Editing Joseph Cotten (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Jo-Cotten-American-FC-1931.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Joseph Cotten modeled for ''[[The American Magazine]]'' (September 1931)]]
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| caption1          = Cotten in ''[[Horse Eats Hat]]'' (1936)
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| caption2          = Cotten and [[Edgar Barrier]] during the shooting of film sequences for the stage production ''[[Too Much Johnson (1938 film)|Too Much Johnson]]'' (1938)
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| caption3          = Cotten and [[Katharine Hepburn]] on Broadway in ''[[The Philadelphia Story (play)|The Philadelphia Story]]'' (1939)
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| caption4          = Cotten is introduced in the [[Citizen Kane trailer|trailer]] for ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941).
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| caption5          = [[Dolores Costello]], [[Agnes Moorehead]], [[Anne Baxter]], Cotten, [[Tim Holt]] and [[Ray Collins (actor)|Ray Collins]] in ''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]'' (1942)
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| caption6          = Cotten and [[Dolores del Río]] in ''[[Journey into Fear (1943 film)|Journey into Fear]]'' (1943)
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| caption7          = George (Shorty) Chirello, Cotten, assistant Eleanor Counts and [[Orson Welles]] in ''[[The Mercury Wonder Show]]'' (1943)
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| caption8          = Wedding of Orson Welles and [[Rita Hayworth]], with best man Cotten (September 7, 1943)
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| caption9          = Cotten in ''[[Shadow of a Doubt]]'' (1943)
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| caption10         = Members of the Independent Voters Committee of the Arts and Sciences for Roosevelt visit FDR at the White House (October 1944). From left: [[Van Wyck Brooks]], [[Hannah Weinstein|Hannah Dorner]], [[Jo Davidson]], [[Jan Kiepura]], Cotten, [[Dorothy Gish]], Dr. [[Harlow Shapley]]
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[[File:Cotten Jones Duel in the Sun Still 1946.jpg|thumb|Cotten and [[Jennifer Jones]] in ''Duel in the Sun'' (1946)]]
Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. was born on May 15, 1905, in [[Petersburg, Virginia]], United States, the first of three sons born to Joseph Cheshire Cotten Sr., an assistant postmaster, and Sally Willson Cotten.<ref name="Vanity">{{cite book |last=Cotten |first=Joseph |date=1987 |title= Vanity Will Get You Somewhere |location=San Francisco |publisher=Mercury House |isbn=0-916515-17-6 }}</ref>{{Rp|224}} He had two brothers, Whitworth W. "Whit" and Samuel W. Cotten. Both were engineers.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |title=Actor lent Hollywood glamor to Petersburg for decades |url=https://www.progress-index.com/story/news/2011/12/18/actor-lent-hollywood-glamor-to/36457414007/ |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=The Progress Index |language=en-US |archive-date=April 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417123953/https://www.progress-index.com/story/news/2011/12/18/actor-lent-hollywood-glamor-to/36457414007/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Cotten grew up in the [[Tidewater (region)|Tidewater region]] and showed an aptitude for drama and a gift for storytelling.{{Citation needed |date=April 2024}}

In 1923, when Cotten was 18, his family arranged for him to receive private lessons at the Hickman School of Expression in Washington, D.C., and underwrote his expenses.<ref name="los">{{cite news|title=Joseph Cotten, 88, Dies Starred in 'Citizen Kane,' 'The Third Man'|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 7, 1994}}</ref> Cotten served in the [[First Motion Picture Unit]] of the [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Forces]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="smithsonianmag">[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/world-war-ii-the-movie-21103597/ World War II: The Movie - When the U.S. Army Air Forces needed 100,000 men to volunteer, General Hap Arnold recruited Hollywood.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105062717/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/world-war-ii-the-movie-21103597/ |date=November 5, 2022 }} ''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]]''. Retrieved November 5, 2022.</ref>

Cotten earned spending money playing professional football on Sundays, for $25 a quarter. After graduation, he earned enough money as a lifeguard at Wilcox Lake to pay back his family's loan, with interest.<ref name="Vanity"/>{{Rp|4–7}} He moved to Miami in 1925 and worked as an advertising salesman for ''The Miami Herald'' at $35 a week. He started performing at the Miami Civic Theatre, and worked there for five years, also reviewing the shows for the ''Herald''.<ref name="los"/>