Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on
Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of
The Philadelphia Story and
Sabrina Fair. He first gained worldwide fame in the
Orson Welles film
Citizen Kane (1941),
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and
Journey into Fear (1943), for which Cotten was also credited with the screenplay. He went on to become one of the leading Hollywood actors of the 1940s, appearing in films such as
Shadow of a Doubt (1943),
Love Letters (1945),
Duel in the Sun (1946),
Portrait of Jennie (1948) and
The Third Man (1949). One of his final films was
Michael Cimino's
Heaven's Gate (1980).