Oja Kodar

Oja Kodar ( ; born Olga Palinkaš; 1941) is a Croatian actress, screenwriter and director known as Orson Welles's romantic partner during the later years of his life. Personal life Olga Palinkaš (spelled in Hungarian Pálinkás) was born in Zagreb to a Hungarian father and a Croatian mother. She met Welles in 1961 in Zagreb, Croatia, Yugoslavia, when Welles was on location shooting The Trial, released the following year. Welles, married to his third wife Paola Mori, took a liking to the "dark, beautiful and exotic-looking" Palinkaš. Soon after their romance took off, Welles gave her a stage name, Oja Kodar, which is a mixture of the nickname "Oja", used by her sister Nina, and the Croatian expression "" ("as a present"). In his final years, Welles divided his time between a Las Vegas home he shared with Mori and a Hollywood house with Kodar. The Italian press broke the news of Welles's affair with Kodar in March 1970, though Mori apparently remained unaware of it for several years. Mori died 10 months after Welles, leaving the final settlement of his estate to Kodar and Beatrice Welles, Mori and Welles's daughter, on November 7, 1986.