Joseph Cotten
Date of birth: 1905-05-15
Place of birth: Petersburg, Virginia, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Jr., Joseph Cheshire Cotten
Biography
Joseph Cheshire Cotten (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair. He is associated with Orson Welles, leading to appearances in Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Journey into Fear (1943), for which Cotten was also credited with the screenplay, and The Third Man (1949). He was a star in his own right with films such as Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Love Letters (1945), Portrait of Jennie (1948), and The Third Man (1949).
Movie Credits
Citizen Kane
1941-04-17
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich
The Magnificent Ambersons
1942-07-10
The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man
The Third Man
1949-08-31
In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest o
Touch of Evil
1958-03-30
When a car bomb explodes on the American side of the U.S./Mexico border, Mexican drug enforcement ag
Lady Frankenstein
1971-10-22
When Dr. Frankenstein is killed by a monster he created, his daughter and his lab assistant continue
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964-12-16
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after
Under Capricorn
1949-09-08
A British ex-convict in colonial Australia and his fragile wife, haunted by the past crime that bind
Heaven's Gate
1980-11-19
Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyoming, standing
Seeing the World: Part One - A Visit to New York, N.Y.
1937-01-01
A sightseeing portrait of New York, with lively narration taking the viewer aboard the New York elev
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
1990-01-01
Welcome behind the closed doors of a Hollywood that only a select few will ever get to see -- a Holl
Tora! Tora! Tora!
1970-01-26
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos
Baron Blood
1972-02-25
A young man, Peter, returns to Austria in search of his heritage. There he visits the castle of an a
Journey into Fear
1943-01-07
An American ballistics expert in Turkey finds himself targeted by Nazi agents. Safe passage home by
I'll Be Seeing You
1944-12-31
Mary Marshall, serving a six year term for accidental manslaughter, is given a Christmas furlough fr
Shadow of a Doubt
1943-01-12
In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie
The Steel Trap
1952-11-12
Joseph Cotten plays an assistant bank manager who steals $1,000,000 from the safe late on a Friday a
A Blueprint for Murder
1953-07-24
Whitney Cameron is in a quandary: he's attracted to his beautiful sister-in-law, Lynn, but also harb
Airport '77
1977-03-11
Flight 23 has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle after a hijacking gone wrong. Now the surviving passen
Soylent Green
1973-04-18
In the year 2022, overcrowding, pollution, and resource depletion have reduced society’s leaders to
Duel in the Sun
1946-12-31
Beautiful half-breed Pearl Chavez becomes the ward of her dead father's first love and finds herself
Portrait of Jennie
1948-12-25
A mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.
The Halliday Brand
1957-01-01
Sheriff Halliday doesn't approve of his children dating or marrying half-breeds and his blind hate t
Island of the Fishmen
1979-01-18
After their prison ship sinks in the Caribbean, a group of prisoners and a doctor wash ashore on a s
The Killer Is Loose
1956-02-03
A savings-and-loan bank is robbed; later, a police wiretap identifies meek bank teller Leon Poole as
Gaslight
1944-05-04
A newlywed fears she's going mad when strange things start happening at the family mansion.
Guyana: Crime of the Century
1979-09-20
This horrific dramatization of the Guyana tragedy traces the steps of Reverend Jim Jones, a highly c
Syndicate Sadists
1975-08-16
A biker's brother is killed while investigating the kidnapping of a young boy, the byproduct of a wa
Beyond the Forest
1949-10-21
Rosa, the self-serving wife of a small-town doctor, gets a better offer when a wealthy big-city man
Caravans
1978-11-02
This epic adventure-drama based on James Michener's best-selling novel concerns a young American emb
Since You Went Away
1944-06-30
In 1943, several people enter, re-enter, and exit the difficult life of a Midwestern family whose pa
F for Fake
1973-09-01
Documents the lives of infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committ
The Farmer's Daughter
1947-03-26
After leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an unex
The Money Trap
1965-09-07
When half a million dollars disappears from a doctor office's safe, the cops assigned to the burglar
From the Earth to the Moon
1958-11-26
Set just after the American civil war, businessman and inventor Victor Barbicane invents a new sourc
A Delicate Balance
1973-11-12
In their finely appointed Connecticut home, Agnes and Tobias have grown used to the imperfection and
The Last Sunset
1961-06-08
At a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenri
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
1971-04-01
After a team of surgeons botches his beloved wife's operation, the distraught Dr. Phibes unleashes a
The Grasshopper
1970-05-27
A British Columbia teenager dreams of show business but winds up as a call girl in Las Vegas.
White Comanche
1968-06-21
William Shatner plays two roles: cowboy Johnny Moon and his ruthless Indian twin brother, Notah. Not
Latitude Zero
1969-07-26
A massive underwater volcano erupts and puts a group of investigative scientists in danger. They are
City Beneath the Sea
1971-07-16
A group of 21st-century colonists inhabit an underwater city called Pacifica. Originally intended as
Niagara
1953-01-26
Rose Loomis and her older, gloomier husband, George, are vacationing at a cabin in Niagara Falls, N.
The Hearse
1980-06-01
A schoolteacher moves into her deceased aunt’s house in a small Californian town, and is harassed by
The Man with a Cloak
1951-11-27
Set in 19th-century New York, this mystery begins when a Frenchwoman shows up at the home of one of
The Hellbenders
1967-02-02
A Southern Colonel, his three sons, and a card shark embark on an odyssey through the Southwest carr
September Affair
1950-10-18
An industrialist and a pianist meet on a trip and fall in love. Through a quirk of fate, they are re
Lydia
1941-09-18
Lydia MacMillan, a wealthy woman who has never married, invites several men her own age to her home
The Oscar
1966-03-04
An amoral lowlife accidentally stumbles into an acting career that sets him on a trajectory to Holly
The Scopone Game
1972-08-28
An aging American millionairess journeys to Rome each year with her chauffeur George to play the car
The Survivor
1981-07-09
When a 747 crashes shortly after take-off, the sole survivor is the pilot. Virtually unhurt, he and
Twilight's Last Gleaming
1977-02-09
A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo n
Casino
1980-08-01
Mike Connors is a suave gambler who owns a floating hotel/casino which takes a turn when the passeng
Walk Softly, Stranger
1950-10-14
A petty crook moves to an Ohio town and courts a factory owner's disabled daughter.
Two Flags West
1950-10-12
A group of confedarate prisoners is sent to a unionist fort in the west to help the local garrison t
The Perfect Crime
1978-11-24
The death of a multinational company’s chairman induces the three candidates for the chairmanship to
The Devil's Daughter
1973-01-09
A young girl whose mother had sold her soul to Satan when she was born is told by Satan that she mus
Love Letters
1945-10-26
When a man asks another man more facile with words to do his wooing for him, there are always compli
Assault on the Wayne
1971-01-12
The U.S. submarine Anthony Wayne is underway for a top-secret mission. Onboard is a highly classifie
The Bottom of the Bottle
1956-02-01
An alcoholic escaped convict asks his Arizona lawyer brother to help him cross the Mexican border.
Jack of Diamonds
1967-11-10
The protégé of a famous cat burglar reluctantly agrees to join forces with a lesser criminal in the
Half Angel
1951-05-05
Nurse Nora Gilpin plans are to marry building contractor Tim McCarey and settle down. But one night
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991-01-01
Documentary with a treasure trove of rare footage and vintage trailers, offering a rich and unusual
The Screaming Woman
1972-01-29
A wealthy former mental patient goes home to her estate to rest and recuperate. While walking the gr
The Tramplers
1965-12-31
After the war of secession, the aging Cordeen, who owns thousands of acres in Texas, rules his numer
Gangsters '70
1968-04-29
An elderly gangster just released from prison plans one last job, and gathers a small crew to do the
A Whisper in the Dark
1976-08-12
Martino is a young child who claims to have an invisible friend called Luca. His parents assume it i
The Angel Wore Red
1960-04-14
A clergyman travels to Spain to join the Loyalist side during the Spanish Civil War and finds himsel
Peking Express
1951-08-01
A group of refugees fleeing Chinese Communist rule via train are beset by a gang of terrifying outla
Too Much Johnson
1938-08-16
This film was not intended to stand by itself, but was designed as the cinematic aspect of Welles' M
Untamed Frontier
1952-07-23
The Denbow family denies access across their land to homesteaders. To evade a murder charge, Glenn D
Hers to Hold
1943-07-16
Deanna Durbin is all grown up in Hers to Hold, the unofficial sequel to her "Three Smart Girls" film
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case
1976-02-26
Fact-based story of the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr., son and namesake of the famed pilot, an
Beyond Doubt: The Making of Hitchcock's Favorite Film
2000-01-03
A short documentary about the Making Of Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943).
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
1961-12-31
Henry Fonda hosts this retrospective on the career and films of iconic filmmaker David O. Selznick,
Our American Heritage
1947-08-01
Public service featurette shown in connection with the 1947-1949 biannual nation-wide tour of the Fo
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
2018-08-31
As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the
Last In, First Out
1978-08-30
A woman on a train becomes the center of attention when she is mistaken for a spy by opposing factio
Alexander The Great
1968-01-26
An historical film that follows the life of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king that united all
Petulia
1968-06-10
Dr. Archie Bollen is having a midlife crisis. He's just divorced his wife and is establishing a new
Return to Fantasy Island
1978-01-20
A second feature-length pilot film for the wish-fulfillment series sees six lucky people having thei
Special Delivery
1955-04-07
Complications ensue when a U.S. diplomat discovers that he has a baby on his hands and an undercover
Delusion
1981-01-23
Meredith Stone, a home care nurse, has been assigned the duty of looking after a wealthy invalid nam
Do You Take This Stranger?
1971-01-18
A social climber/con artist schemes to inherit one million dollars by trading identities with a dyin
Timber Tramps
1975-12-31
A tough, hard-drinking Alaska logging foreman likes fighting only slightly less than working.
Journey to Murder
1971-01-01
Television movie that consists of two episodes from the UK TV series Journey to the Unknown (1968):
Some May Live
1967-01-01
During the Vietnam War U.S. decoder Kate Meredith is plagued with guilt when her husband coerces her
The Great Sioux Massacre
1965-04-25
Colonel Custer, an outspoken believer in fair treatment for the Indians, is ousted from his post and
Othello
1951-11-28
When a secret marriage is planned between Othello, a Moorish general, and Desdemona, the daughter of
Concorde Affair
1979-03-23
A reporter tries to stop the crash of an aircraft after uncovering an airline's plot to save their b
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
1966-11-24
At the turn of the century in the Southwest, Brighty the wild burro accompanies his friend, a prospe
Doomsday Voyage
1972-02-01
A political extremist on the run after assassinating a corrupt politician, poses as a French sailor
Churchill and the Generals
1979-09-23
The complicated relationship between Winston Churchill and the leaders of the British army during Wo
The Edge of Innocence
1957-10-31
An unscrupulous criminal lawyer falls in love with a wealthy widow and becomes involved with her bro
Egypt by Three
1953-03-31
Three tales of life on the Nile River reveal love and vengeance, religion and deception. Each atmos
The Lonely Profession
1969-10-21
Private investigator Leo Gordon is hired to trail Karen Mendaros, the mistress of a reclusive billio
Split Second to an Epitaph
1968-09-26
In the second "Ironside" movie, the Chief has his spine jolted during a hospital encounter with a na
Cutter's Trail
1970-02-10
The Marshal of Santa Fe returns home to find his town almost wiped out by Mexican bandits and enlist
Mysteries of the Gods
1976-03-17
William Shatner explores the theory that the U.S. government is involved in a cover-up of visiting a
Police Dog
1973-01-01
Narrated by Joseph Cotten, this two-part film shows how police dogs are trained and how they help po
Petulia: The Uncommon Movie
1968-01-01
A short featurette on the making of "Petulia"
Lionpower from MGM
1967-01-01
"Lionpower from MGM" (1967) is an exciting 60's promotional short subject, which showcases MGM's rel
All Star Tribute to Ingrid Bergman
1979-12-06
Frank Sinatra, Goldie Hawn, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and many more pay tribute to Ingrid Bergman.
Citizen Kane Trailer
1940-01-01
4-minute documentary on the making of "Citizen Kane"