“People say that those must have been the glory days of Miami,” says Cotten, “but I think that before that would have been even better. In 1928, there was a major hurricane, and Cotten remembers his five years in South Florida by what he calls the three B’s: “The boom, the blow and the bust.” Although prohibition was in effect, people would wait directly on the dock for the next shipment of rum, and one of his friends was a young female environmentalist named Marjorie Stoneman Douglas. His theatrical flair overshone his journalistic ethics he freely admits giving an admiring review to a play in which he acted the lead. The business started out well, and Cotten moved up the ladder at the Herald to the point of reviewing plays and nightclubs for the entertainment section. Obviously, this particular actor was born, not made. When he finished, he would take his place at the table and bow his head, the signal for Joe Sr. His mother remembered that he was always the last one into the dining room for dinner, would make a startling entrance and would stand and gesticulate broadly while giving an emotional rendition of Jack and Jill or Little Bo Peep. The only family connection that was even vaguely theatrical was an uncle who had helped found the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina. He was born in Virginia’s Tidewater area. One of those personalities who is not to be taken lightly, even if you don’t immediately realize that this man starred in Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Shadow of a Doubt, Duel in the Sun, The Third Man, Since You Went Away, Love Letters, Gaslight and a few dozen other films of less critical but undoubtedly equal audience importance. Standing tall in an immaculately tailored suit, he is still a commanding figure with an aura of Being Somebody. Last month, Cotten published his autobiography, Vanity Will Get You Somewhere, and with his vivacious, funny wife, actress Patricia Medina, has been on tour to promote the book. By the time you make it to 82, you’ve had your fair share of pain, even if you’re a famous movie star of the ’40s and ’50s. They balance a humorous glint with an awareness of pain. THE OLD ACTOR’S FAMILIAR STROLLING AMBLE HAS TO be supported by a cane now, and the eyes have sunk deep into his head.
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