{{Infobox actor
| name = Joseph Cotten
| image = Joseph Cotten in Love Letters trailer.JPG
| imagesize = 250px
| caption = from the trailer for the film ''Love Letters'' (1945).
| birthname = Joseph Cheshire Cotten
| birthdate = 
| birthplace = Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
| deathdate = 
| deathplace = Westwood, California, U.S.
| spouse = Lenore Kipp (1931–1960) <br> Patricia Medina (1960–1994)
| yearsactive = 1937 - 1981
| awards = '''Volpi Cup for Best Actor'''<br>1949 ''Portrait of Jennie''
}}

'''Joseph Cheshire Cotten''' (American stage and Broadway, starring in the original productions of ''The Philadelphia Story'' and ''Sabrina Fair'', and became a recognizable Hollywood star in his own right with films such as ''Shadow of a Doubt'' and ''Portrait of Jennie''.

==Biography and career==
===Early life and career===
Cotten was born in née Wilson) and Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Sr., who was an assistant postmaster.<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E1DA1638F934A35751C0A962958260</ref><ref>http://www.sallysfamilyplace.com/MulberryGrove/cottenb2b.htm</ref><ref>http://themave.com/Cotten/bio.htm</ref> Cotten worked as an Broadway debut in 1930, and soon befriended up-and-coming actor/director/producer Mercury Theatre Company, starring in productions of ''Julius Caesar'' and ''Shoemaker's Holiday''.

Cotten made his film debut in the Welles-directed short ''William Gillette's 1890 play. The short was occasionally screened before or after Mercury productions, but never received an official release. Cotten returned to Broadway in 1939, starring as C.K. Dexter Haven in the original production of Philip Barry's ''The Philadelphia Story'' as well as the 1953 production of ''Sabrina Fair''.

===''Citizen Kane''===
right|thumb|215px|Joseph Cotten, [[Orson Welles, and Everett Sloane in ''Citizen Kane''.]]

After the success of Welles' infamous ''War of the Worlds'' radio broadcast, Welles got an impressive contract with RKO Pictures. The two-picture deal promised full creative control for the young director, and Welles made sure to feature his Mercury players in whatever production he chose to bring to screen. However, after a year, production hadn't yet started on any of Welles' prospective projects. It took a meeting with writer Herman J. Mankiewicz for Welles to find a story to bring to the screen.

In mid-1940 filming began on ''idealist but eventually turns into a corrupt, lonely old man. The film featured Cotten prominently in the role of Kane's best friend, a drama critic for his print empire.

left|thumb|160px|Cotten as Jed Leland in ''[[Citizen Kane'']]

When released on Ray Collins (Kane's political opponent). However, Cotten was the only one of the four to find major success in Hollywood outside of ''Citizen Kane''.

===Collaborations with Welles===
right|thumb|220px|Joseph Cotten in ''[[The Third Man'', directed by Carol Reed.]]

Despite Welles' reputation of being difficult to get along with, he and Cotten remained good friends. Cotten starred a year later in Welles' adaptation and production of ''The Magnificent Ambersons'', supported by Moorehead. After the commercial disappointment of ''Citizen Kane'', RKO was apprehensive about the new film, and cut nearly an hour off the running time before releasing it. 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 (Moorehead was nominated for Best Supporting Actress).

In 1943, Cotten took control of the Nazi-related thriller ''Journey Into Fear''. He wrote the screenplay with the help of Welles (who produced the film), and starred in the film. By the time production wrapped, Welles had been dropped from RKO, and, as part of the settlement, was required to edit the film to suitable length. The film was a minor hit, but separated the friends from professional collaboration for six years.

The last collaboration with Welles is widely considered as Cotten's best performance. In ''pulp fiction who travels to post-war 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 film proved to be another technical achievement.

===The forties and fifties===
Cotten proved himself a versatile actor in Hitchcock's ''Gaslight'' (opposite Jennifer Jones in four films: the wartime domestic drama ''Love Letters'' (1945), the western ''Duel in the Sun'' (1946) and later in the critically acclaimed ''Portrait of Jennie'' (1948), in which he played a melancholy artist who becomes obsessed with a girl who may have died long ago.

Cotten's career cooled in the 1950s with a string of less high-profile roles in films such as the dark Civil War epic ''Two Flags West'', the Niagara''. His last theatrical releases in the '50s were mostly film-noir outings and unsuccessful character studies. In 1956, Cotten left film for several years in exchange for a string of successful television ventures, such as the series ''On Trial'', which was later called ''The Joseph Cotten Show.'' He was also featured in the successful series ''cameo appearance in the Welles production ''Touch of Evil'' and a starring role in the 1958 film adaptation of Jules Verne's ''From the Earth to the Moon''.

===The sixties and seventies===
In 1960, he married British actress horror classic ''TV movies. He made guest appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show many times throughout the show's run. 

In the early 1970s, Cotten followed a supporting role in ''James Stewart and again with Olivia de Havilland and the nuclear thriller ''Twilight's Last Gleaming''. On TV, he did a guest spot opposite James Garner on the 70's TV detective drama ''The Rockford Files''.

thumb|280px|Joseph Cotten dans ''[[L'Ombre d'un doute'' en 1943]]
thumb|220px|Joseph Cotten dans ''The magnificent Amberson'' en 1942
'''Joseph Cotten''', de son nom complet Joseph Cheshire Cotten  était un américain, né le 15 mai 1905 à Petersburg, Virginie et mort le 6 février 1994 à Westwood, Californie.

==Biographie (éléments)==
Comme son ami Orson Welles, il a fait partie de la Mercury's Company. Il a, à son actif, des films prestigieux comme ''La Splendeur des Amberson'' ou ''Le Troisième Homme''.

==Filmographie sélective== 
* 1938 : ''Too much Johnson'' de Orson Welles
* 1940 : ''Citizen Kane'' de Orson Welles
* 1941 : ''Lydia'' de Julien Duvivier
* 1942 : ''La Splendeur des Amberson'' (''The Magnificent Ambersons'') de Orson Welles
* 1943 : ''Norman Foster
* 1943 : ''L'Ombre d'un doute'' (''Shadow of a Doubt'') de Alfred Hitchcock
* 1944 : ''Hantise'' (''Gaslight'') de George Cukor
* 1944 : ''Depuis ton départ'' (''Since You Went Away'') de John Cromwell
* 1944 : ''Étranges vacances'' (''I'll be seeing you'') de William Dieterle 
* 1945 : ''Le Poids d'un mensonge'' (''Love Letters'') de William Dieterle 
* 1946 : ''Duel au soleil'' (''Duel in the sun'') de King Vidor
* 1947 : ''Ma femme est un grand homme'' (''The Farmer's Daughter'') de H.C. Potter
* 1948 : ''Le Portrait de Jennie'' (''Portrait of Jennie'') de William Dieterle 
* 1949 : ''La Garce'' (''Beyond the Forest'') de King Vidor
* 1949 : ''Le Troisième Homme'' (''The Third Man'') de Carol Reed
* 1949 : ''Les Amants du Capricorne'' (''Under Capricorn'') de Alfred Hitchcock
* 1950 : ''Les Amants de Capri'' (''September Affair''), de William Dieterle
* 1950 : ''Two Flags West'' de Robert Wise
* 1950 : ''Robert Stevenson 
* 1951 : ''Madame sort à minuit (Half Angel)'' de Richard Sale 
* 1951 : ''Pékin express'' de William Dieterle
* 1951 : ''The Man with a Cloak'' de Fletcher Markle
* 1952 : ''Othello'' (''Othello'' ou ''The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice'') d'Orson Welles
* 1952 : ''Passage interdit - La révolte gronde'' (''Untamed Frontier'') de Hugo Fregonese
* 1953 : ''Niagara'' de Henry Hathaway
* 1953 : ''A Blueprint for Murder'' de Andrew L. Stone
* 1955 : ''Alfred Hitchcock présente'' ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' de Alfred Hitchcock
* 1956 : ''The Bottom of the Bottle'' de Henry Hathaway
* 1956 : ''Le Tueur s'est évadé'' (''The Killer Is Loose'') de Budd Boetticher
* 1958 : ''La Soif du mal'' (''Touch of Evil'') de Orson Welles
* 1958 : ''De la Terre à la Lune'' ''(From the Earth to the Moon)'' de Byron Haskin
* 1960 : ''L'Ange pourpre (The Angel Wore Red)'' de Nunnally Johnson
* 1961 : ''El Perdido'' (''The Last Sunset'') de Robert Aldrich
* 1964 : ''Chut... Chut, chère Charlotte'' (''Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte'') de Robert Aldrich 
* 1965 : ''Le Massacre des sioux'' (''The Great Sioux Massacre'') de Sidney Salkow
* 1965 : ''Piège au grisbi'' (''The Money trap'') de Burt Kennedy 
* 1966 : ''La Statue en or massif'' (''The Oscar'') de Russell Rouse
* 1967 : ''Some May Live'' de Vernon Sewell
* 1970 : ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' (''Tora! Tora! Tora!'') de Richard Fleischer
* 1972 : ''L'Argent de la vieille'' de Luigi Comencini
* 1973 : ''Soleil vert'' (''Soylent Green'') de Richard Fleischer
* 1973 : ''A Delicate Balance'' de Tony Richardson 
* 1975 : ''Timber Tramps'' de Tay Garnett
* 1977 : ''L'Ultimatum des trois mercenaires'' (''Twilight's last gleaming''), de Robert Aldrich
* 1977 : ''Les Naufragés du 747'' (''Airport '77'') de Jerry Jameson
* 1978 : ''L'Ordre et la sécurité du monde'' de Claude d'Anna
* 1978 : ''Caravans'' de James Fargo
* 1979 : ''Le Continent des hommes-poissons'' (''L'Isola degli uomini pesce'') de Sergio Martino
* 1979 : ''Concorde Affaire '79'' de Ruggero Deodato
* 1979 : ''Guyana: Crime of the Century'' de René Cardona Jr.
* 1980 : ''La Porte du paradis'' (''Heaven's Gate'') de Michael Cimino
* 1981 : ''Le Survivant d'un monde parallèle'' (''The Survivor'') de David Hemmings
===Liens externes===
[http://french.imdb.com/name/nm0001072 Sa fiche IMDB]