My Take
Joseph Cotten is one of those actors I keep coming back to precisely because he never felt like he was performing — he just inhabited his characters with an easy, southern-gentleman grace that made everyone around him look like they were working too hard. The Orson Welles years alone would be enough to cement any legacy: he was the moral compass in Citizen Kane, the doomed heir in The Magnificent Ambersons, and then — unforgettably — the naive foil to Welles's Harry Lime in The Third Man, holding the whole film together while the real villain charmed everyone else. What I love about Cotten is that he never overshadowed the room, yet the room always felt emptier without him. A tall, handsome Virginia gentleman who made restraint look like power.
Overview
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 (1939) and Sabrina Fair (1953). He gained worldwide fame for his collaborations with Orson Welles on films Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and Journey into Fear (1943).
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Joseph Cotten
- Name (Japanese)
- ジョゼフ・コットン
- Reading
- じょぜふ・こっとん
- Born
- May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Snake
- Origin
- Petersburg, Virginia, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 188 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film actor / writer / autobiographer / stage actor / television actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Volpi Cup for Best Actor
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.