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Joseph Cotten

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Joseph Cotten
The Joseph Cotten Show (1957)
Born
Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Jr.

(1905-05-15)May 15, 1905
Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
DiedFebruary 6, 1994(1994-02-06) (aged 88)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Resting placeBlandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Virginia
OccupationActor
Years active1930–1981
Spouse(s)Lenore Kipp (1931–1960)
Patricia Medina (1960–1994)
AwardsVolpi Cup for Best Actor:
1949 Portrait of Jennie

Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair. He first gained worldwide fame in the Orson Welles film Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and Journey into Fear (1943), for which Cotten was also credited with the screenplay. He went on to become one of the leading Hollywood actors of the 1940s, appearing in films such as Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Love Letters (1945), Duel in the Sun (1946), Portrait of Jennie (1948) and The Third Man (1949). One of his final films was Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate (1980).

Life and career

Joseph Cotten modeled for The American Magazine (September 1931)
Joseph Cotten in Horse Eats Hat (1936)
Joseph Cotten and Edgar Barrier during the shooting of film sequences for the stage production Too Much Johnson (1938)
Joseph Cotten and Katharine Hepburn on Broadway in The Philadelphia Story (1939)
Joseph Cotten is introduced in the trailer for Citizen Kane (1941)
Dolores Costello, Agnes Moorehead, Anne Baxter, Joseph Cotten, Tim Holt and Ray Collins in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Joseph Cotten and Dolores del Río in Journey into Fear (1943)
George (Shorty) Chirello, Joseph Cotten, assistant Eleanor Counts and Orson Welles in The Mercury Wonder Show (1943)
Wedding of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, with best man Joseph Cotten (September 7, 1943)
Joseph Cotten in Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Joseph Cotten was born in 1905 in Petersburg, Virginia, the first of three sons born to Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Sr., an assistant postmaster, and Sally Willson Cotten.[2]: 224  He grew up in the Tidewater region, and showed an aptitude for drama and a gift for storytelling. In 1923, when Cotten was 18, his family arranged for him to receive private lessons at the Hickman School of Expression in Washington, D.C., and underwrote his expenses. He earned spending money playing professional football on Sundays, for $25 a quarter. After graduation he earned enough money as a lifeguard at Wilcox Lake to pay back his family's loan, with interest.[2]: 4–7 

He worked as an advertising agent, and his work as a theatre critic inspired him to become involved in theatre productions, first in Virginia, then in New York City. Cotten made his Broadway debut in 1930.

Radio and theatre

In 1934 Cotten met and became friends with Orson Welles, a fellow cast member on CBS Radio's The American School of the Air.[2]: 30–31  Welles regarded Cotten as a brilliant comic actor,[3]: 166  and gave him the starring role in his Federal Theatre Project farce, Horse Eats Hat[2]: 34 [4] (September 26–December 5, 1936).[5]: 334  Cotten was sure that Horse Eats Hat won him the notice of his future Broadway costar, Katharine Hepburn.[2]: 34 

In 1937 Cotten became an inaugural member of Welles's Mercury Theatre company, starring in its Broadway productions Caesar, The Shoemaker's Holiday and Danton's Death, and in radio dramas presented on The Mercury Theatre on the Air and The Campbell Playhouse.

Cotten made his film debut in the Welles-directed short, Too Much Johnson, a comedy that was intended to complement the aborted 1938 Mercury stage production of William Gillette's 1890 play. The film was never screened in public and was lost until 2013.[6]

Cotten returned to Broadway in 1939, creating the role of C. K. Dexter Haven opposite Katharine Hepburn's Tracy Lord in the original production of Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story. The play ran for a year at the Shubert Theatre, and in the months before its extensive national tour a film version was to be made by MGM. Cotten went to Hollywood, but discovered there that his stage success in The Philadelphia Story translated to, in the words of his agent Leland Hayward, "spending a solid year creating the Cary Grant role." Hayward suggested that they call Cotten's good pal, Orson Welles. "He's been making big waves out here," Hayward said. "Maybe nobody in Hollywood ever heard of the Shubert Theatre in New York, but everybody certainly knows about the Mercury Theatre in New York."[2]: 34–37 

Citizen Kane

After the success of Welles's War of the Worlds 1938 Halloween radio broadcast, Welles gained a unique contract with RKO Pictures. The two-picture deal promised full creative control for the young director below an agreed budget limit, and Welles's intention was to feature the Mercury Players in his productions. Shooting had still not begun on a Welles film after a year, but after a meeting with writer Herman J. Mankiewicz Welles had a suitable project.

In mid-1940 filming began on Citizen Kane, portraying the life of a press magnate (played by Welles) who starts out as an idealist but eventually turns into a corrupt, lonely old man. The film featured Cotten prominently in the role of Kane's best friend Jedediah Leland, eventually a drama critic for one of Kane's papers.

When released on May 1, 1941, Citizen Kane — based in part on the life of William Randolph Hearst — did not do much business at theaters; Hearst owned numerous major newspapers, and forbade them to carry advertisements for the film. Nominated for nine Academy Awards in 1942, the film won only for Best Screenplay, for Mankiewicz and Welles. Citizen Kane launched the film careers of the Mercury Players, including Agnes Moorehead (who played Kane's mother), Ruth Warrick (Kane's first wife), and Ray Collins (Kane's political opponent). However, Cotten was the only one of the four to find major success as a lead in Hollywood outside of Citizen Kane; Moorehead and Collins became successful character film actors and Warrick spent decades in a career in daytime television.

Later collaborations with Welles

Cotten starred a year later in Welles's adaptation and production of The Magnificent Ambersons. After the commercial disappointment of Citizen Kane, RKO was apprehensive about the new film, and after poor preview responses, cut it by nearly an hour before its release. Though at points the film appeared disjointed, it was well received by critics. Despite the critical accolades Cotten received for his performance, he was again snubbed by the Academy.

Cotten and Welles (uncredited) wrote the Nazi-related thriller Journey into Fear (1943) based on the novel by Eric Ambler. Released by RKO, the Mercury production was directed by Norman Foster. It was a collaborative effort due to the difficulties shooting the film and the pressures related to Welles's imminent departure to South America to begin work on It's All True.[5]: 165, 377 

After Welles's return he and Cotten co-produced The Mercury Wonder Show for members of the U.S. armed services. Opening August 3, 1943, the all-star magic and variety show was presented in a tent at 9000 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood. Featured were Welles (Orson the Magnificent), Cotten (Jo-Jo the Great), Rita Hayworth (forced to quit by Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn and replaced by Marlene Dietrich), Agnes Moorehead (Calliope Aggie) and others. Tickets were free to servicemen, and more than 48,000 of them had seen show by September 1943.[5]: 177, 377–378 

In late 1943 Cotten visited Welles's office and said that producer David O. Selznick wanted to make two or three films with him, but that he wanted him under contract. As he tore up Cotten's contract with Mercury Productions, Welles said, "He can do more for you than I can. Good luck!"[7]: 186 

In film, Cotten and Welles worked together in The Third Man (1949). Cotten portrays a writer of pulp fiction who travels to postwar Vienna to meet his friend Harry Lime (Welles). When he arrives, he discovers that Lime has died, and is determined to prove to the police that it was murder, but uncovers an even darker secret.

The 1940s and 1950s

The characters that Cotten played onscreen during the 1940s ranged from a serial killer in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) to an eager police detective in Gaslight (1944). Cotten starred with Jennifer Jones in four films for Selznick International Pictures: the wartime domestic drama Since You Went Away (1944); the romantic drama Love Letters (1945); Duel in the Sun (1946), which remains one of the top 100 highest grossing films of all time when adjusted for inflation; and the critically acclaimed Portrait of Jennie (1948), in which he played a melancholy artist who becomes obsessed with a girl who may have died many years before. As well as reuniting onscreen with Orson Welles in Carol Reed's The Third Man in 1949, he reunited with Hitchcock in Under Capricorn (1949) as an Australian landowner with a shady past.

Exhibitors voted him the 17th most popular star in the US in 1945.[8]

Cotten's screen career cooled in the 1950s with a string of less high-profile roles in films such as the dark Civil War Western Two Flags West (1950), the Joan Fontaine romance September Affair (1950), and the Marilyn Monroe vehicle Niagara (1953), after James Mason turned down the role. His last theatrical releases in the '50s were mostly film-noir and unsuccessful character studies.

On the stage in 1953, Cotten created the role of Linus Larrabee, Jr., in the original Broadway production of Sabrina Fair, opposite Margaret Sullavan. The production ran November 11, 1953 – August 21, 1954, and was the basis of the Billy Wilder film Sabrina, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn.[9]

In 1956, Cotten left film for years for a string of successful television ventures, such as the NBC series On Trial[10] (renamed at mid-season The Joseph Cotten Show).

Cotten was featured in Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Ronald Reagan's General Electric Theater. He appeared on May 2, 1957, on NBC's comedy variety series, The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.[11] Near the end of the decade, he made a cameo appearance in Welles'sTouch of Evil (1958) and a starring role in the film adaptation of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon (also 1958). He also appeared as Dick Burlingame and Charles Lawrence in the 1960 episodes "The Blue Goose" and "Dark Fear" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson. He also appeared on NBC's anthology series, The Barbara Stanwyck Show.

The 1960s and 1970s

Joseph Cotten and Patricia Medina in 1973

In 1960 Cotten married British actress Patricia Medina after his first wife, Lenore Kipp, died of leukemia earlier in the year.[12] After some time away from film, Cotten returned in the horror classic Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), with Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland and Agnes Moorehead. The rest of the decade found Cotten in a number of European and Japanese productions, B-movies and made for television movies. He made multiple guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1967, he joined Karl Swenson, Pat Conway, and Dick Foran in the nostalgic western dramatic film Brighty of the Grand Canyon, about a burro who lived in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River from about 1892–1922. On television, he narrated David L. Wolper's documentary Hollywood and the Stars (1963–64). In 1968 he made a guest appearance in a two-part episode of the series Ironside ("Split Second to an Epitaph").

In the early 1970s, Cotten followed a supporting role in Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) with several horror features: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) with Vincent Price, and Soylent Green (1973), the last film featuring Edward G. Robinson. Later in the decade, Cotten was in several all-star disaster films, including Airport '77 (1977) with James Stewart and again with Olivia de Havilland, and the nuclear thriller Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977). On television, he did guest spots on The Rockford Files ("This Case Is Closed", 1974) and "The Love Boat".

Last years

One of Cotten's last films was the box-office bomb Heaven's Gate (1980), at the time critically mauled in the United States but well received abroad. The film was positively reevaluated early in the 21st century, receiving a Criterion Collection release in 2013.

He appeared in two episodes of a twist-in-the-tale episode of the British TV series Tales of the Unexpected, with Wendy Hiller (1979), and Gloria Grahame (1980). He also appeared in three horror films, The Hearse (1980), Delusion (also known as The House Where Death Lives) (1980), and the Australian film The Survivor (1981). Cotten suffered a stroke in 1981 which caused him to temporarily lose his voice.[13]

Illness and death

On June 8, 1981, Cotten had a heart attack followed by a stroke that affected his speech center. He began years of therapy which in time made it possible for him to speak again. As he began to recover, he and Orson Welles talked on the phone each week for a couple of hours: "He was strong and supportive," Cotten wrote, "and whenever I used the wrong word (which was frequently) he would say, 'That's a much better word, Jo, I'm going to use it.'" He and Welles would meet for lunch and reminisce, and when Cotten said he had written a book Welles asked for the manuscript and read it that same night.[2]: 215–217  In a phone conversation on October 9, 1985, Welles told his friend and mentor Roger Hill that Cotten had written a book, and Hill asked how it read. "Gentle, witty, and self-effacing, just like Jo," Welles replied. "My only complaint is that it's too brief."[14]: 289  Welles died the following day. "Somewhere among his possessions is a manuscript of this book," Cotten wrote on the last page of his autobiography, published in 1987 under the title Vanity Will Get You Somewhere.[2]: 217 [15]

In 1990, Cotten's larynx was removed due to cancer.[1] He died on February 6, 1994, of pneumonia, at the age of 88.[12] He was buried at Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia.[16][17]

Accolades

Joseph Cotten received a Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his work in Portrait of Jennie.

Cultural references

In the 2008 film, Me and Orson Welles, Cotten is portrayed by James Tupper.[18]

Theatre credits

Date Title Role Notes
October 17, 1932–January 1933 Absent Father Larry Vanderbilt Theatre, New York[19]
December 19, 1933–January 1934 Jezebel Dick Ashley Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York[19]
February 4–February 1934 Loose Moments Ralph Merkes Vanderbilt Theatre, New York[19]
September 26–December 5, 1936 Horse Eats Hat Freddy Maxine Elliott Theatre, New York[5]: 334 
January 8–April 1, 1937 Faustus 2nd Scholar Maxine Elliott Theatre, New York[5]: 335–336 
April 21–23, 1937 The Second Hurricane Airplane pilot[20]: 33  Henry Street Settlement, New York City[5]: 337 
November 11, 1937 – May 28, 1938 Caesar Publius Mercury Theatre, New York[5]: 339–340 
Moved to the larger National Theatre January 24, 1938[5]: 341 [21]
December 25, 1937 The Shoemaker's Holiday Rowland Lacy Mercury Theatre, New York
Surprise preview performance immediately following Caesar[22]: 332 
January 1–April 28, 1938 The Shoemaker's Holiday Rowland Lacy Mercury Theatre, New York
Moved to the National Theatre January 26, 1938[5]: 341 
August 16–29, 1938 Too Much Johnson Augustus Billings Stony Creek Theatre, Stony Creek, Connecticut[23][24]: 50–51, 152–153 
November 2–19, 1938 Danton's Death Barrere Mercury Theatre, New York[25][26]
March 28, 1939 – March 30, 1940 The Philadelphia Story C. K. Dexter Haven Shubert Theatre, New York[19]
November 11, 1953 – August 21, 1954 Sabrina Fair Linus Larrabee, Jr. National Theatre, New York
Moved to the Royale Theatre May 17, 1954[19]

Radio credits

Date Title Role Notes
1934 The American School of the Air Repertory cast [5]: 331 
July 14–September 22, 1935 America's Hour Repertory cast [27]: 30 
1935 Farm Tenancy Resettlement Administration drama[28][29]
November 14, 1936 Columbia Workshop "Hamlet"[30]
May 9, 1937 The Second Hurricane Airplane pilot One-hour broadcast on CBS Radio[20]: 34 
September 5, 1938 The Mercury Theatre on the Air Dr. Bull "The Man Who Was Thursday"[5]: 345 [31]: 50 
October 9, 1938 The Mercury Theatre on the Air "Hell on Ice"[5]: 346 [32]
October 16, 1938 The Mercury Theatre on the Air Genesis "Seventeen"[5]: 346 [31]: 52 
December 3, 1938 The Campbell Playhouse Fred "A Christmas Carol"[5]: 348 [31]: 53 [33][34]
January 6, 1939 The Campbell Playhouse "Counsellor-at-Law"[5]: 348 [33][34]
January 13, 1939 The Campbell Playhouse Fletcher Christian "Mutiny on the Bounty"[5]: 349 [33][34]
January 20, 1939 The Campbell Playhouse "The Chicken Wagon Family"[5]: 349 
January 27, 1939 The Campbell Playhouse Riley "I Lost My Girlish Laughter"[31]: 53 [33][34]
September 17, 1939 The Campbell Playhouse "Ah, Wilderness!"[5]: 354 [33][34]
October 22, 1939 The Campbell Playhouse The Cashier "Liliom"[31]: 58 [33][34]
1939–40 The Career of Alice Blair Male lead [27]: 138–139 [35]
February 11, 1940 The Campbell Playhouse "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"[31]: 61 [33][34]
September 22, 1941 Lux Radio Theatre Michael Fitzpatrick "Lydia"[36]
October 6, 1941 Orson Welles Show [5]: 367 
October 13, 1941 Orson Welles Show [5]: 367 [37]
October 20, 1941 Orson Welles Show [5]: 367 
November 10, 1941 Orson Welles Show [5]: 367 
December 1, 1941 Orson Welles Show [5]: 368 
December 7, 1941 Orson Welles Show [5]: 368 
December 22, 1941 Orson Welles Show [5]: 368 
December 29, 1941 Orson Welles Show [5]: 368 
March 22, 1942 The Silver Theatre Jim Emerson "Only Yesterday"[38]
November 23, 1942 Ceiling Unlimited "The Navigator"[5]: 375 
December 21, 1942 Ceiling Unlimited "Gremlins"[5]: 374 [39][40]
December 28, 1942 Ceiling Unlimited "Pan American Airlines"[40]
January 17, 1943 Hello Americans "Feed the World"[5]: 376 [41]
February 1, 1943 Cavalcade of America "To the Shores of Tripoli"[42][43]
May 24, 1943 The Screen Guild Theater Uncle Charlie "Shadow of a Doubt"[44][45]
June 28, 1943 Lux Radio Theatre "The Great Man's Lady"[36]
August 8, 1943 – April 30, 1944 America — Ceiling Unlimited Host Weekly half-hour variety series[40][46][47]
December 6, 1943 The Screen Guild Theater Jim Emerson "Only Yesterday"[44][45]
March 23, 1944 Suspense "Sneak Preview"[48][49][50]
May 8, 1944 Lux Radio Theatre Roger Adams "Penny Serenade"[36]
June 5, 1944 Cavalcade of America "Treason"[42][43]
September 14, 1944 Suspense "You'll Never See Me Again"[48][50]
November 6, 1944 Democratic National Committee Program Election-eve political broadcast[51][52]
November 13, 1944 The Screen Guild Theater Johnny Case "Holiday"[44][45]
November 26, 1944 The Harold Lloyd Comedy Theatre "Clarence"[53]
February 1, 1945 Suspense "The Most Dangerous Game"[48][50]
February 6, 1945 A Date with Judy Guest "The Strange Case of Joseph Cotten"[54]
April 30, 1945 The Screen Guild Theater Alessandro "Ramona"[44][45]
June 4, 1945 Lux Radio Theatre Holger Brandt "Intermezzo"[36]
June 15, 1945 Weapon for Tomorrow "Freedom of Information"[55]
September 18, 1945 Theater of Romance Nathan Hale "One Life to Lose"[56]
September 20, 1945 The Birdseye Open House Guest [57]
September 27, 1945 Suspense "The Earth Is Made of Glass"[48][50]
October 11, 1945 Suspense "Beyond Good and Evil"[48][50]
November 26, 1945 The Screen Guild Theater Richard Kurt "Biography of a Bachelor Girl"[44][45]
December 24, 1945 Lux Radio Theatre Zachary Morgan "I'll Be Seeing You"[36]
January 17, 1946 Suspense "The Pasteboard Box"[48][50]
February 10, 1946 The Radio Reader's Digest "Ultimate Security"[58]
April 22, 1946 Lux Radio Theatre Alan Quinton "Love Letters"[36]
May 2, 1946 Suspense "Crime Without Passion"[48][50]
July 24, 1946 Academy Award Theatre "Foreign Correspondent"[59][60]
September 11, 1946 Academy Award Theatre "Shadow of a Doubt"[59][60]
September 24, 1946 The Cresta Blanca Hollywood Players Lou Gehrig "The Pride of the Yankees"[61]
October 1, 1946 The Cresta Blanca Hollywood Players Max de Winter "Rebecca"[61]
November 4, 1946 Lux Radio Theatre "I've Always Loved You"[36][62]
December 5, 1946 The Radio Reader's Digest "The Hard-Boiled Reporter and the Miracle"[58]
December 16, 1946 The Screen Guild Theater Michael "This Love of Ours"[44][45][63]
December 19, 1946 Suspense "The Thing in the Window"[48][50]
December 25, 1946 The Cresta Blanca Hollywood Players "All Through the House"[61]
January 27, 1947 The Screen Guild Theater "Swell Guy"[44]
March 5, 1947 The Eagle's Brood Documentary on juvenile delinquency[64][65]
May 15, 1947 The Radio Reader's Digest "Halfway to Reno"[58]
May 19, 1947 Cavalcade of America "Witness by Moonlight"[42][43]
September 15, 1947 Lux Radio Theatre Nicholas "The Seventh Veil"[36]
October 26, 1947 Hollywood Fights Back [66]
January 5, 1948 Lux Radio Theatre Glenn Morley "The Farmer's Daughter"[36][67]
January 26, 1948 Lux Radio Theatre Devlin "Notorious"[36][67]
February 12, 1948 The Radio Reader's Digest "The Baron of Arizona"[58]
March 8, 1948 Lux Radio Theatre John Ballantyne "Spellbound"[36][67]
April 11, 1948 The Eternal Light "The Man Who Remembered Lincoln"[68]
June 21, 1948 The Screen Guild Theater Uncle Charlie "Shadow of a Doubt"[45][69]
May 9, 1949 Lux Radio Theatre Anthony Keane "The Paradine Case"[36]
May 15, 1949 The Prudential Family Hour of Stars "Breakdown"[70]
June 30, 1949 Suspense "The Day I Died"[48][50]
October 24, 1946 Screen Directors Playhouse Alan Quinton "Love Letters"[71]
October 31, 1949 Lux Radio Theatre Eben Adams "Portrait of Jennie"[36]
March 10, 1950 Screen Directors Playhouse Eben Adams "Portrait of Jennie"[71]
March 15, 1950 Family Theater "Germelshausen"[72]
March 30, 1950 Suspense "Blood Sacrifice"[48][50]
June 11, 1950 Guest Star "Portrait of a Small Gentleman"[73]
September 28, 1950 Suspense "Fly by Night"[48][50]
October 9, 1950 Hollywood Star Playhouse "Of Night and the River"[74][75]
November 30, 1950 Screen Directors Playhouse "Mrs. Mike"[71]
January 2, 1951 Cavalcade of America "An American from France"[42][43]
January 7, 1951 Theatre Guild on the Air Holly Martins "The Third Man"[76][77]
January 25, 1951 Screen Directors Playhouse "Spellbound"[71]
February 15, 1951 Hallmark Playhouse "A Man for All Ages"[78]
April 9, 1951 Lux Radio Theatre Holly Martins "The Third Man"[36][79]
September 30, 1951 Theatre Guild on the Air "Main Street"[80]
October 2, 1951 Philip Morris Playhouse on Broadway "Angel Street"[81]
October 18, 1951 Hallmark Playhouse "Cashel Byron's Profession"[78]
November 5, 1951 Suspense "The Trials of Thomas Shaw"[82]
January 24, 1952 Stars in the Air "Enchantment"[83]
January 28, 1952 Suspense "Carnival"[48][50]
January 31, 1952 Hallmark Playhouse "Westward Ho"[78]
March 6, 1952 Hallmark Playhouse "Man Without a Home"[78]
March 10, 1952 Suspense "A Watery Grave"[48][50][84]
March 16, 1952 Philip Morris Playhouse on Broadway "In a Lonely Place"[81][84][85]
March 27, 1952 The Screen Guild Theater "Night Must Fall"[86]
September 7, 1952 Hollywood Star Playhouse "The Tenth Planet"[74][75]
September 14, 1952 Theatre Guild On the Air "The Wisteria Tree"[76]
October 12, 1952 Hallmark Playhouse "Young Mr. Disraeli"[78]
December 22, 1952 Suspense "Arctic Rescue"[48][50][87]
December 28, 1952 Hallmark Playhouse "A Man Called Peter"[78][88]
January 11, 1953 Theatre Guild On the Air "Jane"[76]
January 14, 1953 Philip Morris Playhouse on Broadway "Hold Back the Dawn"[81][89]
January 18, 1953 Theatre Guild on the Air "Trial by Forgery"[80][89]
January 26, 1953 Lux Radio Theatre David Lawrence "September Affair"[36]
March 1, 1953 The Bakers' Theater of Stars "The Mango Tree"[90][91]
March 30, 1953 Suspense "Tom Dooley"[48][50]
June 16, 1953 The Martin and Lewis Show Guest [92]
July 6, 1953 Lux Radio Theatre Jim Warlock "Cynara"[36][93]
August 3, 1953 Lux Radio Theatre "Romance to a Degree"[36]
August 26, 1953 Philip Morris Playhouse on Broadway "Love Letters"[81]
September 14, 1953 Lux Radio Theatre Jim Osborne "The Steel Trap"[36]
October 14, 1953 Radio Playhouse Narrator "Routine Assignment"[94]
October 24, 1953 The Grand Alliance United Nations Day broadcast[95]
May 15, 1954 Salute to Eugene O'Neill Narrator All-star benefit for cerebral palsy[96]
December 15, 1957 Suspense "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"[48][50]
August 2, 1959 Suspense "Red Cloud Mesa"[48][50]

Film and television credits

Year Title Role Notes
1938 Too Much Johnson Augustus Billings Short[97]
1940 Citizen Kane trailer Himself, Jedediah "Jed" Leland Short[5]: 360 
1941 Citizen Kane Jed Leland
1941 Lydia Michael Fitzpatrick
1942 The Magnificent Ambersons Eugene Morgan
1943 Shadow of a Doubt Charles Oakley
1943 Journey into Fear Howard Graham Screenplay (with uncredited Orson Welles)
1943 Hers to Hold Bill Morley
1944 Gaslight Brian Cameron
1944 Since You Went Away Lieutenant Commander Tony Willett
1945 I'll Be Seeing You Zachary Morgan
1945 Love Letters Allen Quinton
1946 Duel in the Sun Jesse McCanless
1947 The Farmer's Daughter Glenn Morley
1948 Portrait of Jennie Eben Adams Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actor
1949 The Third Man Holly Martins
1949 Under Capricorn Samson Flusky
1949 Beyond the Forest Dr. Louis Moline
1950 Two Flags West Col. Clay Tucker
1950 Walk Softly, Stranger Chris Hale Shot in 1948
1950 September Affair David Lawrence
1951 Half Angel John Raymond, Jr.
1951 Peking Express Michael Bachlin
1951 The Man with a Cloak Dupin
1952 Othello Senator (uncredited)
1952 The Wild Heart Narrator
1952 Untamed Frontier Kirk Denbow
1952 The Steel Trap Jim Osborne
1953 Egypt by Three Narrator
1953 Niagara George Loomis
1953 A Blueprint for Murder Whitney Cameron
1954 Light's Diamond Jubilee (TV) Himself Broadcast on all four U.S. TV networks
1954 Producers' Showcase (TV) Grant Matthews "State of the Union"
1954 General Electric Theater (TV) Hanley "The High Green Wall"
1955 Special Delivery John Adams
1955 The Best of Broadway (TV) Dan McCorn "Broadway"
1955 Celebrity Playhouse (TV) Marshal Fenton Lockhart "Showdown at San Pablo"
1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV) William Callew "Breakdown"
1955–1956 Star Stage (TV) Narrator
Alexander Holmes 		"The Man in the Black Robe"
"The U.S. vs. Alexander Holmes"
1956 The Bottom of the Bottle P.M. Martin
1956 The Ford Television Theatre (TV) John Ashburn "Man Without a Fear"
1956 The Killer Is Loose Detective Sam Wagner
1956 General Electric Theater (TV) Captain
Private Harris 		"H.M.S. Marlborough Will Enter Port"
"The Enemies"
1956–1959 The Joseph Cotten Show (TV) Various roles
1957 The Halliday Brand Daniel Halliday
1957 Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theater (TV) Bruce Malone "Contact"
1957 Telephone Time (TV) Lt. Cmdr. Joseph P. Fyffe "The Man the Navy Couldn't Sink"
1957 Playhouse 90 (TV) Robert Rainey "The Edge of Innocence"
1957 The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show (TV)
1957 Schlitz Playhouse (TV) "Neighbors"
1958 Zane Grey Theatre (TV) Ben Harper "Man Unforgiving"
1958 Suspicion (TV) Gregg Carey "The Eye of Truth"
1958 Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV) Tony Gould "Together"
1958 Touch of Evil Coroner
1958 From the Earth to the Moon Victor Barbicane
1959 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (TV) Black McSween "The Day the Town Stood Up"
1959 Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV) Courtney Masterson "Dead Weight"
1960 The Angel Wore Red Hawthorne
1960 The DuPont Show with June Allyson (TV) Dick Burlingame
Charles Lawrence 		"The Blue Goose"
"Dark Fear"
1960 Checkmate (TV) Dr. George Mallinson "Face in the Window"
1961 The Barbara Stanwyck Show (TV) Mac McClay "The Hitch-Hiker"
1961 The Last Sunset John Breckenridge
1961 Bus Stop (TV) Professor Wheelright "Cherie"
1961 Theatre '62 (TV) Alex Sebastian "Notorious"
1961 Wagon Train (TV) Captain Dan Brady "The Captain Dan Brady Story"
1962 Dr. Kildare (TV) Charles Ladovan "The Administrator"
1962 Saints and Sinners (TV) Preston Cooper "The Man on the Rim"
1961 Wagon Train (TV) John Augustus "The John Augustus Story"
1963 The Great Adventure (TV) Captain Meehan "The Death of Sitting Bull"
"The Massacre at Wounded Knee"
1963 77 Sunset Strip (TV) Arnold Buhler "By His Own Verdict"
1963–1964 Hollywood and the Stars (TV) Narrator
1964 Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte Dr. Drew Bayliss
1965 The Great Sioux Massacre Major Reno
1965 The Money Trap Dr. Horace Van Tilden
1965 The Tramplers Temple Cordeen
1966 The Oscar Kenneth H. Regan
1966 The Hellbenders Col. Jonas
1967 Brighty of the Grand Canyon Jim Owen
1967 Cimarron Strip (TV) Nathan Tio "The Search"
1967 Jack of Diamonds Ace of Diamonds
1967 Some May Live Col. Woodward
1968 Alexander the Great (TV) Antigonus
1968 Days of Fire Destil
1968 Petulia Mr. Danner
1968 Ironside (TV) Dr. Benjamin Stern "Split Second to an Epitaph"
1968 Journey to the Unknown (TV) Jeff Wheeler "Do Me a Favor and Kill Me"
1968 White Comanche Sheriff Logan
1968 It Takes a Thief (TV) Col. Heinrich "Hans Across the Border"
1969 Latitude Zero Capt. Craig McKenzie, Cmdr. Glenn McKenzie
1969 The Lonely Profession (TV) Martin Bannister
1969–1970 It Takes a Thief (TV) Mr. Jack "To Lure a Man"
"To Sing a Song of Murder"
"Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"
1970 Cutter's Trail (TV) General Spalding
1970 The Name of the Game (TV) Henry Worthington Rayner "The King of Denmark"
1970 The Grasshopper Richard Morgan
1970 Tora! Tora! Tora! Henry L. Stimson
1970 The Virginian (TV) Judge Will McMasters
Judge Hobbs 		"A Time of Terror"
"Gun Quest"
1971 Assault on the Wayne (TV) Admiral
1971 Do You Take This Stranger? (TV) Dr. Robert Carson
1971 City Beneath the Sea (TV) Dr. Ziegler
1971 NET Playhouse (TV) Narrator "Trail of Tears"
1971 The Abominable Dr. Phibes Dr. Vesalius
1971 Lady Frankenstein Dr. Frankenstein
1972 The Screaming Woman (TV) George Tresvant
1972 Doomsday Voyage Captain Jason
1972 Baron Blood Baron Otto von Kleist / Alfred Becker
1972 The Scientific Cardplayer George
1973 The Devil's Daughter (TV) Judge Weatherby
1973 The Streets of San Francisco (TV) John R. James "A Collection of Eagles"
1973 Soylent Green William R. Simonson
1973 A Delicate Balance Harry
1973 F for Fake Special Participant
1974 The Rockford Files (TV) Warner Jameson "This Case is Closed"
1975 Syndicate Sadists Paternò
1975 Timber Tramps Greedy sawmill mogul
1976 Freedom Is (TV) Voice
1976 The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (TV) Dr. Condon
1976 A Whisper in the Dark The Professor
1976 Origins of the Mafia (TV) The Envoy "Gli antenati"
1977 Twilight's Last Gleaming Arthur Renfrew, Secretary of State
1977 Airport '77 Nicholas St. Downs III
1977 Aspen (TV) Horton Paine
1978 The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (TV) Weldon Rathbone "Arson and Old Lace"
1978 Last In, First Out Foster Johnson
1978 Caravans Crandall
1978 The Perfect Crime Sir Arthur Dundee
1978 Fantasy Island (TV) Simon Grant "Return to Fantasy Island"
1979 Island of the Fishmen Prof. Ernest Marvin
1979 The Concorde Affair Milland
1979 Guyana: Crime of the Century Richard Gable
1979 Fantasy Island (TV) Thomas Cummings "The Wedding"
1979–1980 Tales of the Unexpected (TV) Edward
Lionel 		"Edward the Conqueror"
"Depart in Peace"
1980 The Hearse Walter Prichard
1980 Casino (TV) Ed Booker
1980 Heaven's Gate The Reverend Doctor
1980 Delusion Ivar Langrock
1981 Churchill and the Generals (TV) General George Marshall
1981 The Love Boat (TV) Col. van Ryker "The Duel"
Two for Julie"
"Aunt Hilly"
1981 The Survivor Priest

References

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Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joseph Cotten.
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