Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor.
He was born in Petersburg, Virginia. His first big break in show business was as a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre troupe, both on the stage and in radio as The Mercury Theatre on the Air. When Welles got a Hollywood deal, Cotten went with him, and gained worldwide fame in Welles' films Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), going on to become one of the leading Hollywood actors of the 1940s. One of his final films was Heaven's Gate (1980). Shortly after completing that film, Cotten had a stroke which caused him to temporarily lose his voice and put an end to his career before his death in 1994.
Cotten was one of the most dependable character actors of his time. He usually played affable romantic leads but could also play a mentally unstable jealous husband (Niagara) or a murderous sociopath (Shadow of a Doubt). His distinct hairstyle and face was the visual inspiration for the likeness of Norman Osborn and his son.
Joseph Cotten films on this wiki include:
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- Lydia (1941)
- The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
- Journey into Fear (1943)
- Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
- Gaslight (1944)
- I'll Be Seeing You (1944)
- Since You Went Away (1944)
- Love Letters (1945)
- Duel in the Sun (1946)
- Portrait of Jennie (1948)
- The Third Man (1949)
- Under Capricorn (1949)
- Beyond the Forest (1949)
- Othello (1951)
- A Blueprint for Murder (1953)
- Niagara (1953)
- The Last Sunset (1961)
- Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
- The Oscar (1966)
- Petulia (1968)
- Latitude Zero (1969)
- The Grasshopper (1970)
- Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
- The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
- Lady Frankenstein (1971)
- Soylent Green (1973)
- F for Fake (1973)
- A Delicate Balance (1973)
- Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
- Airport '77 (1977)
- Guyana: Crime of the Century (1979)
- Heaven's Gate (1980)