Joe De Santis
Encyclopedia
Joseph Vito DeSantis was an American
radio, television, movie and theatrical actor and sculptor.
in Catanzaro, Italy
; his mother, Maria Paoli, emigrated from Gioviano in the province of Lucca
in Tuscany
and worked in a paper flower factory. He worked his way through New York University
studying sculpture
and drama
, his first performances being in Italian. After obtaining a part in a play at Hunter College
, he secured work as an actor for three seasons with the Walter Hampden
Repertory Company, which marked the beginning of his performances in English. His career in broadcasting began in May 1940 with Pepper Young's Family, and continued with major network shows including Mr. District Attorney, March of Time, Gangbusters, Kate Smith, and many others. One of his most important contributions to the industry was his narration of Norman Corwin
's On a Note of Triumph, broadcast nationwide at the conclusion of World War II
. He was inducted into the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters
Diamond Circle on May 17, 1985. During his early years he also did numerous Italian-language broadcasts. Joe also made several contributions to "Remember Radio", a column in one of the trade publications of the day.
With the advent of television, Joe became known as a skilled character actor who could play convincing dialect characters, mugs, suave heavies and emotional leads. He was extremely active in early television, taking featured roles on several Playhouse 90 and Studio One productions, and appearing regularly on the Red Buttons, Martha Raye and Sid Caesar shows. In addition to many single performances on other TV series, Joe had a recurring presence in such shows as The Untouchables
, 77 Sunset Strip
, Perry Mason
, Daniel Boone
, Gunsmoke, Bonanza
and Mission: Impossible
. One of his choicest moments came while playing a role with Frank Sinatra
, a performer whom he greatly admired, on a made-for-TV movie, Contract on Cherry Street. At one point during the filming, Mr. Sinatra remarked to Joe, "You should have played the Godfather." Joe cherished this comment to the end of his days.
Joe also played in numerous movies. The high point of his career came in 1962 with Cold Wind in August, and he also featured in I Want to Live, Al Capone, and The Brotherhood, to name a few. Joe was an active member of the Players' Club in New York, and the Masquers' Club in Los Angeles.
In 1935 Joe married Miriam Moss, an actress; they had one son, David, and later divorced. In 1949 he married Margaret Draper
, also an actress, whom he met while both were playing parts on Pepper Young's Family. They had one son, Christopher, and divorced in 1956, at which time Joe moved to California to pursue his work in television and films. In 1959 he married Wanda Slye who preceded him in death in 1977.
Joe retired to Provo, Utah
in 1978 to be close to family, and resided there until his death in 1989. Along with sculpting, he contributed regularly to the activities of the Provo Eldred Center. Joe was a heavy smoker for much of his life and suffered from chronic bronchitis and borderline emphysema; he died in 1989 of chronic obstructive lung disease at the age of 80.
Offbeat Trivia: In the liner notes to Frank Zappa
's first album, Freak Out, one finds "These People Have Contributed Materially in Many Ways to Make Our Music What it is. Please Do Not Hold it Against them." DeSantis' name is listed along with many others. An explanation for this can be found in an interview http://www.scrammagazine.com/franzoni with Carl Franzoni, a vocalist for whom the first song on that album, Hungry Freaks, Daddy was written. Franzoni and Zappa were acquainted with Vito Paulekas
, a sculptor and dancer and the L.A. freak scene guru in the early sixties. Apparently certain movie stars, Joe included, would come to Vito's studio to sculpt, and somehow something about Joe stuck in Zappa's mind.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
radio, television, movie and theatrical actor and sculptor.
Biography
Joe DeSantis was born Joseph Vito Marcello DeSantis to Italian immigrant parents in New York City. His father, Pasquale DeSantis, was a tailor from San Pietro ApostoloSan Pietro Apostolo
San Pietro Apostolo is a comune and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy. It is located about 9.5 miles northwest of Catanzaro, the provincial capital....
in Catanzaro, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; his mother, Maria Paoli, emigrated from Gioviano in the province of Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
and worked in a paper flower factory. He worked his way through New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
studying sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, his first performances being in Italian. After obtaining a part in a play at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
, he secured work as an actor for three seasons with the Walter Hampden
Walter Hampden
Walter Hampden is the artist name of Walter Hampden Dougherty was a U.S. actor and theatre manager. He was the younger brother of the American painter Paul Dougherty ....
Repertory Company, which marked the beginning of his performances in English. His career in broadcasting began in May 1940 with Pepper Young's Family, and continued with major network shows including Mr. District Attorney, March of Time, Gangbusters, Kate Smith, and many others. One of his most important contributions to the industry was his narration of Norman Corwin
Norman Corwin
Norman Lewis Corwin was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing...
's On a Note of Triumph, broadcast nationwide at the conclusion of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was inducted into the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters
Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters
Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters was founded in 1966 by veteran announcer Art Gilmore and 178 other original members, with Edgar Bergen as the founding chairman of the board...
Diamond Circle on May 17, 1985. During his early years he also did numerous Italian-language broadcasts. Joe also made several contributions to "Remember Radio", a column in one of the trade publications of the day.
With the advent of television, Joe became known as a skilled character actor who could play convincing dialect characters, mugs, suave heavies and emotional leads. He was extremely active in early television, taking featured roles on several Playhouse 90 and Studio One productions, and appearing regularly on the Red Buttons, Martha Raye and Sid Caesar shows. In addition to many single performances on other TV series, Joe had a recurring presence in such shows as The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
, 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
, Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (TV series)
Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
, Gunsmoke, Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
and Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
. One of his choicest moments came while playing a role with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, a performer whom he greatly admired, on a made-for-TV movie, Contract on Cherry Street. At one point during the filming, Mr. Sinatra remarked to Joe, "You should have played the Godfather." Joe cherished this comment to the end of his days.
Joe also played in numerous movies. The high point of his career came in 1962 with Cold Wind in August, and he also featured in I Want to Live, Al Capone, and The Brotherhood, to name a few. Joe was an active member of the Players' Club in New York, and the Masquers' Club in Los Angeles.
In 1935 Joe married Miriam Moss, an actress; they had one son, David, and later divorced. In 1949 he married Margaret Draper
Margaret Draper
Margaret Ruth Draper was an American actress and international service worker. She was born in 1916, the third of six children born to Delbert Morley Draper and Frances Mary Rogers...
, also an actress, whom he met while both were playing parts on Pepper Young's Family. They had one son, Christopher, and divorced in 1956, at which time Joe moved to California to pursue his work in television and films. In 1959 he married Wanda Slye who preceded him in death in 1977.
Joe retired to Provo, Utah
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
in 1978 to be close to family, and resided there until his death in 1989. Along with sculpting, he contributed regularly to the activities of the Provo Eldred Center. Joe was a heavy smoker for much of his life and suffered from chronic bronchitis and borderline emphysema; he died in 1989 of chronic obstructive lung disease at the age of 80.
Offbeat Trivia: In the liner notes to Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
's first album, Freak Out, one finds "These People Have Contributed Materially in Many Ways to Make Our Music What it is. Please Do Not Hold it Against them." DeSantis' name is listed along with many others. An explanation for this can be found in an interview http://www.scrammagazine.com/franzoni with Carl Franzoni, a vocalist for whom the first song on that album, Hungry Freaks, Daddy was written. Franzoni and Zappa were acquainted with Vito Paulekas
Vito Paulekas
Vitautus Alphonsus "Vito" Paulekas was an American artist and bohemian, who was most notable for his leading role in the Southern California "freak scene" of the 1960s, and his influence on musicians including The Byrds, Love and Frank Zappa.Paulekas was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of...
, a sculptor and dancer and the L.A. freak scene guru in the early sixties. Apparently certain movie stars, Joe included, would come to Vito's studio to sculpt, and somehow something about Joe stuck in Zappa's mind.