Remembering Joseph Cotten On His Birthday

Joseph Cotten (15 May 1905 - 6 February 1994) was one of my favorite actors. Between 1930 and 1981 he had a successful radio, stage, film and television career. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Journey Into Fear (1943). In 1934, Cotten had the good fortune to meet and become friends with Orson Welles, who helped launch his film career.

Cotten appeared on Broadway as C. K. Dexter Haven in the original production of The Philadelphia Story with Katharine Hepburn. He expected to recreate the role in the film version but found once he got to Hollywood that the role had been given to Cary Grant. At that point, Cotten made good use of his friendship with Welles by securing a role in Citizen Kane (1941). Although Citizen Kane did not do well at the box office due in large part to William Randolph Hearst's refusal to allow any of his newspapers to advertise it, Cotten did go on to play lead roles in Welles' productions of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Journey Into Fear (1943) and The Third Man (1949).

My favorite movies came later. And there are so many: Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) where he played a ruthless serial killer (also Hitch's favorite film), Gaslight (1944) with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, the WWII tearjerker Since You Went Away (1944) with Claudette Colbert and Jennifer Jones, Love Letters (1945) again with Jennifer Jones and one of my favorite character actors, Cecil Kellaway, and one of my all-time, absolute favorite movies, Niagara (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. And who can forget Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).

 Happy Birthday, Joseph Cotten.

Joseph Cotten's Obituary, The New York Times, February 7, 1994

[Joseph Cotten, 1957]

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