Joseph Cotten

Joseph Cotten

No Photo of Joseph Cotten
Actor - USA
Born May 15, 1905 in Petersburg, Virginia, USA
Died February 6, 1994 in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Mini-Biography:
Joseph Cotten was born under the given name Joseph Cheshire Cotten on May 15, 1905 in Petersburg, Virginia, USA. He was an American Actor, known for Half Angel (1951), Walk Softly, Stranger (1950), The Survivor (1981), Joseph Cotten's first movie on record is from 1941. Joseph Cotten died on February 6, 1994 in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA. His last motion picture on file dates from 1981.

Biographical Notes
"Mit Mitte 20 schreibt Joseph Cotten Theaterkritiken, 1936 stößt er zu Orson Welles' Theaterprojekt und gründet mit diesem und John Houseman das berühmte Mercury-Theater. Sein erster Film ist "Citizen Kane" (1941), sein zweiter "Der Glanz des Hauses Amberson" (1942), sein dritter "Von Agenten gejagt" (1943) - alle mit Orson Welles. Bei "Citizen Kane" arbeitet Cotten auch am Drehbuch mit - ein Start, der seinesgleichen sucht. "Und dafür, dass es nach diesem gewaltigen Einstieg ins Gewerbe eigentlich nur noch bergab gehen konnte, hat seine Karriere durchaus gehalten, was das Debüt versprach. ...
Cotten ist einer der ganz Großen, aber einer, der sich immer ganz klein macht" (Michael Althen). Es folgten der meisterhafte "film noir" "Das Haus der Lady Alquist" (1943), in dem er Ingrid Bergman rettet, Hitchcocks Thriller "Im Schatten des Zweifels", in dem er seinen ersten Bösewicht - und zwar beklemmend gut - spielte, das Psychodrama "Liebesbriefe" (1945), der glanzvolle Western als griechische Tragödie "Duell in der Sonne", in dem er den moralischen Gegenspieler des leidenschaftlichen Gregory Peck spielt, die visionäre Liebesgeschichte "Jenny", die ihm bei den Filmfestspielen von Venedig den "Volpi"-Preis einbrachte und - wieder ein absoluter Höhepunkt - Carol Reeds Meisterwerk "Der dritte Mann" mit Orson Welles. Weiter geht's mit dem Liebesdrama "Der Stachel des Bösen" an der Seite von Bette Davis, die er 15 Jahre später in dem Horror-Meisterwerk "Wiegenlied für eine Leiche" in den Wahnsinn treibt, mit "Niagara" und Marilyn Monroe, mit "Der Tag der Vergeltung" und Shelley Winters. Dann aber geizt Hollywood mit guten Rollen, Joseph Cotten geht ans Theater zurück und hat 1953/54 einen großen Erfolg mit "Sabrinas Fair". Gleichzeitig unterschreibt er einen Vertrag bei der Centfox für eine Reihe von Fernseharbeiten.
Er dreht in den 60ern und 70ern auch weiterhin Kinofilme, auch in die fragwürdigsten B-Movies und billigsten Horrorfilme brachte er die ihm eigene Würde ein: "Es war wohl dieser unwiderstehliche Drang, der uns immer weitermachen lässt", sagte er einmal entschuldigend. Einen späten Erfolg feierte er 1980 in "Heaven's Gate". Ein Schlaganfall und eine Kehlkopfentzündung, die ihm zeitweise die Stimme raubten, zwangen ihn zum Rückzug. 1988 rief "der Mann ohne Eigenschaften" sich mit seinen Memoiren "Mein unbescheidenes Leben" eindrucksvoll in die Erinnerung zurück. In einem Interview sagte er einmal, "wenn ihn Orson Welles und David O. Selznick nicht in den Schauspielberuf gedrängt hätten, wäre er als entspannter Südstaatler am liebsten Gärtner oder Zimmermann geworden" ( zit. nach AZ, 08.02.1994). Ihnen sei gedankt. (Walter Greifenstein, BR-Presse)

FilmographyFilmography [Auszug]
1981: The Survivor (Cast: Priester), Directed by David Hemmings, with Jenny Agutter, Kirk Alexander,
1980: Heaven's Gate (Cast: Reverend Sutton), Directed by Michael Cimino, with Jeff Bridges, Brad Dourif,
1980: The house where death lived (Delusion) (Cast), Directed by Alan Beattie, with John Dukakis, David Hayward,
1978: Concorde affair (Cast: Konsul), Directed by Ruggero Deodato, with Mimsy Farmer, James Franciscus,
1978: L' Isola degli Uomini Pesce (Cast: Professor Marvin), Directed by Sergio Martino, with Barbara Bach, Claudio Cassinelli,
1978: Caravans (Cast), Directed by James Fargo, with Anthony Quinn, Michael Sarrazin, Christopher Lee,
1977: Twilight's Last Gleaming (Cast), Directed by Robert Aldrich, with Richard W. Demarest, Melvyn Douglas,
1976: Airport '77 (Cast: Nicholas St.Downs III), Directed by Jerry Jameson, with Pamela Bellwood, Olivia de Havilland,
1976: Alle origini della mafia (Cast), Directed by Enzo Muzii, with Lee J. Cobb, Edward Albert,
1975: F for Fake (Cast), Directed by Orson Welles, with Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving,
1973: Solyent Green (Cast: Simonson), Directed by Richard Fleischer, with Chuck Connors, Charlton Heston,
1973: A delicate balance (Cast), Directed by Tony Richardson, with Betsy Blair, Katharine Hepburn,
1973: Soylent Green (Cast: William Simonson), Directed by Richard Fleischer, with Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, ,
1972: Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga (Baron Blood) (Cast: Baron Otto von Kleist / Alfred Becker ), Directed by Mario Bava, with Elke Sommer, Massimo Girotti,
1971: Tora! Tora! Tora! (Cast: Henry Stimson), Directed by Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, Ray Kellogg, Toshiro Masuda, with Wesley Addy, Martin Balsam,
1971: La figlia di Frankenstein (Lady Frankenstein, The Daughter of Frankenstein) (Cast: Baron Frankenstein), Directed by Ernst von Theumer, with Sarah Bey, Herbert Fux,
1970: Assault on the Wayne (Cast), Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky, with Leonard Nimoy, William Windom,
1969: Ido Zero Daisakusen (Cast: McKenzie), Directed by Inoshiro Honda, with Linda Haynes, Richard Jaeckel,
1968: Gangster 70 (Cast), Directed by Mino Guerrini, with Giampiero Albertini, Franca Polesello,
1967: Jack of Diamonds (Cast), Directed by Don Taylor, with George Hamilton, Maurice Evans, Wolfgang Preiss,
1967: Some may live (Cast), Directed by Vernon Sewell, with Peter Cushing, Martha Hyer,
1966: The Money Trap (Cast), Directed by Burt Kennedy, with Fred Essler, Glenn Ford,
1966: I crudeli (The hellbenders) (Cast: Morrison), Directed by Sergio Corbucci, with Norma Bengell, Gino Pernice,
1966: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (Cast: Dr.Vesalius), Directed by Robert Fuest, with Virginia North, Vincent Price,
1965: The Oscar (Cast: Regan), Directed by Russell Rouse, with Tony Bennett, Milton Berle, Stephen Boyd,
1965: The tramplers (Die um Gnade winseln) (Cast: Temple Cordeen), Directed by Albert Band, Albert Band, with Muriel Franklin, Claudio Gora,
1965: The Great Sioux Massacre (Cast), Directed by Sidney Salkow, with Darren McGavin, ,
1964: Hush ... Hush Sweet Charlotte (Cast), Directed by Robert Aldrich, with Mary Astor, Victor Buono,
1961: The last sunset (The day of the Gun (Working title)) (Cast: John Breckenridge), Directed by Robert Aldrich, with Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas,
1960: The Angel wore red (Cast: Hawthorne), Directed by Nunnally Johnson, with Ava Gardner, Dirk Bogarde,
1956: The De Santre Story (Cast: Joseph Cotten - Host), with Mabel Taliaferro, Robert Cornthwaite,
1956: The Killer is loose (Cast), Directed by Budd Boetticher, with Wendell Corey, Rhonda Fleming,
1956: The Bottom of the Bottle (Cast: Pat 'P.M.' Martin), Directed by Henry Hathaway, with Van Johnson, Ruth Roman,
1955: Vom Himmel gefallen (Special Delivery) (Cast), Directed by John Brahm, with Eva Bartok, René Deltgen,
1953: A Blueprint for Murder (Cast), Directed by Andrew L. Stone, with Gary Merrill, Jean Peters,
1952: Untamed Frontier (Cast: Kirk Denbow ), Directed by Hugo Fregonese, with Shelley Winters, Scott Brady,
1952: Niagara (Cast: George Loomis), Directed by Henry Hathaway, with Denis O'Dea, Marilyn Monroe,
1951: Half Angel (Cast), Directed by Richard Sale, with Jim Backus, Cecil Kellaway,
1951: Othello (Cast: Senator), Directed by Orson Welles, with Nicholas Bruce, Suzanne Cloutier, Fay Compton,
1950: Walk Softly, Stranger (Cast), Directed by Robert Stevenson, with Spring Byington, John McIntire,
1950: Two flags west (Cast), Directed by Robert Wise, with Linda Darnell, Jeff Chandler,
1949: The Third Man (Cast: Martins), Directed by Carol Reed, with Hedwig Bleibtreu, Siegfried Breuer,
1949: Beyond the forest (Cast: Dr. Lewis Moline), Directed by King Vidor, with David Brian, Frances Charles,
1948: Portrait of Jennie (Cast: Eben Adams), Directed by Wilhelm Dieterle, with Ethel Barrymore, Florence Bates, Clem Bevans,
1946: Duel in the Sun (Cast: Jesse McCanles), Directed by King Vidor, William Cameron Menzies, with Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck,
1945: Love letters (Cast: Alan Quinton), Directed by Wilhelm Dieterle, with Gladys Cooper, Jennifer Jones,
1944: Since you went away (Cast: Lieutenant Tony Willett), Directed by John Cromwell, with Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones,
1944: I'll be seeing you (Cast), Directed by Wilhelm Dieterle, with John Derek, Ginger Rogers,
1944: Gaslight (Cast: Brian Cameron), Directed by George Cukor, with , Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer,
1943: Shadow of a doubt (Cast: Onkel Charlie Oakley), Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, with Teresa Wright, Macdonald Carey,
1942: The Magnificent Ambersons (Cast: Eugene Morgan), Directed by Orson Welles, with Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter,
1942: Journey into fear (Cast), Directed by Norman Foster, with Dolores Del Rio, Ruth Warrick,
1941: Citizen Kane (Cast: Jedediah Leland), Directed by Orson Welles, with Orson Welles, Alan Ladd, Ruth Warrick,
1941: Lydia (Lidia) (Cast), Directed by Julien Duvivier, with Merle Oberon, Edna May Oliver, Alan Marshal,

Bibliography
- Reichow / Hanisch, Filmschauspieler A-Z, Henschelverlag Berlin 1980; L'année du cinéma 1994;
- Lothar R. Just, Filmjahrbuch 1995, Heyne Filmbibliothek # 216, München 1995;
- International Dictionnary of Films and Filmmakers, Vol 3: Actors and Actresses, St James Press, Detroit and London, 2nd edition 1992

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Joseph Cotten - KinoTV updated Sun 26. Aug. 2018