Life and Career
Santos was born Joseph Minieri in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Rose (née Sarno) and Joseph Minieri. He began his film acting career in the mid-1960s, appearing in films directed by his cousin, Joseph W. Sarno.
Santos is known for his roles as James Garner's friend, LAPD Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Dennis Becker in the 1970s television series The Rockford Files and as Lt. Frank Harper in the 1980s TV series Hardcastle and McCormick In the 1990s, he reprised this role in several made-for-television Rockford Files movies. He also starred opposite Melissa Michaelsen in the short-lived series Me and Maxx (1980) and Paul Rodriguez in a.k.a. Pablo. He had a recurring role in the HBO series The Sopranos as Angelo Garepe.
Santos has had featured roles in many films; his best known film roles include appearances in Shaft's Big Score! (1972), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), The Blue Knight (1973) as Sgt Cruz Segovia, Blue Thunder (1983), Revenge (1990), and the 1991 action/drama film The Last Boy Scout as Lieutenant Benjamin Bessalo.
Santos has made many guest appearances on TV shows, including Police Story, Barnaby Jones, Hill Street Blues, The A-Team, Magnum, P.I., Quantum Leap, Macgyver and NYPD Blue.
On the series Bakersfield P.D., Santos played himself, and was the victim of car thieves. However, the officers on duty were so awed by "Jim Rockford's friend," that they were unable to solve the crime and Santos ended up having to find the thieves himself.
Read more about this topic: Joe Santos
Famous quotes containing the words life and/or career:
“All my life I’ve been harassed by questions: Why is something this way and not another? How do you account for that? This rage to understand, to fill in the blanks, only makes life more banal. If we could only find the courage to leave our destiny to chance, to accept the fundamental mystery of our lives, then we might be closer to the sort of happiness that comes with innocence.”
—Luis Buñuel (1900–1983)
“Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)