Omnibus

Season 2, Episode 3: King Lear

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King Lear is a 1953 live television adaptation of the Shakespeare play with stage direction by Peter Brook and starring Orson Welles. It was aired on CBS as part of the U.S. television series Omnibus, and preserved on kinescope. A heavily abridged version of the play, this production condensed the play by eliminating the Edgar-Edmund subplot. Welles returned to America to star in this presentation. He was guarded by IRS agents, prohibited to leave his hotel room when not at the studio, prevented from making any purchases, and the entire sum he earned went to his tax bill. Welles returned to England after the broadcast. The cast included Micheál Mac Liammóir and the British actor Alan Badel. It was hosted by Alistair Cooke.

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