Actor
Has two sons: David (from his first marriage) and Christopher (from his second).
While playing a role with Frank Sinatra , an idol of his, on the made-for-TV movie Contract on Cherry Street , Sinatra remarked to Joe that he "should have played the Godfather." Joe cherished this comment to the end of his days.
In 1949 he married second wife Margaret Draper , also an actress, whom he met while both were playing parts on the "Pepper Youngs Family" radio show. They had one son, Christopher, and divorced in 1956. Joe then relocated to California to pursue TV and films.
Was an active member of the Players Club in New York, and the Masquers Club in Los Angeles.
Joe became known as a skilled character actor who could work convincingly with many dialect characters and was a perennially suave heavy.
Established himself on radio beginning in May 1940 with "Pepper Youngs Family", and later including "Mr. District Attorney," "March of Time" and "Gangbusters". He was inducted into the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters Diamond Circle on May 17, 1985. He also did numerous Italian-language broadcasts.
Studied sculpture and drama at New York University, his first performances were in Italian.
Of humble beginnings, he was born in New York City to Italian immigrant parents. His father, Pasquale DeSantis, was a tailor and his mother, Maria Paoli, worked in a paper flower factory.
Broadcast debut in Italian-language radio in 1931; Broadway debut in Sirena in 1931.
From 1936 to 1940, taught sculpture in New York. Some of his work was exhibited in galleries at the 1939-1940 Worlds Fair. A bust of actor Walter Hampden as Cyrano de Bergerac is on display at the Hampden Memorial Library. De Santis also taught acting at the American National Theater and Academy workshop, and dialect at the American Theater Wing.
Starred in the radio series "Under Arrest" in 1948.
