Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Jr. was born in Petersburg, Virginia, into a well-to-do Southern family. He was the eldest of three sons born to Sally Whitworth . Cotten's somewhat matter-of-fact and seemingly gruff acting voice served him well. Certainly his command of varied roles deserved more than the snub of never being nominated for an Academy Award. He was not the only actor to suffer being underrated, but that is largely forgotten in those memorable roles that speak for him. And for what it is worth, the Europeans had the very good sense to award him the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actor for Portrait of Jennie, one of his favorite roles.
Retired from acting in the early 1980s after a stroke and a laryngectomy.
Had a step-daughter from first marriage.
Like Orson Welles , he has appeared in the top films of both the American Film Institute and the British Film Institute; for AFI it was Citizen Kane as Jedediah Leland and for BFI, its The Third Man as Holly Martins.
Despite their mercurial relationship, he and Orson Welles remained friends until Welles death.
Was cast as C.K. Dexter Haven in the original 1939 Broadway production of Philip Barry s play Philadelphia StoryZ with Katharine Hepburn. When Hepburn, who owned the rights, sold the story to MGM, Cary Grant was cast in the part.
Before his celebrated appearance as Charles Foster Kanes best friend, Jed Leland, in Citizen Kane , he appears as one of the reporters in the March of Time parody sequence early in the film. He is seated in the back of the projection room, in the last row at the far left, and is only clearly visible in one shot, but his voice along with that of Everett Sloane s (who plays Bernstein) can often be heard in the darkness on the soundtrack.
Served as best man at Orson Welles s wedding to Rita Hayworth.
Uncle of Joseph Cotten.
His brother, Sam, passed away on February 27, 2010 in Winchester, Virginia, at the age of 90.
His first film appearance is in 1937 in "Seeing the World, Part One: A Visit to New York", a 10-minute silent film directed & photographed by Rudy Burkhardt, in which he is credited as "Joseph Cotton", acting briefly in a bar scene.
He was a lifelong Republican and conservative who was a solid supporter of Dwight D. Eisenhower , Richard Nixon , and Ronald Reagan.
Grew up in Petersburg, Virginia, the oldest of three brothers.
Worked with Alfred Hitchcock in one of his finest films, Shadow of a Doubt . They worked again in Under Capricorn but the film flopped with Hitch disowned it. Cotton never was asked to appear in any subsequent Hitchcock film.
While Citizen Kane is officially Cottons debut film, MGM actually filmed the Broadway stage production of "The Philadelphia Story" with Cotton, Katharine Hepburn , Van Heflin , Shirley Booth , et al. as prep for the 1940 movie version with Hepburn, Cary Grant , Ruth Hussey and James Stewart.
Was a Boy Scout.
Cotten had suffered a debilitating stroke and heart attack in 1981, and fought for years to regain use of his baritone voice. Troubled intermittently by throat nodules, he had his larynx removed in 1990 because of cancer.
He died of pneumonia at his home in Westwood, Los Angeles.
Co-starred with Jennifer Jones in 4 movies: Since You Went Away , Love Letters , Duel in the Sun , and Portrait of Jennie . Cotten also narrated The Wild Heart (1952) , in which Jones played the lead.
Appeared in four Best Picture nominees in the 1940s alone: Citizen Kane , The Magnificent Ambersons , Gaslight and Since You Went Away .
Nephew of actor Joseph Cotten.
In Hollywood, those stars who have been around a long while and seem to,grow better with time are the ones who regard "stardom" merely as an,opportunity to grow.
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