Joe Spano

Boyish-looking actor Joe Spano, best known for his sympathetic detective role on the grim 1980's police series Hill Street Blues (1981), was born Joseph Peter Spano on July 7, 1946, in San Francisco, the son of a doctor. A Bishop Riordan High School and University of California-Berkeley graduate, his original intention was to be a premed major, but that dissipated with the growing interest of acting. Joe gained experience working with a San Francisco improvisation group called The Wing. While at college he made his debut as Paris in a production of "Romeo and Juliet" in 1967 and the very next year helped founded the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, appearing in its very first first production of "Woyzek." He stayed with the company for 10 years and appeared in many of its plays including "Hamlet" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." In the 1970's, Joe decided to give Hollywood a try. Playing a seductive vampire in the cult musical "Dracula: A Musical Nightmare" in a small LA theatre, he pursued f