhere. We can’t wait until it’s finally on display!
