 Welles 's biographer Simon Callow has compared Falstaff to Welles 's father Richard Head Welles , stating that like Falstaff , Welles 's father was " a drunkard , a trickster , a braggart , a womanizer , a gentleman and a charmer — and he is rejected by the person he loves the most . " Welles 's father was an alcoholic and womanizer who would often take a teenage Welles along with him when he was indulging in his vices . Welles observed his father much like Falstaff is observed by Hal and depends on his young protégé to bail him out of trouble . The love triangle between Prince Hal and his two father figures , Henry IV and Falstaff , is also similar to Welles 's relationships with his father and the two men who became surrogate fathers to him : family friend Dr. Maurice Bernstein and Todd School for Boys headmaster Roger Hill . Both of Welles 's surrogate fathers disapproved of Richard Welles 's lifestyle and negative influence on Welles . When he was fifteen Welles took the advice of Roger Hill and told his father that he would not see him again until he cleaned up his act and stopped drinking . Welles 's father died shortly afterwards , alone and lonely , and Welles always blamed himself for his father 's death , stating " I always thought I killed him . " 
