Portia (The Merchant of Venice) original Portia Shakespeare drew from was Porcia Catonis, the wife of the Roman statesman Brutus. She was also compared to the wife of Brutus within the play in Act 1 scene 1 when Bassanio talks to Antonio. The strength of the role of Portia has made it attractive to many notable actresses. Frances Abington, Sarah Siddons and Elizabeth Whitlock all played Portia in the 18th century when actresses first started appearing on stage in performances of the play. More recently, the role has been depicted in the cinema and on television by a number of notable actresses such as Maggie
The Merchant of Venice (1969 film) or near Malaga, Spain (different takes may have been taken in each of these places), and some of these can be seen in the documentary "Orson Welles: The One Man Band" (1995), along with clips from the first third of "The Merchant of Venice". Welles left all his materials from his incomplete film projects, including this one, to Oja Kodar, and she in turn donated these materials to the Munich Filmmuseum, which created the compilation "Orson Welles's Shylock" in 2001, integrating the first eight minutes of the film, and the Shylock-in-a-trenchcoat footage later shot by Welles. Additional elements are at