Joseph Cotten

Born in Petersburg Virginia in 1905, Joseph Cotten achieved fame as an actor. He was one of Hollywood's leading men starting in the 40's. As a day job Cotten played professional football. Yeah. That's for real. After college Cotten was a lifeguard, ad agent and, later, a theatre critic. This led him to becoming more involved theatrically. In 1930 Cotten started his broadway career, quickly gaining the attention of Orson Welles who gave him lead roles in numerous productions at the Mercury Theatre Company. In 1939 he played Tracy Lord in the stage production of The Philadelphia Story opposite Katharine Hepburn. This one year run led Cotten to Hollywood. He paired up with his old friend Orson Welles as best friend Jedediah Leland in Citizen Kane. This film catapulted Cotten's career on screen. Playing a number of lead roles through the 1940's led Cotten to be named the 17th biggest star in 1945. Cotten continued to live in notoriety and work in both film and television for the next 40 years, in lead roles and supporting, (which he preferred) but he never outshined the success he found in the 40's. Cotten died at the age of 88 in 1994 of pneumonia. Cotten's film star is on the south side of the 6300 block of Hollywood Blvd.