Joe Santos, American actor, Died at 84

  Actor

Joe Santos/ Joseph John Minieri, Jr. was born on June 9, 1931, and deid on March 18, 2016.

He was an American film and television actor.

He was a football player at Fordham University and turned semi-pro before finding a new avenue in acting.

Joe struggled in show business and worked blue-collar jobs until his friend Al Pacino helped him get a role in the 1971 movie “The Panic in Needle Park.”

Joe Santos played LAPD Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Dennis Becker, between 1974-1980, the friend of the easygoing ex-convict-turned-private investigator Jim Rockford (played by James Garner) in The Rockford Files and Lt. Frank Harper in the TV series Hardcastle and McCormick from 1985 to 1986.

Joe had minor parts in several lesser-known films and made a number of guest appearances on television shows throughout his acting career, frequently in the stock character role of a police officer.

Joe made an appearance on The Sopranos as Angelo Garepe in seven 2004 episodes.

He suffered a heart attack on March 14, 2016, according to his son, four days after his birthday.

Joe Santos passed away at 84 yrs old.