Joseph Cotten (I) (1905–1994)

Actor | Soundtrack | Writer

Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Jr. was born in Petersburg, Virginia, into a well-to-do Southern family. He...

Born: May 15, 1905
Died: February 6, 1994 (age 88)

Photos

Filmography

Known For

Citizen Kane Jedediah Leland / Screening Room Reporter (1941)
The Third Man Holly Martins (1949)
Portrait of Jennie Eben Adams (1948)
Known For

Soylent Green William R. Simonson (1973)
Actor

The Survivor Priest (1981)
The Love Boat Col. van Ryker (1981)
Delusion Ivar Langrock (1981)
Heaven's Gate The Reverend Doctor (1980)
Casino Ed Booker (1980)
Tales of the Unexpected Lionel (1979-1980)
The Hearse Walter Prichard (1980)
Fantasy Island Thomas Cummings (1978-1979)
Churchill and the Generals Gen. George C. Marshall (1979)
Guyana: Cult of the Damned Richard Gable (1979)
Concorde Affaire '79 Milland (1979)
Screamers Prof. Ernest Marvin (1979)
Indagine su un delitto perfetto Sir Arthur Dundee (1978)
Caravans Crandall (1978)
Last In, First Out Foster Johnson (1978)
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Weldon Rathbone (1978)
Aspen Horton Paine (1977)
Airport '77 Nicholas St. Downs III (1977)
Twilight's Last Gleaming Arthur Renfrew - Secretary of State (1977)
Freedom Is (1976)
Origins of the Mafia The Envoy (1976)
A Whisper in the Dark The Professor (1976)
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case Dr. Joseph Francis Condon (1976)
The Timber Tramps Greedy sawmill mogul (1975)
Syndicate Sadists Paternò (1975)
The Rockford Files Warner Jameson (1974)
A Delicate Balance Harry (1973)
Soylent Green William R. Simonson (1973)
The Streets of San Francisco John R. James (1973)
The Devil's Daughter Judge Weatherby (1973)
The Scopone Game George (1972)
Baron Blood Baron Otto von Kleist / Alfred Becker (1972)
Doomsday Voyage Captain Jason (1972)
The Screaming Woman George Tresvant (1972)
Lady Frankenstein Baron Frankenstein (1971)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes Dr. Vesalius (1971)
Journey to Murder Jeff Wheeler (Do Me a Favor and Kill Me) (1971)
City Beneath the Sea Dr. Ziegler (1971)
Do You Take This Stranger? Dr. Robert Carson (1971)
Assault on the Wayne Admiral (1971)
The Virginian Judge Hobbs (1970)
Tora! Tora! Tora! Henry L. Stimson (1970)
The Grasshopper Richard Morgan (1970)
NET Playhouse Narrator (1970)
It Takes a Thief Mr. Jack (1968-1970)
The Name of the Game Henry 'Harry' Worthington Rayner (1970)
Cutter's Trail Gen. Spalding (1970)
Keene (1969)
The Lonely Profession Martin Bannister (1969)
Latitude Zero Capt. Craig McKenzie / Cmdr. Glenn McKenzie (1969)
White Comanche Sheriff Logan (1968)
Journey to the Unknown Jeff Wheeler (1968)
Ironside Dr. Benjamin Stern (1968)
Petulia Mr. Danner (1968)
Gangsters '70 Destil (1968)
Off to See the Wizard General Antigonus (1968)
Jack of Diamonds As (1967)
Cimarron Strip Nathan Tio (1967)
Some May Live Col. Woodward (1967)
The Cruel Ones Colonel Jonas (1967)
Brighty of the Grand Canyon Jim Owen (1966)
The Oscar Kenneth Regan (1966)
The Tramplers Temple Cordeen (1965)
The Money Trap Dr. Horace Van Tilden (1965)
The Great Sioux Massacre Major Reno (1965)
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Dr. Drew Bayliss (1964)
Alexander the Great Antigonus (1963)
77 Sunset Strip Arnold Buhler (1963)
The Great Adventure Captain Meehan (1963)
Wagon Train John Augustus (1961-1962)
Saints and Sinners Preston Cooper (1962)
Dr. Kildare Charles Ladovan (1962)
Theatre '62 (1961)
Bus Stop Professor Wheelwright (1961)
The Last Sunset John Breckenridge (1961)
The Barbara Stanwyck Show Mac McClay (1961)
Checkmate Dr. George Mallinson (1960)
The DuPont Show with June Allyson Charles Lawrence (1960)
The Angel Wore Red Hawthorne (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Courtney Masterson (1955-1959)
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Black McSween (1959)
From the Earth to the Moon Victor Barbicane (1958)
Suspicion Gregg Carey (1958)
Touch of Evil Coroner (1958)
Zane Grey Theater Ben Harper (1958)
Schlitz Playhouse (1957)
Playhouse 90 Robert Rainey (1957)
Telephone Time (1957)
Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre Bruce Malone (1957)
The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial Reed (1955-1957)
The Halliday Brand Daniel Halliday (1957)
General Electric Theater Private Harris (1954-1956)
Star Stage Narrator (1955-1956)
The Ford Television Theatre John Ashburn (1956)
The Killer Is Loose Detective Sam Wagner (1956)
The Bottom of the Bottle Pat 'P.M.' Martin (1956)
Celebrity Playhouse Marshal Fenton Lockhart (1955)
The Best of Broadway Dan McCorn (1955)
Bedevilled Flight Announcer at the airport (1955)
Special Delivery John Adams (1955)
Producers' Showcase Grant Matthews (1954)
A Blueprint for Murder Whitney 'Cam' Cameron (1953)
Egypt by Three Narrator (1953)
Niagara George Loomis (1953)
The Steel Trap Jim Osborne (1952)
Untamed Frontier Kirk Denbow (1952)
The Wild Heart Narrator (1952)
Othello Senator (1951)
The Man with a Cloak Dupin (1951)
Peking Express Michael Bachlin (1951)
Half Angel John Raymond Jr. (1951)
Walk Softly, Stranger Chris Hale aka Steve (1950)
Two Flags West Col. Clay Tucker (1950)
September Affair David Lawrence (1950)
Beyond the Forest Doctor Louis Moline (1949)
Under Capricorn Sam Flusky (1949)
The Third Man Holly Martins (1949)
Portrait of Jennie Eben Adams (1948)
The Farmer's Daughter Glenn Morley (1947)
Duel in the Sun Jesse McCanles (1946)
Love Letters Alan Quinton (1945)
I'll Be Seeing You Zachary Morgan (1944)
Since You Went Away Lt. Tony Willett (1944)
Gaslight Brian Cameron (1944)
Hers to Hold Bill Morley (1943)
Shadow of a Doubt Charlie Oakley (1943)
Journey Into Fear Howard Graham (1943)
The Magnificent Ambersons Eugene Morgan (1942)
Lydia Michael Fitzpatrick (1941)
Citizen Kane Jedediah Leland / Screening Room Reporter (1941)
Too Much Johnson Augustus Billings (1938)
Actor

Seeing the World: Part One - A Visit to New York, N.Y. (1937)
Soundtrack

Since You Went Away (1944)
Soundtrack

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Writer

Journey Into Fear (1943)
Writer

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Archive footage

Welcome to the Basement (2018)
In der Folterkammer des Barons (2017)
78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene (2017)
Pop Culture Beast's Halloween Horror Picks (2014)
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014)
The Quiet Room: A Story of Cinema (2013)
Just Henry (2011)
These Amazing Shadows (2011)
Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story (2010)
O.W. Kenosha (2009)
Cinemassacre's Monster Madness (2009)
A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009)
Kinomagazin (2007)
A Sense of Carol Reed (2006)
The Originals (2005)
Premio Donostia a Willem Dafoe (2005)
Filmmakers vs. Tycoons (2005)
Il castello dell'orrore (2004)
Shadowing the Third Man (2004)
Living Famously (2003)
Backstory (2001)
Silent Witness (1999)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies (1995)
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995)
Biography (1994)
The 66th Annual Academy Awards (1994)
Northern Exposure (1993)
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)
Hollywood Mavericks (1990)
Hollywood the Golden Years: The RKO Story (1987)
Arena (1983)
Split Second to an Epitaph (1968)
Lionpower from MGM (1967)
Archive footage

Historia de la frivolidad (1967)
Hollywood Remembers (2000)

Awards

2 wins.

Did You Know

Trivia

Retired from acting in the early 1980s after a stroke and a laryngectomy.

[on Everett Sloane] You know how he was so ugly there was a certain beauty about him. But he had his nose altered, wore contact lenses instead of his thick glasses, had his hair straightened, and no one wanted him. He became so morose that he walked...